Stories tagged with "bbc"

BBC Covers Peak Oil: A Farm for the Future

Posted by Chris Vernon on February 20, 2009 - 11:04am in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Miscellaneous
Tags: bbc, colin campbell, farming, permaculture, richard heinberg, united kingdom [list all tags]

Most would agree the subject of peak oil has not received the mainstream media coverage its importance warrants. On Friday the BBC will be broadcasting an excellent peak oil documentary; it focuses on farming. Presenter and co-producer Rebecca Hosking explores the importance of oil in farming and the potential impact of peak oil. The film has a passionate narrative centred on Rebecca’s small family farm in South West England; can she make her farm fit for the future?

A Farm for the Future
Fri 20 Feb 2009, 20:00 on BBC Two, repeated Sun 22 Feb, 17:00 on BBC Two (and also available on iPlayer).

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The energy efficiency of cars

Posted by Euan Mearns on February 16, 2009 - 10:43am in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Economics/Finance
Tags: automobile, bbc, energy efficiency, eroei, ethanol, fuel cell, honda, hydrogen, jeremy clarkson, original, saab, tesla, top gear, volvo [list all tags]


Chart updated 28 February to take account of this comment from Profbaldwin.

The future of motor vehicles lies in improved efficiency and that is to the left of the gasoline ICE in the chart. That future is electric vehicles powered by high ERoEI renewable electricity.

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Truth, Lies, Oil and Scotland

Posted by Chris Vernon on June 4, 2008 - 9:50am in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Policy/Politics
Tags: bbc, north sea, peak oil [list all tags]

On BBC One Scotland at 22:45 this evening (Wed 4th June) Hayley Millar explores the history and future of North Sea oil and reasons for the recent run up in the oil price in the documentary Truth, Lies, Oil and Scotland.

Watch a clip here.

On BBC Two, Newsnight Scotland (23:00) will host a live debate on Peak Oil featuring an interview with Chris Skrebowski and discussion with Bill Jamieson (Executive Editor of The Scotsman) and Euan Mearns (Editor of The Oil Drum Europe).

These transmissions are on the Scottish regional versions of BBC One and Two, but anyone with a satellite receiver in the UK should be able to find the Scottish versions on Sky channels 971 and 990.

UK oil production peaked at 2.9 million barrels per day in 1999 and now stands at 1.6 million barrels per day. This is below UK oil consumption levels making the UK an oil importer.

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BBC: Driven by Oil

Posted by Chris Vernon on September 3, 2006 - 1:55pm in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Miscellaneous
Tags: bbc, broadcast, oil, united kingdom [list all tags]

This is just a quick reminder that the BBC will start broadcasting their major new four part radio documentary on oil this week.

Introduction: Driven by oil.

Driven by Oil will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Mondays, at 0900 BST and 2130BST, from 4 September 2006 onward.

Part one, "When Will The Tap Run Dry?" asks will we run out of oil, and, if so, when?

Part two, "The China Syndrome" considers the huge influence emerging economies such as China and India will exert on the oil industry and world politics. Will the West come into conflict with these new consumers, and will power increasingly fall into the hands of less democratic regimes?

Weeks three and four consider Oil Terrorism and Alternatives. From the trailers that have been airing last week it sounds like peak oil will be addressed directly.

The documentary is the work of Tom Mangold, an investigative reporter and war correspondent who's been (non-exclusively) with the BBC since 1964.

I expect something like a million people will catch it either on the morning on evening broadcast and the programme will also be available over the Internet.

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If the Oil runs out- the BBC starts looking at post-peak oil

Posted by Heading Out on May 30, 2006 - 9:54pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: anwr, bbc, cnn, fox, oil storm, peak oil, we were warned [list all tags]

Well here I am sat by the tele, waiting for the BBC show, If the Oil Runs Out, the facts upon which they base it being given here.

Pause while 3,550,000 barrels of oil are consumed, (the show mentions that) and what did I think?

Well I could begin by suggesting they had the wrong buttons on the drill bit, but that would be a bit facetious. In a very small nutshell, it tracks a family during the time that the first well is drilled in ANWR, (in 2016) at the same time that President Chavez in Venezuela pulls his country out of OPEC, and that Saudi and China get together to do a goods for oil swop. Oil prices rise and the consequences are transiently illustrated through the impact on the family (losing job, long gas lines, food prices up, aspirin (an oil product) out of stock, and the like). The well is being drilled in the purported last hope for oil. And it does not find the 250 m of oil that was anticipated. But seven months later they are through the crisis and into another world.

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If... The Oil Runs Out

Posted by Chris Vernon on May 30, 2006 - 7:51pm in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: bbc, peak oil, tv [list all tags]

BBC Two aired a programme late Tuesday (30/05/06) night considering a "what if the oil runs out" scenario, despite the title I don't recall the word 'if' being used much. Whilst disappointingly not mentioning peak oil by name the subject was addressed reasonably well. Part documentary, part drama it took place in the run up to 2016 by which time we were beyond peak. Fuel prices were high, businesses were failing, oil companies were drilling (unsuccessfully) at the ends of the earth, crime and violence were increasing, the SUV was stranded and for sale, groceries were expensive, poorer people couldn't heat their homes...

Matt Simmons and former Saudi Arabian Minister of Oil, Sheikh Yamani are featured in the common talking head role.

It's encouraging to see this subject addressed on the BBC, a shame it was shown at 11:20pm but still an important step in the right direction regarding raising public awareness.

More information here: If... The Oil Runs Out

Who else saw it?

EDIT Wednesday May 31, 2006 at 11:32 PM GMT

TOD member Sangiovese has kindly provided this scan from the Daily Mail newspaper discussing the programme:


Click to enlarge.

Sadly I expect Paterson's opinions aren't all that far from those of the general public.

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A few items of note

Posted by Heading Out on May 28, 2006 - 5:21pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: baku-tbilisi-ceyhan pipeline, bbc, jess, tropical storm [list all tags]

Four short references that need to be in the record.

First the BBC notes that the first oil is now, a year late, being loaded onto a tanker from the Baku to Ceyhan oil pipeline. Although this is a marker in the step to a current 300 kbd supply, the first tanker is not getting all its oil from the pipeline

BP, which has a 30.1% stake in the project, said that while all the crude had come from the Caspian Sea, some had been held in its storage tankers.
So although this is the opening of a passage that circumvents Russian oil lines, I would not run around shouting Yipee, yet a while.

Secondly Chris at TOD:UK has posted a great piece on analyzing the Joint Energy Security of Supply document just put out in the UK. He shows that the initially optimistic view at the front of the document is not sustained if one drills down into it, and that my being encouraged by wind turbines and rape seed-laden fields is still not going to get the UK to the 10% sustainable level that is the current target.

In summary I think this report has failed in its objective to provide the market with future supply, demand and price information. The quantitative data presented is so optimistic to be virtually worthless with qualitative caveats that don't adequately describe the risk.
However, as he notes, although, as with most studies of future supplies, international competition for LNG and other supplies, usually ignored, will be a subject of next year's report.

Thirdly it seems that the BBC is joining FOX and CNN in running a movie on the problems of world oil. Unfortunately it is going to be on at 11:20 pm on Tuesday night, when even us jet-lagged travelers may find a little late, but if I can stay awake, I'll give you the idea.

And finally, as was noted in the comments just below by totoneila Aletta is the first tropical storm in our parts this season, although it is in the Eastern Pacific and at the lower end of Mexico.

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