Monthly Archives: January 2019

Vaclav Smil. Making the modern world: materials and dematerialization

Posted on January 30, 2019 by

Preface.  I can’t believe I read this book, it is just a long litany of the  gigantic amounts of materials we exploit, with no analysis, implications, or the meaning of what impact this will have on the planet. I certainly … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Steam engines. Exergy power. and work in the US

Posted on January 27, 2019 by

Preface.  At some point of fossil fuel decline future generations will be tempted to build steam engines again, and perhaps just as in America initially they’ll use wood to fuel the engines, since coal will be scarce at some point … Continue reading →

Posted in Coal | Tagged , | 5 Comments

238 academics call on the EU to plan for a post-growth future

Posted on January 24, 2019 by

Preface. We know there’s going to be no growth soon due to peak oil and limits to growth, and ought to be planning for it so that the financial system doesn’t “freak out” and crash like Humpty Dumpty, beyond repair.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks

Posted on January 21, 2019 by

Preface. I’m fascinated by system risks, so I’ve included this, though there’s no awareness at all of peak oil or limits to growth or that energy, not money, is the basis of civilization and foundation of every single widget made … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon, Financial | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Science magazine on Peak Sand 2017 and 2018

Posted on January 18, 2019 by

[ Sand is essential to make concrete, glass, silicon for computer chips, and many other products (longer list in Peak Sand), so no wonder top journal “Science” has had two articles on this topic. Sand mining also ruins ecosystems, lessens … Continue reading →

Posted in Sand, Tsunami | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Jorg Friedrichs: The future is not what it used to be. climate change and energy scarcity

Posted on January 14, 2019 by

Preface. This book ranges across many topics and I’ve only included a few bits and pieces.  Friedrichs discusses what to do, recovery, denial, migration, historically how Japan, North Korea, and Cuba reacted to sudden energy decline and based on their … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

60 minutes promotes biomass scam

Posted on January 11, 2019 by

Preface. Hey 60 minutes, do some fact checking first. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts: Practical Prepping, KunstlerCast 253, KunstlerCast278, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomass, Far Out | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Lakes run dry from too much water extraction and climate change

Posted on January 8, 2019 by

Preface.   I think that declining oil will be the main cause of civilization to collapse, since it is the energy that makes all other activities possible, but there are so many other contenders I wonder if scholars in the future … Continue reading →

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Deep-sea trawling harms biodiversity and carbon storage

Posted on January 5, 2019 by

Preface. Overfishing has eliminated 90% of the world’s large predatory fishes and is devastating marine ecosystems. Bottom trawling is one of the most devastating ways our oceans are being overfished, degraded and biodiversity destroyed .  This industry tossed 437 million … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Fisheries, Fishery destruction, Peak Food | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Deep-sea trawling harms biodiversity and carbon storage

Fusion is the only possible way to replace fossil fuels. So how is ITER doing?

Posted on January 2, 2019 by

Preface. This website, and my book, When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the future of transportation, and Martin Hoffert, et al in the 2002 Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet, Science. Vol 298 argue … Continue reading →

Posted in Fusion | Tagged , , | 3 Comments