Monthly Archives: February 2017

Why railroads are against running locomotives on natural gas

Posted on February 27, 2017 by

Since oil is finite, natural gas was seen as a fuel that could extend how long oil lasted by being a “bridge” fuel.  Since natural gas is finite also, and would lead to dependence on unstable foreign nations, the plan … Continue reading →

Posted in LNG Liquified Natural Gas, Natural Gas Vehicles, Railroads | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Oil discoveries in 2015 lowest since 1947 — 2016 likely to be even lower. Bloomberg

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

  Mikael, H. August 29, 2016. Oil Discoveries at 70-Year Low Signal Supply Shortfall Ahead. Bloomberg. Explorers in 2015 discovered only about a tenth as much oil as they have annually on average since 1960. This year, they’ll probably find … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Peak Oil | Tagged , | 1 Comment

EROI explained and defended by Charles Hall, Pedro Prieto, and others

Posted on February 21, 2017 by

[ If you found this post interesting, the following posts are even better (more detailed and in-depth): Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar PV, Part 1 Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles A. S. Hall, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Pedro Prieto | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

Posted on February 18, 2017 by

[ The extract of a Senate hearing below is mostly spent on testimony by utilities bashing the railroads for not delivering enough coal due to a disaster in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming area, where coal dust infiltrated the stone … Continue reading →

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Do taxes cover the cost to maintain your street?

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

From: http://mapstoryblog.thenittygritty.org/costofstreets/  Are Your Taxes Paying for the Cost of Your Street? Believe it or not, almost everywhere in the country, people are not paying for the cost of the street right in front of their own properties. I made a … Continue reading →

Posted in Roads, Transportation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Book review of “Empires and Barbarians: the fall of Rome and the birth of Europe”

Posted on February 14, 2017 by

[ After these introductory comments is my book review of Heather’s “Empires and Barbarians: the fall of Rome and the birth of Europe. What follows is from Ward-Perkins “The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization” about the role … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Roman Empire, Supply Chains | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Book review of “Empires and Barbarians: the fall of Rome and the birth of Europe”

Why self-driving cars may not be in your future

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

Preface. Below are excerpts from four articles about why an automated vehicle is unlikely.   Researchers have found that people will drive 76% more miles, and stop using bicycles, mass transit, and services like Lyft and Uber, so they’d be … Continue reading →

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Nuclear war between India and Pakistan more likely, up to a billion deaths

Posted on February 12, 2017 by

[ It doesn’t take an all out war between the United States and Russia to cause a billion or more deaths.  Even a small war could do that (Robok, A. 2007. Climatic consequences of regional nuclear conflicts. Atmospheric Chemistry and … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction, Nuclear, Terrorism | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Gail Tverberg: 2017 The year the world economy starts coming apart

Posted on February 9, 2017 by

[ Note: In a 2016 post “Overly Simple Energy-Economy Models Give Misleading Answers” Tverberg points out that: “The common lay interpretation of simple models is that running out of energy supplies can be expected to be our overwhelming problem in … Continue reading →

Posted in Limits To Growth, Net Energy Cliff | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Why is Detroit falling apart so fast?

Posted on February 6, 2017 by

Using Google street view history, www.goobingdetroit.com records the decay of homes in Detroit. Above shows homes September 2009, September 2011, and September 2013 I’ve been fascinated with the decline of Detroit since a guy in my dormitory told me back … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon, Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Poverty | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Why is Detroit falling apart so fast?