<Passive Solar Design Overview – Part 1 The Oil Drum DrumBeat: January 9, 2009>

47 comments on A Speech by Fatih Birol on IEA Report, Financial Crisis, Coal, Depletion, etc.

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GauharJK on January 8, 2009 - 9:21pm Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Awesome... I am at 15 minutes into the vid... and this guy has already confirmed there would be not enough oil in the future and that mature oil fields are declining very rapidly. I wish people who're actually going to run the country take this entire picture into account.

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Nate Hagens on January 8, 2009 - 9:36pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

My understanding is that he has been making the rounds talking to corporate/government leaders last few months. That message has more urgency than the IEA WEO report itself (other than the Executive Summary first few paragraphs)

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steve from Virginia on January 8, 2009 - 10:49pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

A very sobering presentation. His remarks on climate change allow only a very small space for compromise; on one hand it is very good that the Council on Foreign Relations would provide a forum for such blunt remarks. If this organization can appear to endorse the idea of climate change and accept it as a hazard to future business, this should take the wind out the sails out of some of the denialists.

http://www.cfr.org/
http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Power-Council-Relations-American/dp/088279...

On the other hand, I do not share Mr. Birol's faith in cap and trade and efficiency technology. I suppose he is required to toss the technologists a bone every now and then.

What happened to 350 ppm?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR200712...

Birol is speaking about 450 ppm as if it's yesterday's news. I've also heard this from all people:

http://www.garynull.com/

Usually, he talks about vitamins, but every once in awhile launches into a bitter, invective rant against the establishment. He was ranting about a violent revolution in America the other day and I thought I was going to lose my dentures; if I had any. Null was speaking about having exceeded the climate tipping points a year ago ...

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Egregius on January 9, 2009 - 10:03am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

" Null was speaking about having exceeded the climate tipping points a year ago ..."

Probably referring to how climate scientists over the past year (months?) have said that it's already too late to avoid some of the negative consequences. Most projections say that even if we put all our effort and resources into it now, temperatures will still rise about a degree or 1.5 on average because of the lag effect of the CO2 currently pumped into the atmosphere.

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souperman2 on January 9, 2009 - 1:46pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I thought it very interesting that he expressed genuine surprise that he and the report has not been widely attacked from industry, government, or others.

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jjauregui on January 9, 2009 - 6:21pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Having described the oil fields decline dynamic and prospects for the future, why spend most of the rest of the presentation on Climate Change and carbon capture? It makes no sense. All of this suggests that national leadership will constraint the use of fossil fuels over and above natural depletion rates. Better have a lot of guns. Of course a permanent depression can get us to that idyllic state. We may be there now, or at least close. If individuals, corporations and countries are not providing enough investment capital to maintain oil field flow rates, what is the likelihood they will make the investments to build power plants which consume 40 percent of their output for carbon capture? Answer: nil

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ccpo on January 9, 2009 - 9:52pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Having described the oil fields decline dynamic and prospects for the future, why spend most of the rest of the presentation on Climate Change and carbon capture?

Because they're not stupid.

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47 comments on A Speech by Fatih Birol on IEA Report, Financial Crisis, Coal, Depletion, etc.

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