World Bank welcomes new economic order from the ashes of crisis

Finally, there are those who believe the determination of the bank and fund to return as quickly as possible to the high levels of growth seen earlier this decade ignores the elephant in the room – that, by 2029, traditional fossil fuel stocks will be running dry.

Andrew Simms, head of policy at the New Economics Foundation thinktank, says: "One major thing that will describe the landscape in 2029 is that we will be beyond the point of peak oil. That will be the trigger for so many dominoes to fall." Decisions made in the next few years, he adds, will be critical. "There is the risk of enormous knock-on effects on trade and food supply, with the food price volatility of the last year looking like a vicar's tea party."

He believes food security will replace gross domestic product as the yardstick of success, and there will be an emphasis on the new "three Rs" – reduce, repair, recycle.

Exceptional results from biochar experiment in Cameroon

Biochar Fund has reported extremely encouraging first results from its field trials in South West Cameroon. Working with small groups of subsistence farmers around the town of Kumba, the Fund set up and managed a large-scale experiment to assess whether maize (corn) yields were improved by the addition of biochar to the soil. The biochar was made from local agricultural wastes and tree thinnings. The data from the trials strongly suggests that biochar adds greatly to food production. Some areas showed yield improvements of more than 250% over the control plots. The areas dosed with biochar also showed substantially increased production of crop biomass, including roots, stalks, and leaves.

Many field studies in the tropics carried out by academic researchers have shown that biochar improves soil productivity. (For more details on what biochar is and how it is made, see an earlier article on this site, here.) Biochar Fund's research did more. It showed that poor farmers typically making less than $300 a year from their crops were able to improve their own yields using simple techniques both for making the char and adding it to the soil. Average production of maize from this area of Cameroon is about 1.7 tonnes per hectare compared to about 7 to 9 tonnes in the EU or US. If the initial results are replicated elsewhere, the impact of biochar could see yields increase by 40% above what would otherwise be obtained.

Following the ASPO conference in Denver, the State University of New York - College of Environmental Science and Forestry will host the 2nd annual conference on Biophysical Economics. Joseph Tainter is this year's plenary speaker, and will discuss biophysical economics and the collapse of complex societies. Other speakers include Gail the Actuary and David Murphy from The Oil Drum, as well as the host, Dr. Charles Hall. The link to the Biophysical Economics website can be accessed here, where additional information, including the itinerary, can be found.

New oil model could 'burden' Petrobras

Brazilian energy giant Petrobras could find its position as sole operator of the country's recently discovered oil discoveries a "burden," the president of the Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP) said today.

IBP President Joao Carlos De Luca said that recent proposed changes to the country's oil laws may be unconstitutional and that Brazil needs the help of private industry to develop the offshore oil patch.

"I don't think the new regulatory model will be good for Petrobras because there's a sense of burden and the company will be obligated to operate less-profitable fields," De Luca said.