New Titanic Disaster Discovery Points Way To Solving Global Warming And Fossil Fuel Shortages

Jodrell Bank radio telescope discovers faint radio echoes of last broadcasts from doomed ocean liner Titanic. World learns of hitherto unknown triumph of economic thinking with striking lessons for how to deal with global warming and predicted energy shortages! (Also see http://tx1.fcomet.com/~claverto/cms/professor-lowed-notes-similarity-between-birkenhead-disaster-and-complex-systems-such-as-politics-globalisasion-and-economics-the-banking-crisis-perhaps.html)   By: Brendan “Lunchtime” O’Toady *   Images courtesy Wikipedia.  It is well […]

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Dr Maitland Mackie discusses "a second agricultural revolution" based on community funding of wind energy assets

Dr Maitland Mackie, BSc (Agriculture), MA Hons (Economics), CBE, LL.D, FRAGS Existing power companies are scouring the country for sites to build wind turbines. While this offers some profit for landowners Dr Maitland Mackie has other ideas. His recently formed company proposes that those in rural areas retain most, if not all, of the profits available – nothing less than a new agricultural revolution.

Maitland, a comparatively new member of the Claverton group, formed the idea for an energy company owned by the rural sector having seen the financial and aesthetic success of the turbines installed by his three offspring who now run the family dairy and ice cream business in Aberdeenshire (Maitland says he now basks in the reflected glory of their efforts).

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Systemic Fiscal Reform – way to beat boom and bust

By Dr Adrian Wrigley, Neale Upstone and Robin Smith (10th Sept 2008) – SystemicfiscalReform.Org

Systemic Fiscal Reform is a radical programme for the reform of taxation, subsidies and welfare. It is designed to stabilize economies, improve quality of life, and facilitates the transition to full environmental sustainability.

The reforms mainly comprise the abolition of cumbersome and wasteful tax, welfare and subsidy systems, together with abolishing the bureaucracies which implement them.

In their place, a simple integrated tax and welfare system is introduced. This includes retaining a number of existing taxes which have been found to operate effectively where they have been tried.

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UK ENERGY SYSTEM COULD SUFFER SAME FATE AS BANKS, EXPERTS WARN

Representatives of an independent group of over 250 international energy and financial experts are meeting this week to reveal how the UK, Europe and other continents can run on renewable electricity for a similar price to that currently paid for fossil-based electricity. The Claverton Energy Research Group is also warning on the eve of its conference, which runs in Bath from 24-26 Oct, that current world governments’ energy policies are inadequate to meet growing global energy demands, and says serious action needs to be taken now!

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George Soros Agrees With Claverton?

During In an Interview on the Global Financial Crisis and investment in Energy, George Soros appears to agree with Claverton Group’s previously expressed views. In an interesting ‘Global Viewpoint’ article distributed by Tribune Media Services Inc, entitled “My Interview with George Soros: End of Financial Crisis Could Be in Sight” it seems that George has caught up with our thinking, in that he says what the markets (or government!) should be investing in is new/ alternative energy sources:

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Carbon Pools – Financing Energy after Peak Credit

By Chris Cooke

2008 Conference Paper Synopsis

1/ Conventional Financing – involves both “asset-based finance” (Investment) and “deficit-based” finance (Debt), typically “secured” or “asset-backed.”

– investment is either “Public” – by the State – or “Private’ through a legal entity known as a “Joint Stock Limited Liability Company.”

2/ Peak Credit and the Credit Crunch – following last year’s point of “Peak Credit” conventional “deficit-based” financing is drying up rapidly, and probably permanently.

3/ “Equity – but not as we know it, Jim” – using legal frameworks which are not based upon Company Law, but upon Trust and Partnership Law.

4/ Introducing the Carbon Pool – a simple new investment mechanism where assets remain in Public ownership, but investors could buy Energy Units redeemable against units of energy eg 10 Kilo Watt Hours.

– Carbon Pool funds may then be created, unitised, funded by a carbon levy and used to invest directly in renewable energy (“MegaWatts”) or energy savings (“NegaWatts”).

5/ Outcomes – by creating, and Unitising energy – with intrinsic value – energy value of carbon may be monetised rather than monetising by government “fiat” intrinsically worthless CO2, or TEQ’s .

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