Monthly Archives: June 2019

Humans destroyed 10% of wilderness in just 25 years

Preface. Humans are destroying the wilderness so quickly there it could mostly disappear in less than a century. Since 1993 the world lost an area twice the size of Alaska. So kiss biodiversity, carbon sequestration, ecology, and a stable climate … Continue reading

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

Decommissioning a nuclear reactor

Preface. Below are excerpts of articles about the costs and challenges of dismantling nuclear power plants.  This is at the top of my “Energy Descent To Do List” given the consequences for future generations for up to a million years, … Continue reading

Posted in Nuclear Waste | Tagged , | Comments Off on Decommissioning a nuclear reactor

We evolved to exercise and need high levels of physical activity to be healthy

Preface. This is a summary of Herman Pontzer’s 2019 “Humans evolved to exercise. Unlike our ape cousins, humans require high levels of physical activity to be healthy” in Scientific American. As fossils decline, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll use more muscle … Continue reading

Posted in Health What to do, Muscle Power | Tagged | 2 Comments

Groundwater rise. Yet another climate change threat.

Preface. In coastal areas flooding is likely to be caused from groundwater rise because as sea levels rise, they won’t only move inland, flooding low-lying land near the shore; but also push water up from the saltwater water table, on … Continue reading

Posted in Floods, Groundwater, Hazardous Waste, Sea Level Rise, Water Infrastructure | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

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

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 Peak Oil, Tar Sands (Oil Sands), Venezuela | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Climate change effects on hydropower in California

Preface. Climate change will impact California agriculture without the snow melt that allows for up to three crops to be grown a year, perhaps just one crop in the future. Not to mention the impact on the 40 million people … Continue reading

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

Hydropower can’t help with the energy crisis

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: limited essential elements with limited lifespans

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 Alternative Energy, Cascading Failure, Microchips and computers, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Rare Earth Elements, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Black starting the grid after a power outage

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 , , , | 6 Comments

Rare Earth: Why complex life is uncommon in the universe

Preface. So much research on why complex life is rare in the universe since this book came out that I’ve created another post, coming out on in March 15, 2022 titled: Rare Earth updates: recent research on why intelligent life … Continue reading

Posted in An Index of Best Energyskeptic Posts, Biodiversity Loss, Evolution, Human Nature, Life Before Oil | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments