Gail Tverberg is a writer and speaker about energy issues. She is especially known for her work with financial issues associated with peak oil. Prior to getting involved with energy issues, Ms. Tverberg worked as an actuarial consultant. This work involved performing insurance-related analyses and forecasts. Her personal blog is ourfiniteworld.com. She is also an editor of The Oil Drum.
Since about 2001, several sectors of the economy have become increasingly inefficient, in the sense that it takes more resources to produce a given output,…
Not long ago, I wrote Ten Reasons Why High Oil Prices are a Problem. If high oil prices can be a problem, how can low…
Does the recent climate accord between US and China mean that many countries will now forge ahead with renewables and other green solutions? I think…
The world is in a dangerous place now. A large share of oil sellers need the revenue from oil sales. They have to continue producing,…
A person might think that oil prices would be fairly stable. Prices would set themselves at a level that would be high enough for the…
On Monday, September 29, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a story called “Why Peak Oil Predictions Haven’t Come True.” The story is written as…
Oil and other commodity prices have recently been dropping. Is this good news, or bad? Figure 1. Trend in Commodity Prices since January 2011. Brent spot…
Back in January 2013, the US Institute of Medicine published a report called U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. This poor health…
We frequently see stories telling us how well the United States is doing at oil extraction. The fact that there are stories in the press…
The standard way to make forecasts of almost anything is to look at recent trends and assume that this trend will continue, at least for…
In today’s world, we have a huge amount of debt outstanding. Academic researchers Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogart have become famous for their book This…
Recently, the IEA published a “Special Report” called World Energy Investment Outlook. Lets’s start with things I agree with:1. World needs $48 trillion in investment…
At the Age of Limits Conference, I gave a talk called Converging Crises (PDF), talking about the crises facing us as we reach energy limits.…
If oil is “just another commodity,” then there shouldn’t be any connection between oil prices, debt levels, interest rates, and total rates of return. But…
Republicans, Democrats, and environmentalists all have favorite energy myths. Even Peak Oil believers have favorite energy myths. The following are a few common mis-beliefs, coming…
We hear a lot about climate change, especially now that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently published another report. At the same…
Quiz:1. How much natural gas is the United States currently extracting?(a) Barely enough to meet its own needs(b) Enough to allow lots of exports(c) Enough…
Oil limits seem to be pushing us toward a permanent downturn, including a crash in credit availability, loss of jobs, and even possible government collapse.…
In order to understand what solutions to our energy predicament will or won’t work, it is necessary to understand the true nature of our energy…
Intermittent renewables–wind and solar photovoltaic panels–have been hailed as an answer to all our energy problems. Certainly, politicians need something to provide hope, especially in…