The first ASPO conference I attended was in 2006, in Pisa, where it was hosted by Ugo Bardi. While I was there, I had the good fortune to meet Dennis Meadows, a man whose work I have known since I was very young, but which now has much more relevance than I first imagined. During his address, he told us an important thing: As events start unfolding and a general awareness of depletion arises, ASPO will loose its raison d'être.

After a rather gloomy day of forecasts of conventional energy supplies, the second day was more promising: alternative energy was the main dish. Economics and Finance would also be on the table. It was a heavily scheduled day with some Q&A sessions omitted to make room for all the speakers.

The VII International Conference on Oil and Gas Depletion was the first in many ways: the first after the death of Ali Samsam Bakhtiari; the first after record oil prices; and the first after serious economic difficulties hitting the OECD. Right from the beginning there was a feeling in the air that circumstances had changed and a new era had arrived.

On Tuesday the 23th of September, the deployment of the first commercial wave energy farm in the world started. A Pelamis unit was towed into the sea, connected to an underwater cable and moored to the sea floor, at a site were it will stay for the next 15 years. The Industry was present at the highest level, as so a Minister and even the Navy showed up with a frigate to join the celebration. But is it all roses? Below the fold are a few thoughts and calculations that show how this is truly a green energy source. Green as in immature, that is.

It was with great sadness that I learnt this morning that Professor Marcel Leroux passed away two days ago in Marseille. The man that brought the concept of the Mobile Polar High into existence and made us consider atmospheric circulation in completely new terms is no longer between us.

During the last weeks disturbing news have been showing the dark side of human nature in face of these new rough times: all across the state, from north to south, littoral to interior, gasoline and diesel theft is spreading like fire. The black market is thriving with people selling diesel and gasoline for 1 €/litre.
Right: A tank like this can hold up to 1000 litres of diesel, which at today's prices is worth arround 1400 €. Photo by Getty Images.

With six months into the year an interesting picture is emerging from the surface temperature data collected by space borne sensors. As the Sun slowly marches towards its activity minimum the radiation and geomagnetic flux the Earth receives from the star ease down, and with it seem to be going surface temperatures.

This week Andris Piebalgs talks Nuclear in his blog. Without taboos, Andris lays down the advantages of Nuclear energy that have put it at the core of the Commission's New Energy Policy for Europe.

Nuclear energy has been discussed many times at TOD, mostly from a technical perspective, on its practicality and long-term sustainability. This time we look at Nuclear Energy policy, from the perspective of an Executive that has made a clear option towards this energy source.

Source: NewScientistTech (click to enlarge)

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Updated 13-06-2008 at 19h00.

It all started in Spain, it quickly spread to Portugal and southern France. Lorry drivers are on the streets and on roads protesting against high fuel prices and bringing normal day life to a stand still.

Spanish lorry drivers blocking main access roads to Madrid.

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In a country largely turned into itself, a lone journalist tries to bring reality on oil prices above the daily roll of news bits on football results, jet-set gossip and political fait-divers.

On the 24th of May Jorge Nascimento Rodrigues published on the newspaper Expresso (the largest weekly publication in Portugal with 120 000 printings) what is one of the most direct addresses of Peak Oil ever featured in Portuguese media. Apparently written about the US this article is replete with messages for internal consumption.

High fuel prices are wreaking havoc in Europe, some call for tax exemptions others go on strike. The structural constraints affecting oil supply are becoming to much to bear for Europeans, especially those more reliant on the automobile. But before going out for a demonstration against who ever you may think is responsible for high fuel prices, there are a few things you can do to ease the pain: it's called Eco-Driving.

In advance of the European Union - Latin America and Caribbean summit, the Portuguese prime minister, José Sócrates, visited Venezuela. During two days, more than twenty economic agreements were celebrated between the two countries, where energy had a major role.

Among the entourage where representatives of some of the largest companies operating in Portugal, with the objective of firming protocols in the vein of "oil for goods", towards which the Venezuelan executive has been showing great openness.

Animation by Michael Ronayne.

Now that the dust is settling, it is perhaps time to reflect on this episode and what it meant to the mainstream media and the blogosphere.

This short clip has been sticking to my mind for some days:

Below the fold is the story behind it, the way I was able to reconstruct it.

Last week's log entry by Andris Piebalgs starts this way:

Which is the best energy source? This is not an easy question. If we are to apply the European Energy policy, it has to be a source of energy that contributes to our security of supply, that is low carbon and that increases the competitively our economy. Several energy sources answer this question. Renewables, for sure. Some people argue that nuclear is the right choice. Others that we have affordable fossil fuels for many years, and with a bit of carbon capture and storage we can continue our hydrocarbonated lives, like we have done for the last 80 years. All these solutions have its defenders and its opponents. But none of them is my favourite.

Andris Piebalgs continues this Friday his blogging on bio-fuels, addressing some of the concerns expressed by the readers of the last blog-entry.

I agree that a radical change in consumer behavior is needed if we want Europe to be more energy efficient. At the same time, as policy makers we have to come up with policies that are based on present day realities. And the reality is that most Europeans are living and working in big cities and using modern means of transport. It would be unrealistic to impose sanctions on car producers and users if no alternatives are provided.

Before continuing I can't but express once more my joy in seeing EU's leaders having such a close interaction with their citizens. More bio-fuel talk under the fold.

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Forecast for Conventional Fossil Fuels per Capita. Sources: UN for Population model, Jean Laherrère [pdf!] for Natural Gas, Energy Watch Group for Coal and The Oil Drum for Oil. Click for large version.

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Just within weeks of Prof. Delgado Domingos impressive words to the press, another top Portuguese scientist was subject of an extensive interview were similar lines of though emerged. This interview was originally written by journalist Virgílio Azevedo for the newspaper Expresso - the biggest weekly publication in Portugal with 120 000 copies. A possible translation follows below the fold, with the header reproduced here:

"We are not at the edge of a catastrophe"

João Corte-Real, 65 years old, the most ancient Portuguese climate researcher and the only cathedrated professor in meteorology in the country (University of Évora) affirms that scientific studies do not allow yet the conclusion that human activity is the major driver of climate changes. And underlines that the movement against global warming is politically oriented, in Portugal as in the rest of the World. But considers positive the measures taken by governments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, although emphasizing that "CO2 is not a polluting gas, because it is fundamental to the photosynthesis, but in excess it affects the infra-red radiation reaching the Earth, that is, warming at surface".

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With oil prices receding from the nineties, the energy crisis almost seems like in recess. Almost, because elsewhere there are millions of people affected by power shortages amidst an old fashioned Winter. It reminds that the energy crisis is affecting the energy sector horizontally and showing problems in an industry that not long ago seemed like our last resort safety net.

Source: Al-Jazeera.

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Professor Delgado Domingos, one of the leading Portuguese environment scientists, gave a long interview to the Sábado Notícias [Saturday News] magazine, a supplement of the centenary Jornal de Notícias.

The last section of the interview touched on Climate issues and has been causing some impact in the local blogosphere. Following is an English translation of this final section of the interview.

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