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: August 2017
Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations: Biofuels make it worse
Preface. In 2018 I thought it was time to reorganize this post, as it grew more and more bloated and disorganized with new information. Eventually it turned into my 2021 book Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels, Peak Topsoil, Soil
Tagged aquifer depletion, biodiesel, biofuel, climate change, EROEI, EROI, erosion, ethanol, fertilizer, hunger, peak soil, pollution, topsoil
2 Comments
Book review of “1493 Uncovering the new world Columbus Created”
[ This book will be included in the “must read” category of my giant booklist when I get around to updating it. This book isn’t just about the past, the implications reverberate into the postcarbon future. Will slavery return without … Continue reading
Posted in 2) Collapse, Agriculture, Disease, Pesticides, Soil
Tagged ecology, Famine, pesticides, potatoes, rubber, slavery
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Transportation: How long can we adapt before we fall off the Net Energy Cliff?
Preface. There are too many factors besides geological depletion to predict a future timeline of collapse. Plus each region will be more or less affected by each factor, sooner or later as well. This is a unique crash – there … Continue reading
Responding to arctic oil spills
Preface. It is nuts to put oil rigs in an area with such vast amounts of ice on the move, and all the additional dangers listed below. No wonder there’s little to no drilling. It’s too expensive to keep oil … Continue reading
Overfishing is driving large marine creatures extinct
[Overfishing is driving marine mammals extinct. Luckily oil will soon begin a relentless decline and fishing boats won’t be able to travel to the ends of the world using spotter planes to net the remaining schools of fish. And it … Continue reading
Posted in Extinction, Fisheries, Scientists Warnings to Humanity
Tagged extinction, fishery, marine, overfishing
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Pigeon towers to cope with peak phosphate and natural gas fertilizer?
[ Natural gas based fertilizers intensified crop production per acre up to 5-fold, yet natural gas, like phosphate, is finite. We are going to be forced to reinvent our fossil-based agriculture, why not start with pigeon towers? Beats going to … Continue reading
Posted in Farming & Ranching, Peak Phosphorus
Tagged agriculture, phosphate, pigeon towers, what to do
3 Comments
Book review of “In order to live: A North Korean girl’s journey to freedom” by Yeonmi Park
Related Posts North Korea collapse posts How different nations have coped with oil shortages Dmitry Orlov: How Russians survived the collapse of the Soviet Union A book review of “Russia’s Food Policies and Globalization” Lessons Learned from How Cuba Survived … Continue reading
Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, North Korea, Oil shock collapse
Tagged North Korea, survival
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Summary of German Armed Forces Peak Oil Study
[This is a summary I first published in 2011. It’s important, so I’ve re-posted it today. According to Der Spiegel this study was leaked and not meant for publication. The document concludes that the public must be made aware of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, GOVERNMENT, Government study predictions, Military, Over Oil, Peak Oil, Peak Resources, War, War Books
Tagged and Technologies, Armed Forces, Capabilities, collapse, fast crash, german peak oil, in the 21st Century Environmental Dimensions of Security, market crash, peak oil, war
4 Comments
Nitrogen fertilizer poses significant threats to humans and the environment
NRC. 2015. A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System. National Research Council, National Academies Press. 19 pages. Nitrogen (N) is essential for agricultural productivity, but in its more reactive forms, it can pose significant threats to humans … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Fisheries, Groundwater, Planetary Boundaries, Pollution, Soil
Tagged agriculture, fertilizer, nitrogen, runoff
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Water resources infrastructure deteriorating
[ Water infrastructure has inter-dependencies with other essential infrastructure, if dams or levees fail, agriculture and electric power suffer, towns and homes flooded. If ports along the ocean and inland water ways aren’t maintained and waterways dredged, the by far … Continue reading
Posted in Dams, Interdependencies, Water Infrastructure
Tagged dams, hydropower, infrastructure, levees
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