yet another energy war (yaew)

[reverancepavane]

There was a quite interesting strategic planning paper done by NASA in the 70's that investigated the feasibility of developing a viable space-based infrastructure on purely economic grounds, absent national pride considerations. One thing they concentrated on (being engineers and such-like) was energy resources and the need for those resources to support the burgeoning terrestrial infrastructure and development. Needless to say, it wasn't very optimistic, given who wrote it and when it was written. But one of the spin-off corollaries of this paper was the statement "that the turn of the century shall see an increase in the number of armed conflicts to seize or deny access to energy resources." It was expected that the intensity of these so-called energy wars would increase once the Hubbert Peak had passed. So it is of absolutely no surprise to read that Russian "peacekeepers" have invaded Georgia attacked the Georgian national army in the province of South Ossetia, since both states desire the access this area gives to Black Sea Oil. It is also of little surprise that this event seems to have been swallowed up by the coverage of the Olympics in many news venues. Which is a pity, as I was really looking forward to seeing the response of the Confederate Air Force to the news that "The Russians have invaded Georgia."

Comments

[maelorin]

keeping the peace. one oilrig at a time.

[halfflat.livejournal.com]

If conflict is going to be primarily over energy resources, then it does seem that one of the best investments a superpower can make would be a big-expenditure high-return energy project, such as orbital solar.

Bit vulnerable to 'unfriendly powers', but one could either buy them off and make them dependent by offering same cheap energy, or use that energy in a more, ahem, focused manner.

[damienw]

indeed, once we have chromed the moon, the orbital solar transmitters will be able to achieve much greater incident energies.

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

Please don't chrome the moon. It is hard enough to sleep now. Seriously, if anyone needed any more impetus to really look away from oil... (and I don't accept the argument that we can't.)
Mind you I have to conclude Gerogia's military (and politicians) are both dim and inneffectual. Rule of thumb: military action 'get a bigger hammer, that always solves everything.' If you're american, get even bigger hammer with more ammo. If you are russian... the same applies but with far worse aim. Collateral damage, and overkill are synonymous with russian military operations, along with a very big hammer. I could have seen this coming a mile off. Surely anyone with brains could?