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: April 2018
World’s first multi-million dollar carbon-capture plant does work of just $17,640 worth of trees
Preface. This is a shortened and reworded version of the original article. Obviously, since we’re at the peak of global fossil fuel production, when the plateau ends sometime between now and 2025 and production declines exponentially, greenhouse gas emissions will … Continue reading
Posted in Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), Climate Change
Tagged carbon capture, climate change, what to do
1 Comment
From wood to fossil fueled civilizations — the greatest tragedy mankind will ever know
Preface. These are my notes from this book about how we went from an organic sustainable economy to a temporary fossil-fueled one. It’s one of the few books I’ve found that explains what life was like before fossil fuels in … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Life Before Oil, Supply Chains
Tagged agriculture, biomass, coal, food, industrial revolution, transition, wood
5 Comments
Can the lights be kept on with distributed generation? 2015 U.S. House hearing on a reliable electric system
Preface. Corporate speakers testify mainly, rather than less biased researchers from universities or national laboratories. Corporations are selling a product, and likely to exaggerate what their product can do. The most interesting testimony is from Dean Kamen, who is “selling” … Continue reading
Posted in Congressional Record U.S., Distributed Generation, Grid instability
Tagged distributed energy, generators, house of representatives
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Why facts don’t change our mind
Preface. Below are excerpts from this article. Longish descriptions of various studies at Stanford and elsewhere lead to conclusions such as that once formed, impressions are remarkably perserverant, and even after the evidence for their beliefs has been totally refuted, … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking
Tagged critical thinking
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Peak Cobalt
Preface. Electric vehicles use many other finite platinum group elements, precious elements, and rare earth elements. And there are many challenges batteries must overcome. In addition, the electric grid can’t stay up without utility scale energy storage of at least … Continue reading
Posted in Peak Critical Elements
Tagged battery, cobalt, critical element, peak
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Blackouts in the news
Preface. Richard C Duncan proposed an “Olduvai Theory” that the current industrial civilization would have a maximum duration of 100 years from 1930 to 2030. A key indicator the End Was Near would be when partial and total blackouts began … Continue reading
Posted in Blackouts, Blackouts Electric Grid
Tagged blackout, Duncan, electric grid, middle east, Olduvai gorge, right wing, terrorism
1 Comment
Why it is futile to think that Wind could ever make a significant contribution to energy supplies
Matt Ridley. May 15, 2017. Wind turbines are neither clean nor green and they provide zero global energy. Even after 30 years of huge subsidies, it provides about zero energy. The Spectator. The Global Wind Energy Council recently released its … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Wind
Tagged alternative energy, energy, wind
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Richard Heinberg on why low oil prices do not mean there is plenty of oil, EROI, collapse
[ Yet another wise, thoughtful, and wide-ranging essay from my favorite writer of the many facets of a civilization about to decline as it is starved of the fossil fuels that feed it. Although the topics are quite varied, Heinberg … Continue reading
Posted in Oil, Peter Turchin, Richard Heinberg, Social Disorder
Tagged 100% renewable, collapse, EROI, oil, prices, richard heinberg, social instability, violence
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Oil theft around the world: Cartels and exploding donkeys
Preface. Oil thefts cost Nigerian oil producers at least $18 billion a year. In Mexico, cartels spend only $5-8,000 to tap into pipelines and withdraw “unlimited” amounts of gasoline, and did so 7,000 times in 2016, resulting in $1 billion … Continue reading
Posted in Peak Oil, Threats to oil supply
Tagged oil, production, theft
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How horses changed native cultures after 1492
[ This is a very brief overview of Peter Mitchel’s “Horse Nations”. As oil and other fossils decline, will we will almost certainly return to using more horse “muscle power” as we did in the past. Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com author … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Farming & Ranching, Muscle Power
Tagged horses, muscle power, pack animals
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