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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: July 2013
Northern California marijuana harms ecosystem, has huge carbon footprint. Legalize ASAP!
A book review by Alice Friedemann of Emily Brady’s 2013 book: “Humboldt. Life on America’s marijuana frontier.” The tales I hear from my friends in Mendocino and Humboldt counties fascinate me. There are stories of mayors and sheriffs on opposite … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture
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Eric Sibul on the history of replacing railroads with roads: a disaster
A review of: Sibul, Eric. 26 Apr 2013. Transportation Readings for American Conservatives – How did we get in such a Mess? The American Conservative. My main problem with this article is that it heaps all the blame on liberals, … Continue reading
Posted in Railroads
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Exponential growth and carrying capacity
Watch it happen — see the populations of major cities grow in these animated maps that reveal in 60 seconds how cities have exploded in size over the last 130 years Al Bartlett, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Colorado, … Continue reading
Posted in Exponential Growth, Limits To Growth
Tagged exponential growth, limits to growth
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Photovoltaic solar has many problems
Although sunlight is renewable, photovoltaic panels aren’t. PV isn’t ready yet. NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab) lists the technical barriers below in: PV Roadmap. U.S. Dept of Energy National Center for Photovoltaics. Lack of widespread availability of low-cost feedstock and … Continue reading
Posted in Photovoltaic Solar
Tagged solar, subsidies
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Solar 1 and 2 in the United States
Howard Hayden estimates Solar Two would need to take up 127 square miles to produce as much energy as a 1000-MWe power plant does in one year. (Solar Fraud, p. 187). According to Robert Bradley Jr, Solar One was very … Continue reading
Posted in Concentrated Solar Power
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Lack of water threatens energy production
July 2013. U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather. 18 July 2013. Katherine Tweed. Collision Between Water and Energy Is Underway, and Worsening. spectrum.ieee.org 24 July 2013. Bloomberg News. China Coal-Fired Economy Dying of Thirst as Mines … Continue reading
Posted in Energy Production
Tagged water and energy production
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Trillion of dollars of debt and unfunded liabilities
Unfunded liabilities Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff has calculated that the U.S. government is facing unfunded liabilities of 222 trillion dollars in the years ahead. To name just a few: Medicare and Medicaid, social security, service treasury bonds, food stamps, … Continue reading
Posted in Debt
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Cities will go bankrupt
As the cost of energy keeps rising, and more and more “money” goes to obtaining energy, which leaves less for everything else. And since capitalism depends on growth, but we’re on the cusp of shrinking back to the stone age, … Continue reading
Posted in Debt
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Survival: stay out of institutions
I’ve always been amazed at how many people are not in the labor force and that the taxes on those who work can support everyone else. Including those who are institutionalized. On the other hand, I ran across a survivalist … Continue reading
Posted in Advice
Tagged institutionalized, juvenile detention, nursing home, peak oil, prison, wheelchair
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NG vehicles: 15 million world-wide, up to $1.7 million per NG filling station
14 July 2013. Energy Burrito. 10 Points To Consider In The Natural-Gas-Vehicle Debate. oilprice.com The perception of natural gas as a mainstream fuel for vehicles runs the gamut, dependent upon where you live: from the improbable… to the viable… to … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Gas Vehicles
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