Interesting Energy Posts

I'm wrapping up for the week, and I just want to leave a couple of interesting posts on energy policy and economics.

1. The Oil Drum has an interesting post arguing that Saudi Arabian crude oil production has reached its peak sometime in the two years and that the ultimately recoverable reserves are far less than official Saudi statements.
   
2. Political Diktat is linking to a story that Shell has patented a method of shale-oil extraction that is economical and profitable if we assume that WTI and Brent crude prices stay above $30/bbl. I wonder what the CO2 implications would be for a tripling of proven and economically viable global oil reserves.
3. Michael O'Hare at Same Facts is pushing some good basic policy analysis on the different types of bio-fuels that are available. He dives into EROI, soil erosion trade-offs and fertilization rates... interesting stuff when we talk about ethanol as there are many flavors of ethanol and corn based ethanol is actually some pretty nasty stuff from an environmental and carbon cycle angle.