The past week involved three Peak Oil activities. On Wednesday 25 January I was invited to lecture on the significance of Peak Oil for future urban planning in the School of Architecture and the Built Environment of the Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska högskolan) in Stockholm. The audience was an interesting cross-section of students that were not really aware of Peak Oil. If anyone should be aware of this issue it is these students who will be responsible for planning how we live in future.
On Thursday I made another journey to Stockholm to visit the head office of SEB [one of Sweden’s largest banks]. The newspaper Aktiespararna [“The Share Savers”] wanted to interview me and a commodities expert from SEB. I will return to this when the article in Aktiespararna is published but I can say already that Peak Oil was not on that expert’s agenda.
The most interesting activity was probably on Friday. I was invited to participate in the Christian Democrat’s commune and council days and to discuss Peak Oil at a symposium. The chair of that political party’s industry working group Mats Odell had invited me and Anders Wijkman to discuss Peak Oil. Mats Odell was in Uppsala last autumn for a run-through on Peak Oil with my group and there is no doubt that he is now among those who take Peak Oil seriously.
(Swedish)
Veckan som just har passerat hade tre Peak Oil – aktiviteter. På onsdag den 25 januari var jag inbjuden till KTH, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, i Stockholm och till deras Arkitektutbildning för att hålla föredrag om Peak Oil’s betydelse för framtidens stadsplanering. En intresserad skara studenter som inte var beredda på Peak Oil. Om det är några som verkligen bör ha denna kunskap är det dagens studenter då de skall planera framtidens boende.
På torsdag var det på nytt en resa till Stockholm och denna gång till SEB:s huvudkontor. Det var tidningen Aktiespararna som ville göra en intervju med mig och råvaruexpert från SEB. Jag återkommer till detta möte då artikeln kommer ut, men jag kan redan ny nämna att Peak Oil inte fanns på hans agenda.
Det intressantaste aktiviteten var nog på fredag. Då var jag inbjuden till Kristdemokraternas kommunal- och landstingsdagar för att vara med och diskutera Peak Oil på ett seminarium. Det var näringslivsutskottets ordförande Mats Odell som bjudit in mig och Anders Wijkman för att diskutera Peak Oil. Mats Odell var i höstas i Uppsala för en genomgång med min grupp och det är ingen tvekan om att han nu finns med bland de som tar Peak Oil på allvar.
Aleklett's Energy Mix 
tahoevalleylinest
January 31, 2012
Boone Pickens, an oil and gas industry authority, has been promoting a large program for shifting long-haul trucking to natural gas power. This is not good news for that effort. It seems the options for rubber tire transport narrow, while the obvious need for railway capacity expansion in North America are expanding exponentially…
In order to expand railway utilization in the lower 48, a key element must include rebuild of many hundreds of dormant rail branch lines, much still showing rusty rails and salvageable rights of way.
Political pressure on the Post Office to “make money” or close branch and small-town offices might be joined with a move to restore the 100 year partnership enjoyed by the US Post Office and the railways. Necessity, if not a blissful partnership, would be beneficial to Americans hoping for a smooth transition into the Oil Interregnum and beyond.
As posted before, the railway matrix expansion in America would certainly include reformed US Army/Guard Railroad Operating & Maintenance Battalions. First lines rebuilt must be agricultural and manufacturing node traffic branch rail corridor, standing in for Mr. Pickens’ no-show natural gas truck fleet.
Meanwhile, we poor Americans have politicians continually behind the curve, as witness our presidential exclamations of a 100 year Natural Gas supply! Bad advice? Deliberate deception? Dear Mr. Obama, you will be respected more for leveling with us about Peak Oil, two words your advisers refuse to let you utter in public!
Brachyura
February 9, 2012
I read the article in the Aktiespararna magazine. Two opposites having different opinions. The market will provide energy for all, but it will cost more in the futures was the “mantra” of the economist.
I think its very important with these “basic” articles for the common (small) people. But i doubt “peak oil” draws more readers then the article about the Lundin Group.