The International Energy Agency will next week (29 May) launch an important report on the "golden rules" for governments and industry if they are to overcome serious risks and concerns (social and environmental) about the Golden Age of Gas.
There will be a special presentation of this report by Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist, in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, May 30, at 09h30.
Registration for this event in the European Parliament is possible via boguslaw.sonik@europarl.europa.eu before 29th of May. Mr Sonik, a Polish Member of the European Parliament recently wrote a heavily criticised report in favour of large-scale shale gas extraction in Europe.
On the same day (30 May), I will have the pleasure to moderate a debate on the same subject of shale gas in Europe during the annual conference of ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas in Vienna. One of the world’s most renowned critics and expert on shale gas in the USA, Arthur Berman, will be the top speaker in this debate.
Read one of Arthur Berman’s latest papers on this issue: After The Gold Rush: A Perspective on Future U.S. Natural Gas Supply and Price (Febr. 2012)
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Soon America will wish the million tons of premium steel driven into shale formations were instead fashioned into rails, to rebuild dormant railway corridor and expand rail mains capacity & reach.
It seems there are forces beyond rational control that overtake civilizations in twilight years that hasten decline. In fact, we are witnessing an America bent on perpetuating energy/transport policies responsible for justifying the Military Industrial black hole, swallowing wealth and resources around the world.
Never too late to correct a mistake? Let’s see if that might be true in our time and place… Any transport policy suggesting less than number one position for rubber tire transport is immediately rejected, but here goes: Stealthily, we ask for familiarization of US rail mileage footprint circa 1920’s, “The Roaing Twenties”; a transport model well padded with automobiles and road expansion. In the background we have very comprehensive railway mileage and local connectivity feeding regional and continental mains.
Familiarity helps thinking process, so using “OFFICIAL GUIDE” and US Rail Map Atlas volumes from spv.co.uk -interested planners can scope active and dormant rail corridor in there respective locale of interest. Additional talking points can be seen at ASPO Newsletters 42 (article 374) and Newsletter 89, (article 1037).
A modern and comprehensive “systems” approach to rebuild of the American railway matrix can be seen at “Suntrain Transportation Inc. and companion book “ELECTRIC WATER” (New Society, 2007). Military railway logistics units as seen Civil War to Viet Nam era are useful assets in all-due-haste railway enhancement program. Military lingo for railroad component of Strategic Planning is “Second Dimension Surface Transport Logistics Platform”…
Natural gas fueled truck fleets as envisioned by the “Pickens Plan” are sensible, but not a long term stand-alone solution to fleshing out the railway network capable of running on a full panorama of energy sources & types. Railway is crucial for achieving & maintaining Societal & Commercial Cohesion for our Union of States.
Keep ‘Em Rolling