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Energy Concerns Are Mounting
by Chris Martenson

Energy Concerns Are Mounting

Monday, September 13, 2010

Executive Summary

  • Many interlocking factors have caused current economic woes.
  • Most of the issues are still almost strictly economically driven; energy’s role is still to come.
  • World energy consumption, at current rates of growth, will double in 35 years.
  • Alternative fuels cannot displace oil use, but they can be helpful in electricity production and other areas.
  • We should be using our highly-concentrated energy sources to capture less-dense alternative energy sources.
  • The next energy shock is closer than most people realize.
  • The perception of scarcity will create scarcity.
  • Now is the time for prudent preparations.

In my last Insider entry, I made a number of claims that sparked a lot of good comments.  I will respond to a sampling of them here.  If I don’t address your comment, please know that I read and considered every one. I value and encourage continued input through comments, forum posts, and email.

There are multiple interlocking topics embedded in the question, “Why is the economy down right now?” I don’t see any one particular cause.  Yes, there was too much debt, but there was also falling net energy from flat petroleum production between 2004 and 2008.  Oil also happened to spike in price.  Which one ’caused’ the economic meltdown and the deep freeze that followed?  All of these factors, and a few others besides.

Energy Concerns Are Mounting
by Chris Martenson

Energy Concerns Are Mounting

Monday, September 13, 2010

Executive Summary

  • Many interlocking factors have caused current economic woes.
  • Most of the issues are still almost strictly economically driven; energy’s role is still to come.
  • World energy consumption, at current rates of growth, will double in 35 years.
  • Alternative fuels cannot displace oil use, but they can be helpful in electricity production and other areas.
  • We should be using our highly-concentrated energy sources to capture less-dense alternative energy sources.
  • The next energy shock is closer than most people realize.
  • The perception of scarcity will create scarcity.
  • Now is the time for prudent preparations.

In my last Insider entry, I made a number of claims that sparked a lot of good comments.  I will respond to a sampling of them here.  If I don’t address your comment, please know that I read and considered every one. I value and encourage continued input through comments, forum posts, and email.

There are multiple interlocking topics embedded in the question, “Why is the economy down right now?” I don’t see any one particular cause.  Yes, there was too much debt, but there was also falling net energy from flat petroleum production between 2004 and 2008.  Oil also happened to spike in price.  Which one ’caused’ the economic meltdown and the deep freeze that followed?  All of these factors, and a few others besides.

What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 7 – Protecting Wealth)
by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Graduates of the Crash Course series emerge aware that, economically speaking, the next twenty years are going to be completely unlike the last twenty years.  This invariably leads to the question, "How do I prepare financially?"

We have entered some truly treacherous investing waters, where we must question everything and accept nothing, even (and especially) the base assumption that any given currency, be that the US dollar or euro or Yen, will retain its value.  Is a ‘double-dip’ recession coming?  Nobody knows for certain, but all the warning signs are there.  Our view is that it’s best to start thinking about preserving and protecting your wealth now, while you still have that opportunity.  The bottom line here is that you should not be taking your cues from what your neighbors seem to be doing, but instead being sure that your own house is in order.

 

What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 7 – Protecting Wealth)
by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Graduates of the Crash Course series emerge aware that, economically speaking, the next twenty years are going to be completely unlike the last twenty years.  This invariably leads to the question, "How do I prepare financially?"

We have entered some truly treacherous investing waters, where we must question everything and accept nothing, even (and especially) the base assumption that any given currency, be that the US dollar or euro or Yen, will retain its value.  Is a ‘double-dip’ recession coming?  Nobody knows for certain, but all the warning signs are there.  Our view is that it’s best to start thinking about preserving and protecting your wealth now, while you still have that opportunity.  The bottom line here is that you should not be taking your cues from what your neighbors seem to be doing, but instead being sure that your own house is in order.

 

What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 6 – Heat, Power, & Communications)
by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Heat, Power, and Communications

Being warm, having instant access to electricity, and being able to connect with anyone anytime, anywhere, are so integrated in present-day life that we often forget just how much value these luxuries offer us.  My town has experienced four weather- and usage-related power outages in the past year (for a total of eleven power-free days), which provided a useful reminder of just how dependent we are on the miracle of steady, uninterrupted energy.

Being able to see when it is dark, cook food, and heat your space should an outage occur in the winter are first-level needs to prepare for.  Remaining in touch with those you depend on (and those who depend on you) is also a primary need, especially in any prolonged outage situation.

Even more significantly than with food and water, there are major cost differences between preparing in an ideal or long-term sort of way using totally self-sufficient alternate energy systems and preparing in a good-enough stop-gap way for temporary outages.  There is certainly value in planning and investing to accomplish both, but do not let concerns that you will not have the perfect long-term system impede you from preparing for some of the more likely problematic wrinkles that may come your way.

 

What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 6 – Heat, Power, & Communications)
by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Heat, Power, and Communications

Being warm, having instant access to electricity, and being able to connect with anyone anytime, anywhere, are so integrated in present-day life that we often forget just how much value these luxuries offer us.  My town has experienced four weather- and usage-related power outages in the past year (for a total of eleven power-free days), which provided a useful reminder of just how dependent we are on the miracle of steady, uninterrupted energy.

Being able to see when it is dark, cook food, and heat your space should an outage occur in the winter are first-level needs to prepare for.  Remaining in touch with those you depend on (and those who depend on you) is also a primary need, especially in any prolonged outage situation.

Even more significantly than with food and water, there are major cost differences between preparing in an ideal or long-term sort of way using totally self-sufficient alternate energy systems and preparing in a good-enough stop-gap way for temporary outages.  There is certainly value in planning and investing to accomplish both, but do not let concerns that you will not have the perfect long-term system impede you from preparing for some of the more likely problematic wrinkles that may come your way.

 

What Should I Do?: The Basics of Resilience (Part I – Getting Started)
by Chris Martenson

 width=Note:  This is the first of a series on personal preparation to help you address the question, “What should I do?”

The copy in this series comes from a book chapter I wrote for The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises (Richard Heinberg and Daniel Lerch, eds.) 

It is being reproduced here with permission.  For other book excerpts, permission to reprint, and purchasing, please visit http://www.postcarbonreader.com.

What Should I Do?: The Basics of Resilience (Part I – Getting Started)
by Chris Martenson

 width=Note:  This is the first of a series on personal preparation to help you address the question, “What should I do?”

The copy in this series comes from a book chapter I wrote for The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises (Richard Heinberg and Daniel Lerch, eds.) 

It is being reproduced here with permission.  For other book excerpts, permission to reprint, and purchasing, please visit http://www.postcarbonreader.com.

Second Leg of the Housing Decline Set To Begin
by Chris Martenson
A new Martenson Report is ready for enrolled members.
LinkSecond Leg of the Housing Decline Set To Begin

Executive Summary

  • Housing data is weak and just took a turn for the worse
  • Stimulus efforts were essential to keep housing propped up
  • The stimulus has ended
  • QE and stock market prices are correlated
  • What’s coming next
  • What you should do

We bought our house in November of 2009.  This will turn out to have been a very bad financial decision.  We’ll be underwater on that purchase for a very long time; maybe forever (or until Bernanke’s great experiment takes the final turn towards massive currency destruction and inflation; whichever comes first).   

Second Leg of the Housing Decline Set To Begin
by Chris Martenson
A new Martenson Report is ready for enrolled members.
LinkSecond Leg of the Housing Decline Set To Begin

Executive Summary

  • Housing data is weak and just took a turn for the worse
  • Stimulus efforts were essential to keep housing propped up
  • The stimulus has ended
  • QE and stock market prices are correlated
  • What’s coming next
  • What you should do

We bought our house in November of 2009.  This will turn out to have been a very bad financial decision.  We’ll be underwater on that purchase for a very long time; maybe forever (or until Bernanke’s great experiment takes the final turn towards massive currency destruction and inflation; whichever comes first).   

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