Monthly Archives: May 2019

Book review of Jaczko’s “Confessions of a rogue nuclear regulator”

Posted on May 21, 2019 by

Preface. After presenting a lot of evidence for why nuclear power plants are inherently unsafe, Jaczko concludes: “There is only one logical answer: we must stop generating nuclear waste, and that means we must stop using nuclear power. You would … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuclear, Nuclear, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Power, Nuclear spent fuel fire | Tagged | Leave a comment

The global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity

Posted on May 18, 2019 by

Preface.  Although I consider peak oil to be the largest threat, since all other resources and economic activities depend on it, we’re faced with a convergence of hundreds of other problems enabled by fossil fuels, which caused the the huge … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible

Posted on May 15, 2019 by

What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Critical Thinking, Electric Grid, Electricity, Renewable Integration, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth

Posted on May 12, 2019 by

Preface. Some of the points I found most alarming or interesting: After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth. Concrete is a thirsty behemoth, sucking up almost a 10th of the world’s industrial water use. This often … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure | Tagged | 8 Comments

Will California’s high-speed rail go off the tracks? Challenges facing California’s high-speed rail. House Hearing 2014.

Posted on May 9, 2019 by

Preface.  In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom said “there simply isn’t a path” for completing the project “from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A”. Originally the project was going to cost $33 billion, by 2014 when the … Continue reading →

Posted in Railroads, Transportation | Tagged | 3 Comments

Part 2. How long do civilizations last on average? 336 years

Posted on May 6, 2019 by

I stopped trying to find out why each civilization failed in Wiki because it’s not always clear and historians bicker over it, though it’s clear drought, invasions, civil wars, and famines played a role in most of them.  Yet what’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Centre Study of Existential Risk, Collapsed, Scientists Warnings to Humanity | Tagged | 4 Comments

Part 1. How long do civilizations last?

Posted on May 3, 2019 by

This is most, but not all of Kemp’s BBC article, which you ought to read in its entirety at the link in the title below.  I disagree with him when he says that: “The collapse of our civilization is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapsed, Interdependencies, Scientists Warnings to Humanity, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments