As energy markets destabilize and old alliances fracture, we look back at our foundational analysis on how civilizations respond to tectonic pressure.
Category Archives: Climate Change, Planetary Boundaries and Geopolitics
WATCH OUT – The Iran War, Saudi Arabia, and the Houthis
What:
Saudi Arabia is a key actor in the US-Israel vs Iran war thanks to its strategy and geographical location. As a result of the conflict, Saudi Arabia could see its place as major regional actor enhanced. On the short term, much hinges on future Houthis’ actions…
Why the Messenger Still Gets Shot — And What You Can Do About It – Video
(Art design – featured image: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) During a meeting with senior leaders and decision-makers, one participant remarked how difficult it is to warn about impending or future danger. Doing so entails the risk of being labelled negative or unpleasant, and ultimately pushed aside. In such conditions, how can we carry out proper strategic foresight …
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Petrodollars for AI – Is AI the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry ?
(Art direction and design; illustration created with AI: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) Aramco, the Saudi state-owned giant oil company has developed “Metabrain”, an extremely powerful Large Language Model (LLM), with 250 billion parameters, and a trillion parameters version planned for launch by the end of 2025. Metabrain is trained with the oil and geological data that the …
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Uranium for the U.S. Nuclear Renaissance – 2: Towards a global geopolitical race
(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-CarliPhotos credits : Didier Descouens & Egor Kamelev) The uranium requirements created by the planned American nuclear renaissance are immense and unprecedented (see Helene Lavoix, “Uranium for the U.S. Nuclear Renaissance: Meeting Unprecedented Requirements (1)“, The Red Team Analysis Society, 27 November 2024). Yet, the production of uranium in the …
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Uranium for the U.S. Nuclear Renaissance – 1: Meeting Unprecedented Requirements
(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) The U.S. has planned for a Nuclear Renaissance. It aims to reach 300 GWe capacity by 2050 for nuclear energy and envisions two scenarios to reach this goal (U.S. Department of Energy -DOE, Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear, 30 September 2024). Developing the future American fleet of reactors implies …
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Towards a U.S. Nuclear Renaissance?
(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) On 30 September 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published the latest edition of the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear. Its aim is to contribute to accelerate advanced nuclear reactors’ commercial deployment in support of U.S. objectives in terms of nuclear energy, necessary notably to achieve its …
Niger: a New Severe Threat for the Future of France’s Nuclear Energy?
(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) Article updated to include October 2024 and early November 2024 events. On 19 June 2024, Niger has revoked French nuclear state company Orano’s mining permit for the Imouraren mine. This means that Orano – and thus France – loses 47% of its uranium reserves, when an era of renewal …
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Revisiting Uranium Supply Security (1)
(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) In December 2023, twenty two governments and the nuclear industry decided to treble nuclear energy by 2050. If we are to meet this objective, then the corresponding uranium supply must be adequate. Globally, there is enough uranium to see the aims met (see Uranium and the Renewal of Nuclear …
The Future of Uranium Demand – China’s Surge
(Art direction and design: Jean-Dominique Lavoix-Carli) The world is poised to make the effort to treble its nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Even though uranium reserves are meant to be abundant and widespread worldwide, the necessity of producing uranium from mines, with long timelines from exploration to extraction and milling, added to the fate of …
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