Monthly Archives: June 2019

Nafeez Ahmed: Venezuela’s collapse is a window into how the Oil Age will unravel

Posted on June 17, 2019 by

Preface. Ahmed is one of the best writers on the energy crisis and other biophysical calamities. He’s written about why many states are failing now in part due to peak oil, but also drought and other biophysical factors in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Central & South America, Oil (Tar) Sands, Peak Oil | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Climate change effects on hydropower in California

Posted on June 14, 2019 by

Preface. The main impact of climate change will be on hydropower in California, which is the largest source of renewable electric power. Besides natural gas, it is the only dispatchable form of power to balance unreliable, intermittent wind and solar … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Hydropower | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Hydropower can’t help with the energy crisis

Posted on June 11, 2019 by

Preface. When fossil fuels are gone, there aren’t many ways to balance the unreliable, intermittent, and often absent for weeks at a time power from wind and solar.  Biofuels and burning biomass is one solution, it’s dispatchable and can kick … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy, Hydropower | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

High-Tech can’t last: there are limited essential elements

Posted on June 8, 2019 by

There are 17 rare earth elements in the periodic table. About nine of those elements go into every iPhone sold… and if China were suddenly to disappear from a map tomorrow, Apple would lose about 90% of those elements.  Source: … Continue reading →

Posted in ! PEAK EVERYTHING, Alternative Energy, Cascading Failure, Important Minerals, Microchip Fabrication stops, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Black starting the grid after a power outage

Posted on June 5, 2019 by

Black starts Large blackouts can be quite devastating and it isn’t easy to restart the electric grid again. This is typically done by designated black start units of natural gas, coal, hydro, or nuclear power plants that can restart themselves … Continue reading →

Posted in Grid instability | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Rare Earth – why we may be the only intelligent species in the universe

Posted on June 2, 2019 by

Preface. I think that Ward & Brownlee’s 2000 book “Rare Earth: why complex life is uncommon in the universe” is one of the most profound and important books I’ve ever read.  What if we are the only intelligent species in … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Human Nature, Life Before Oil | Tagged | 11 Comments