It's been remiss of me to have neglected to mention a book "The Final Energy Crisis (2nd Edition)" edited by my good friend Sheila Newman (http://candobetter.org/sheila (blog at) http://candobetter.org/SheilaNewman ) recently.

One of the contributors, Alice Friedemann, describes it thus:

"This book condenses thousands of peer-reviewed, difficult technical
journals into science-writing that the public can understand across a wide range of energy crisis topics. There is no other book like it on the market."

Having read the first edition, and most of the second edition, I can thoroughly recommend it. Unfortunately, due to the Australian distributors, having underestimated the demand, it seems to be as rare as hen's teeth, at least in Brisbane. I bought one of the few copies left in Brisbane as a father's day gift. The RRP is AU$44.95.

The contents are:

1. Introduction - In the Beginning by Sheila Newman

Part I: Measuring our predicament

2. 101 Views from Hubbert's Peak by Sheila Newman
3. Prediction of World Peak Oil Production by Seppo Korpela
4. The Assessment and Importance of Oil Depletion by Colin Campbell
5. Coal Resources of the World by Seppo Korpela

Part II: Geopolitics

6. The Caspian Chimera by Colin Campbell
7. Update to the Caspian Chimera by Sheila Newman
8. The Battle of the Titans by Mark Jones
9. Dark Continent, Black Gold by Andrew McKillop
10. The Chinese Car Bomb by Andrew McKillop
11. Venezuela, Chavez and Latin american Oil on the World Stage by Sheila Newman

Part III: The Big Picture: False Solutions, Hopes and Fears

12. No Choice but International Energy Transition by Andrew McKillop
13. Population, Energy and Economic Growth: The Moral Dilemma by Ross McCluney
14. Renewable Energy Limits by Ross McCluney
15. Peak Soil by Alice Friedemann
16. Notes on Terra Preta by Sheila Newman
17. Nuclear Fission Power Options by Sheila Newman
18. Fusion Ilusions Michael Dittmar
19. Geothermal by Sheila Newman

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Part IV: After Oil

20. France and Australia After Oil by Sheila Newman
21. North Korea:The Limits of Fossil-Energy Based Agricultural Systems by Antony Boys
22. How will Japan Feed itself without Fossil Energy? by Antony Boys
23. The Simpler Way by Ted Trainer
24. In the End: Thermodynamics and the Necessity of Protecting the Natural World by Sheila Newman

For more information, please visit http://candobetter.org/TFEC

Overnight, Forrest had come up with a brilliant idea for his absolutely capital wind farm that he hadn't yet actually had to fork out any (well, much) money for to buy the turbines and pylons with. Forrest was no 'socialist blogger' (he was actually more a running dog monarchist imperialist war-mongering capitalist colonialist interventionist reactionary revisionist male chauvinistic peeg, if it was possible to label him at all), and he did his own ideas!

What if, Forrest thought, he didn't actually build his absolutely capital wind farm, but just took out a lease with option to buy over a nice Sydney CBD penthouse apartment with 360 degree views, and rented not-too-ostentatious office space just a lift trip and a moving footpath walk away from his digs? He could simply run an electricity futures and trading business, having, as he did, that nice 20 year government contract for $9 million worth of off-peak electricity at a present price differential of 100% over market rates. Maybe worth to Forrest around $4 million a year, nett of expenses.

Of course, the bonanza might not last the full 20 years, but hey, so what if it didn't? Forrest could pull the plug at any time, and still be well in front. Still, it would be good to be able to take full advantage of that $180 million indexed to inflation cash flow for the full period. Mustn't be greedy, Forrest reminded himself. $4 million a year was not to be sneezed at!

Always look on the bright side of life, Forrest reminded himself. Even if he didn't actually build his own Wind Garden of the Dispossessed, Forrest knew that plenty of others would build theirs. Wind farms were all the rage. Forrest reckoned that by the time 2011 had passed, he would probably be able to buy peak electricity futures backed by real producing assets having an even greater price differential with his gilt-edged contract to supply.

Forrest suddenly felt very good about not having actually built those wind turbines.

Privatised life was marvelous!

Forrest changed desktops now that the video-conference had ended. For all of his digital saurianism, Forrest found Ubuntu a real cool operating system.

The huge 48 inch CRT screen that Forrest had been able to afford soon after moving into his CBD penthouse made it seem like people were right there in the room with you in such circumstances. It was always a pleasure talking with Hu. Had it not been for the video-conferencing capability, Forrest would never have really believed that Hu it really was when he had first been approached to provide foreign affairs consultancy services for the Middle Kingdom. The thing was, it was hard to digitally fake a vidconf, especially when the things you were given advanced knowledge of or were able to preview later got televised on the news services world-wide. So Forrest knew these little chats, through the interpreter, were the real deal.

Hu had been completely bowled over by Forrest's suggestion of appointing the Dalai Lama as governor-general of the prospective Gouvernement General of South West Asia, as it was referred to in English. That move, Hu could see, would do much to cement the legitimacy of the occupation forces in the eyes of the rest of the world. Everyone knew that the GG of SWA needed a cultural revolution, even if they didn't dare say so out loud, but Forrest had and did, and Hu was forever grateful.

Only the Middle Kingdom could do cultural revolutions the way cultural revolutions needed to be done.

Hu had learned from Forrest that Australia had had a Ming dynasty, too. One that had done so much in just a few short years to advance the Middle Kingdom's interests.

"'The kid fist in an iron glove': is not that the saying in English?", Hu had asked in Mandarin, with just the slightest trace of a smile. Ever one to oil the wheels of progress, Forrest had agreed that that was pretty much it, rather than spoil things by revealing anything had been lost in translation.

Hu was sometimes misunderstood.

Just about everyone seemed dazed by the palace revolution.

Just about everyone knew something had to be done to really change things up, but equally recognised that there was no visible viable alternative to effect it, politically speaking.

The new Premier was talking of a billion dollar hole in the budget. Forrest reckoned he knew where the hole was: it was halfway between the new railway stations of Far Kurnell and Towkesville on the proposed loopline serving the Kurnell Peninsula. It was the desalinator! It was against Forrest's own pecuniary interests to even hint at this, but he had actually spoken out quite forthrightly against not so much desalination, as against this particular pathway to that end at that place.

Forrest had indicated desalination could be effected much more economically in conjunction with NSW's coal-fired electricity generation using waste heat in reduced-pressure distillation of seawater rather than by reverse osmosis with all of its concomitant ongoing expendables costs. He had indicated this in various posts throughout this here OLO thread: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=495&page=0#9790 It seemed incredible that OLO would not have been being monitored by someone in Macquarie St at the time, and that those doing the monitoring would not have recognised the relevance of the suggestions in a NSW context. Maybe they found the posting dates of some posts a little off-putting.

Even the power station near Wallerawang could have seawater piped to it for cooling purposes and subsequent desalination and then discharge into the Cox's River, with the desalinated water ultimately ending up as extra inflow into Warragamba Dam.

As usual, nobody had paid the slightest attention to any of the advice Forrest had freely given.

Admittedly, this waste heat utilization for desalination did seem to depend for its implementation upon NSW hanging on to its electricity business. Perhaps that was the problem. It seemed as if all State governments were somehow committed to selling out from their electricity businesses no matter what.

It seemed there was somehow a South Australian connection involved.

I have taken the time to look at possible outcomes from the power sell of.
Rees having been handed the poisoned challis in my view will sell the arms and legs.
The next elected government from what ever side will sell the rest.
We will all pay more for less service.
What next?
What will we no longer own?
I do have faith in Rees, he and his team will indeed give it a red hot go, but we will pay for others sins.
In time some form of people power will arise and it must to see an end to the idea private ownership of things as important as power, water health and maybe education is the best way.