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The decade Australia sleepwalked into an energy trap

By Jo Nova

Two trendlines and the climate distraction converged

Just before Easter, the Page Research Centre put out a policy paper that ought to rivet Australians.

We have so casually sleepwalked (sprinted) blindfolded to the edge of cliff. Twenty years ago we were self-sufficient in liquid fuels, then we got distracted trying to change the rain and clouds in 2100 AD. Meanwhile in 2013, the area of South East Asia under the potential control of China was starting to grow rapidly. It is only now, after we have closed 6 of 8 refineries, banned oil exploration and shale use in some states in an Ode to Gaia, but we find that at a moment’s notice, China could potentially put three quarters of our liquid fuel supply under threat.

“In an Asian war scenario, 76% of our liquid fuel requirements would be in immediate jeopardy.”

The situation in 2013 regarding China’s ability to control supply lines:

China’s area of denial capacity 2013

But the world is a different place in 2026:

China’s area of denial capacity 2025

How rapidly we ran towards the pit, closing refineries, assuming it didn’t matter even after China had […]

April 14th, 2026 | Tags: , , | Category: Global Warming | Print This Post Print This Post | |

As underwater gas pipes explode, ponder that a third of UK gas comes from an underwater pipe

The UK is pretty much one wayward submarine away from losing a third of its gas supply. Even if the pipe stays intact, it’s already a national security crisis. It’s a vulnerability that will affect the UK’s ability to bargain with confidence or battle right now.

German authorities are saying that the pipelines will be rendered unusable if salt-water has entered the pipes. Corrosion will make them unrepairable.

And lets not forget there are a lot of other underwater cables which nations with unreliable energy are now utterly dependent on. Here in Australia, an interconnector trip led to the Statewide blackout in South Australia, and the Bass Strait cable break (not even an act of war) left Tasmania on the verge of one for five months. In both cases they lost hundreds of millions of dollars, but it would be so much worse if that happened today during a global energy crisis when there’s is already a bun fight for spare parts and spare fossil fuels.

The UK imports 11% of its power from Europe, half from France, and two years ago President Macron was threatening to block an interconnector in a battle over post-Brexit fisheries. […]

September 29th, 2022 | Tags: , , | Category: Global Warming | Print This Post Print This Post | |

Lookout — The USA is the new oil and gas superpower

“We are living in the midst of a veritable energy boom”

Since 2012, the largest producer of oil and gas in the world has been the United States, and its lead is growing.

The balance has shifted in the last ten years. US production now easily outstrips Russia and Saudi Arabia where the output has not increased much for the last decade.

The American Interest: Don’t Doubt the Strength of U.S. Shale. h/t GWPF

…

What an innovation nation looks like:

The primary reason for the shift from net importer to net exporter “is we know how to produce natural gas in a very inexpensive way,” [said University of Houston energy economist Ed Hirs]. “And we’re going to be exporting the natural gas out of the U.S. and potentially, we’ll be exporting electricity.”

There’s a little shift in geopolitical freedom — “thanks to shale”.

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May 26th, 2016 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Global Warming | Print This Post Print This Post | |