This report seeks to build a coherent narrative about the roots of the polycrisis, the signs of its arrival and evolution, and why we should be thinking differently about the future.
The fifteen-report “Shale Bubble” report series by J. David Hughes critically assessed the viability of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) tight oil and shale gas forecasts in its Annual Energy Outlook reports, from 2015 to 2021.
Fracking has boosted U.S. oil and gas production—but how long can it deliver? This assessment of U.S. government forecasts for tight oil and shale gas production finds them extremely optimistic and unlikely to be realized.
Renewable energies will not save our always-on, constantly growing, high-energy economy. But many aspects of contemporary technology, plus lessons from our long history, can help us in the “sufficient economy” of the future.
Shale gas and tight oil have provided a new lease on life for U.S. oil and gas production. But how sustainable is shale production in the long term given optimistic forecasts of robust production through 2050 and beyond? In this report, earth scientist J. David Hughes assesses the viability of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) shale forecasts in its Annual Energy Outlook 2019, which are widely used by policymakers, industry, and investors to make long-term plans. His detailed analysis finds that the EIA’s forecasts of tight oil and shale gas production through 2050 are extremely optimistic, and highly unlikely to be realized.
Este informe pretende cuantificar el impacto de los avances tecnológicos recientes en la producción de petróleo y gas compactos (“tight”), y proporcionar una evaluación realista del perfil de producción futuro en la gran mayoría de los campos de petróleo y gas de lutitas (shale) en Estados Unidos.
How Long Will the Shale Revolution Last? provides a realistic assessment of future production in the top U.S. tight oil and shale gas plays. It is most extensive of our highly regarded analyses of U.S. shale production.
The Future is Rural challenges the conventional wisdom about the future of food in our modern, globalized world. It is a much-needed reality check that explains why certain trends we take for granted are historical anomalies.
Shale gas and tight oil from low permeability reservoirs have provided a new lease on life for U.S. oil and gas production. The question is, how sustainable is shale production in the long term given optimistic forecasts of robust production through 2050 and beyond? Shale Reality Check: Drilling Into the U.S. Government’s Rosy Projections for Shale Gas & Tight Oil Production Through 2050 endeavors to answer that question by assessing the viability of the projections of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its Annual Energy Outlook 2017.
Technology has grown with us, side by side, since the dawn of human society. Each time that we’ve turned to it to solve a problem or make us more comfortable, we’ve been granted a solution. But it turns out that all of the gifts Technology has bestowed on us come with costs. Richard Heinberg examines where this incredibly pervasive belief falls apart and offers compelling evidence for why we can’t count on technology alone to save us from climate change, overpopulation, and biodiversity loss.