Kurt Cobb

Latest articles from Kurt

• Is Cheniere Energy a Contrary Indicator for Natural Gas?

  Published 16 April 2012 | viewed 11,832 times

  Some people seem to have a knack for hopping aboard a trend just before it ends. Cheniere Energy Inc., owner of the largest liquefied natural…

• Why Saudi and US Attempts to Influence Oil Prices are Ineffective

  Published 26 March 2012 | viewed 9,024 times

  If you have the power and the desire to bring down oil prices, the best way to proceed is to start bringing them down. The…

• Time is Running Out for our Transition to a Sustainable Industrial Society

  Published 12 March 2012 | viewed 7,797 times

  The viability of modern civilization depends on two important dimensions: 1) the continuous availability and deployment of essential resources and 2) the long-term productivity and…

• Which Fossil Fuel will Bridge the Gap to a Renewable Energy World?

  Published 28 February 2012 | viewed 8,840 times

  Which of the following can we count on to act as a “bridge fuel” to a renewable energy economy? A. OilB. Natural GasC. CoalD. None of the above The…

• Why the Peak Oil Debate is Almost Over

  Published 21 February 2012 | viewed 7,537 times

  Protestations in the mainstream media that we need not worry about a peak in the rate of world oil production anytime soon are suddenly coming…

• End of the Boom: The True State of the Shale Gas Industry

  Published 07 February 2012 | viewed 36,249 times

  Estimates for recoverable shale gas just keep falling. Last year, the Potential Gas Committee, an industry consortium that focuses on long-term projections, estimated that recoverable…

• How International Oil Companies Have Thwarted Canadian Energy Independence

  Published 29 November 2011 | viewed 9,383 times

  So much of the discussion surrounding an extension of the existing Keystone oil pipeline system which spans Canada and the United States assumes that the…

• No Growth in Oil Production for 7 Years - Will Alternatives Arrive Soon Enough?

  Published 08 November 2011 | viewed 22,903 times

  As oil prices rose ever higher in the last decade, the optimists kept predicting rising production capacity and plummeting prices. Looks like they got it…

• Prosperity and Peak Oil: Salvaging Your Economic Future

  Published 11 October 2011 | viewed 6,271 times

  It is with some trepidation that I prepare for a trip that includes an appearance before college students who generally find the idea of peak…

• Peak Oil and the Recessionary Cycle

  Published 06 October 2011 | viewed 7,117 times

  In the minds of many of those concerned about an imminent rendezvous with peak oil, the day the world slides past the all-time peak in…

• Have we all Become Rogue Traders?

  Published 21 September 2011 | viewed 4,833 times

  Last week authorities apprehended a trader for UBS, the huge, international Swiss bank, on suspicion that he lost $2 billion of the bank's money in…

• A Guide for Energy Policymakers: Thinking Sensibly About Our Energy Future

  Published 13 September 2011 | viewed 9,707 times

  The following is an attempt to weave together many strands of thought from my writings on energy into a compact briefing for energy policymakers. If…

• Debt Forgiveness, Ancient Greece and Peak Energy

  Published 30 August 2011 | viewed 8,062 times

  In the 6th century B.C. Athenians gave extraordinary powers to one man to make needed reforms that would deliver Athens from economic stagnation and the…

• Are High Fuel Taxes the Answer to Solving our Energy Problems?

  Published 02 August 2011 | viewed 6,807 times

  Some time ago an economist with whom I had an extensive exchange suggested that the best way to incentivize an energy transition would be to…

• Fusion Delusion and the $6.3 Quadrillion Mining Project

  Published 26 July 2011 | viewed 5,400 times

  Several years ago a young boy asked me during a presentation if we might be able to pipe in oil and natural gas from the…

• Why Less Energy Consumption Can be a Good Thing

  Published 21 July 2011 | viewed 6,137 times

  I now make it a staple of my public talks on energy to ask who in the audience has been to Europe. Usually many hands…

• A Look at the Devastating Impact a Solar Storm Could Have on Society

  Published 30 June 2011 | viewed 13,936 times

  In late August 1859 the most severe solar storm ever witnessed began and lasted through the first few days of September. It produced vivid auroras…

• Will the SPR Release Work and Will it Have Any Side Effects?

  Published 28 June 2011 | viewed 4,166 times

  World governments have collectively poured trillions of dollars of stimulative spending into the world economy since the crash of 2008. And, they've shoveled trillions more…

• Can We Believe Everything We've Heard About Shale Gas

  Published 17 June 2011 | viewed 11,453 times

  Newly accessible natural gas from deep shale deposits around the world has been touted as a solution to everything from oil dependence to climate change.…

• The Nuclear Industry Took a Wrong Turn: Could Fukushima Have Been Prevented?

  Published 19 April 2011 | viewed 8,346 times

  Nuclear researchers knew long ago that reactor designs now in wide use had already been bested in safety by another design. Why did the industry…