Monthly Archives: January 2013

Natural Gas statistics

Posted on January 25, 2013 by

As I run across news items with the latest data, I add them here. 25 Jan 2013. Rush to Natural Gas has Coal-fired utilities Seeing Red. Wall Street Journal. Electricity from Natural Gas is now 30%, up 12% from 10 … Continue reading →

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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

Posted on January 25, 2013 by

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 →

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Why is modern concrete falling apart?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

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? It appears there’s very little testing of projects later on … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

How long will concrete last if it isn’t maintained?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

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 | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Century from Now Concrete Will be Nothing But Rubble

Posted on January 19, 2013 by

Photo: road abandoned since 1984 in the Florida Keys Concrete is an essential part of our infrastructure. And it’s all falling apart, as Robert Courland’s 2011 book Concrete Planet makes clear. The Romans built concrete structures that lasted over 2 … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Predictions, Roads | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What is global EROI now? A Review of 2012 EROI of Global Energy Resources

Posted on January 16, 2013 by

Jessica Lambert, Nov 2012. Charles Hall, et. al. EROI of Global Energy Resources Preliminary Status and Trends.  State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry This 41 page pdf is full of graphs, how EROI is calculated, … Continue reading →

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Peak Coal is already here or likely by 2020 — if true — IPCC 100 year projections too high?

Posted on January 8, 2013 by

November 2013.  Peak Coal in America.  This article makes the case we’ve got only 20 years of coal left, not 200 years. Paige, S. Oct 29, 2013. Peak Oil May Keep Catastrophic Climate Change in Check. Scientists suggest that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, CO2 and Methane, Coal, Global Warming, Runaway Greenhouse | 1 Comment

Up to 9% of Methane lost in leaks erodes green credentials of natural gas

Posted on January 4, 2013 by

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 →

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Professor Tad Patzek on Oil in the Arctic

Posted on January 4, 2013 by

Tad Patzek. 29 Dec 2012. Oil in the Arctic. LifeItself blog. Tad Patzek is a Professor and Chairman of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Austin. Here are some of the difficulties with drilling … Continue reading →

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