The Sky is Falling

So this is my last post in my Minecraft themed energy blog. I have really enjoyed writing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed reading it and have found it informative. I am saying farewell to all my dear readers for now although I might write more posts in my blog in the future especially regarding the current economics crude oil prices situation. I will also update my blog if there are any major changes in the energy industry that occur in the foreseeable future. I have personally learned a lot about oil and energy and hope that you have all found my blog informative too. One of the reasons I picked this topic is because I am considering doing an MSc in geology or finance and energy thus now I feel like I have something to talk about at my interview if I do apply and actually know what I am talking about which is always a bonus. J I have also realized through writing this blog that I definitely find the topic interesting and am now seriously looking at MSc courses related to the energy industry.

A quick summary of my blog. In my blog I have covered The Anthropocene and climate change; global energy consumption; Malthusian theories of consumption; global distribution of oil as well as its formation and recovery methods; peak oil phenomenon and the debate of how much crude oil we have left; possible undiscovered oil reserves of the Arctic; non-conventional oil and the implication of its recovery; renewable energy; nuclear energy and disasters and a little bit about the current oil economics global affairs. Thus I have covered a whole scope of different areas including geography, economics, geology, photography and politics.

The slogan question at the top of my blog states: “Is it the apocalypse of the Black Gold era and what are the alternative- from dusk till dawn or are we all doomed?”. I think I have a little bit more knowledge to answer this question after the creation of my blog. Although I discovered that the crude oil situation on the planet is indeed a sorrow site, which is also quite scary, there are a lot of other potential sources of energy. Although all these areas such as yet undiscovered Arctic oil, non-conventional oil, renewable and nuclear energy all require a great amount of research still to be done, I think there is still time for the research to take place and humanity shall be ready for change, the day crude oil runs out. Unlike the peak oil documentary, it is clear that crude oil will not suddenly disappear so I think we don’t really have anything to worry about right now however more research is certainly needed. With those thoughts, I shall leave you all and I wish everyone an amazing 2015!

Thank you very much for reading,

The Creeper.

Postcards from Nuclear Disasters

As previously mentioned, nuclear disasters are a danger of nuclear energy and their effects can be devastating. The world has experienced three major nuclear catastphones- the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine (USSR at the time) in 1986, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 and the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. This post is a post of photos of the potential aftermath of nuclear catastrophes concentrating on Chernobyl as that was the worst catastrophe ever seen and the Fukushima Disaster as that occurred very recently.

 Figure 1.

Source. Deserted house in Chernobyl.

Figure 2.

Source. The abandones seating area at the hospital in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Figure 3.

Source. Gas masks left strewn across the floor inside one of the classrooms in the school in Chernobyl.

Figure 4.

Source. The Ferris Wheel, which used to be a local landmark is now deserted in Chernobyl

Figure 5.

Source. Disturbing post Chernobyl genetic mutations caused by radiation.

Figure 6.

Source. Fukushima disaster occurring.

Figure 7.

Source.  Fukushima post disaster.

Following the photographs, there is also a short video I’d like to share, which has been produced recently, almost 20 years after the Chernobyl disaster. It is called  “Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl” and whilst it is weirdly beautiful and aesthetic derelict city, it also sends shivers down your spine whilst you watch it. The most worrying thing is that after Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl reactor was enclosed in a large concrete sarcophagus. The lifespan of the old sarcophagus was meant to be 30 years and a new one was to be constructed by 2005 however the although the construction has began, it keeps getting delayed and it is very slow due to financial and political reasons. The old sarcophagus is rapidly falling apart and no one really known what would happen if it was to collapse. The site surrounding the reactor still has abnormally high radiation levels and one can only imagine what would happen if radiation is allowed to escape from the reactor below the sarcophagus once again.