Categories
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Recent Posts
- Rare Earth updates: recent research on why complex & intelligent life are rare in the Universe
- Book review of “Chip War” and the Fragility of microchips
- The tremendous material and energy toll of the digital economy
- Nuclear attack on U.S. could kill 90% of Americans
- What percent of Americans are rational?
- Book review of Lights Out. A Cyberattack. A Nation Unprepared. Surviving the Aftermath
- Off-Road vehicles & equipment need diesel fuel
- Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”
- Mental Health. Coping with the future: notes from Jackson & Jensen’s “An Inconvenient Apocalypse”
- Tesla Semi trucks hauling corn chips
- What is the plan for an electric grid outage that lasts for months?
- Where to be? Links to Superfund, hazardous waste and other toxic sites in U.S.
- Why methanol cannot replace petroleum in shipping
- Why is everyone afraid of AI taking over? It makes stuff up!
- Do you want to eat, drink, or fly?
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Natural Gas Facts and Statistics
SBC. October 2014. Factbook Natural Gas Factbook. SBC Energy Institute 83% of natural gas comes from conventional reservoirs: 2.9 trillion cubic meters 13% of reservoirs account for 70% of global reserves The number of discoveries of giant fields has fallen … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Gas
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Humans are a ‘plague on Earth’: Sir David Attenborough warns that negative effects of population growth will come home to roost
22 Jan 2013. Humans are a ‘plague on Earth’: Sir David Attenborough warns that negative effects of population growth will come home to roost. The Independent. TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough has warned that human beings have become a “plague … Continue reading
Posted in Overpopulation
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UK Government: Food, energy, water & the climate. A perfect storm of global events?
John Beddington. December 12, 2012. Food, Energy, Water and Climate change: A perfect storm of global events? Government Office For Science. Kingsgate House. 66-74 Victoria street. London SUMMARY There is an intrinsic link between the challenge we face to ensure … Continue reading
Posted in Interdependencies
Tagged overpopulation
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Why is modern concrete falling apart?
Here’s more information from Courland’s book “Concrete Planet” and other information I found on the web since I wrote Enough energy after Peak Oil to rebuild and repair concrete infrastructure? Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory has been trying to figure out … Continue reading
How long will concrete last if it isn’t maintained?
As energy grows scarcer and is devoted to growing food and other life-support services, our infrastructure will crumble. Bob Holmes. 12 Oct 2006. Imagine Earth without people. NewScientist.com Lack of maintenance will spell an early demise for buildings, roads, bridges … Continue reading
Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure & Collapse
Tagged concrete, peak oil
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What is global EROI now? A Review of 2012 EROI of Global Energy Resources
[ FYI the USDA recently updated the numbers on the energy balance of corn ethanol in 2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry. Todd “Ike” Kiefer has written a rebuttal that can be found here. Past articles of his include … Continue reading
Posted in EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested
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Peak Coal already happened or likely soon, so worst IPCC scenarios may never happen
[ The good news is that The IPCC has greatly exaggerated the amount of coal reserves we actually have The scientists below find that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has greatly exaggerated coal reserves, so the IPCC scenario … Continue reading
Posted in But not from climate change: Peak Fossil Fuels, Climate Change, CO2 and Methane, Coal, Global Warming, Peak Coal, Planetary Boundaries, Runaway Greenhouse
Tagged peak coal
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Up to 9% of Methane lost in leaks erodes green credentials of natural gas
Jeff Tollefson. 2 Jan 2013. Methane leaks erode green credentials of natural gas. Losses of up to 9% show need for broader data on US gas industry’s environmental impact. Nature, volume 493 Scientists are once again reporting alarmingly high methane … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Natural Gas
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Professor Tad Patzek on Oil in the Arctic
[Shell spent 10 years and $7 billion before withdrawing from exploring the arctic because the oil and gas reserves they found were too meager. The company needed “a multi-billion barrel discovery” to “justify going ahead,” Shell chief executive Ben van … Continue reading
Posted in Arctic
Tagged arctic oil, cost, risk
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