Energy Transition Engineering

Is a Mining Company Prospecting Near Your Town? Policy advice for towns and regions surviving the lifecycle of mining Susan Krumdieck advice to New Zealand Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons The story told by policy makers and mining companies is that mining and resource extraction is good for the economy - IT MAKES THE ECONOMY GROW. This is of course true, but it is only half the truth.   Mining is always a boom and bust cycle. We have not found any examples, amongst all of the clever people on the planet, where anyone has  somehow made extraction of a finite resource into a perpetual benefit proposition. The people who have invested in building the new houses for the mining town and infrastructure for milling and freight, will have jobs for a time and then will move on. During the build up phase, the local schools, clinics, water supply, sewer system and police service will be overwhelmed and service will suffer. The commun...

Peak Oil!  There is a big problem, and we are going to have to deal with it. Is it possible to actually come out ahead? The evidence has long been clear that oil resources are finite, and production will peak and go into decline early this century.  The question is, why there has been so little high-level policy action?  What about the proposition that dealing with the complex changes involved in the transition to oil supply contraction requires new kinds of engineering modelling and analysis.   There are no miracle technologies that will mitigate the need for major policy, economic, infrastructure and land use changes.  Researchers have the responsibility to develop new methods and tools necessary for policy makers and planners to manage this unaccustomed change.  Without the right tools, the policy choice is between denying the problem and hoping for miracles.   With the right Transition Engineering tools, the policy choices are abo...