Monthly Archives: July 2019

EV cars only go half as far in freezing weather

Posted on July 29, 2019 by

Preface.    Below freezing, li-ion batteries don’t perform as well.  Consumer reports found that about half the driving range was lost.  Perhaps this is why nearly half of PHEV/BEV vehicles are sold in balmy California, while the half of the states … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Lithium-ion | Tagged | 5 Comments

So you want to start a vertical farm?

Posted on July 26, 2019 by

Preface. Vertical farms sound even more impossible than rooftop farms, which at least can use free sunshine. And they use massive amounts of energy to heat, cool, ventilate, light, and so on, not a good direction to go given energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Antibiotic Resistance

Posted on July 23, 2019 by

Preface. Just a few of the many articles in the media on antibiotic resistance, which like climate change, will make matters worse for whoever survives Peak Oil.  And it won’t be just bacterial resistance, fungi are now growing resistant to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Germany’s renewable energy program, Energiewende, is a big, expensive failure

Posted on July 20, 2019 by

After reading this post, or better yet the original 44-page document, you’ll understand why the Green New Deal is a bad idea.  This is a cautionary tale worth paying attention to. The goal of Energiewende was to make Germany independent … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Wind | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

European Power plants are burning American forests

Posted on July 17, 2019 by

Preface.   Incredibly, this article doesn’t address the fact that after you cut down a forest and convert the wood into pellets destined to be burned in European furnaces for “clean energy”, the next forest won’t grow back with nearly as … Continue reading →

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Deforestation, Wood | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

France is trying to get rid of pesticides

Posted on July 14, 2019 by

Preface.  This article discusses how France is doing so far in their attempt to use less pesticides.  This is the direction we should be going in post fossils.  Many of the solutions are too high-tech to be used after the … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Pesticides | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ice ages may be caused by mountains rising in the tropics

Posted on July 11, 2019 by

Preface.  In case you’d forgotten– given all the talk about climate change — we’re still in an ice age that’s been going on for 2.6 million years.  Lucky for us, we’ve been in one of the few warm periods for … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged | Comments Off on Ice ages may be caused by mountains rising in the tropics

Quartermaster Meigs was essential to winning the Civil War

Posted on July 8, 2019 by

Preface. This is a book review of Robert O’Harrow’s 2016 book “The Quartermaster.Montgomery C. Meigs. Lincolns general, master builder of the Union army”. I can’t believe I never heard of him, but he is as much responsible for the North … Continue reading →

Posted in Railroads, Ships and Barges, War | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Let’s harness the muscle power of 54 million fitness center members to generate electricity

Posted on July 5, 2019 by

This is a short summary of this 10-page research paper: Carbajales-Dale, M., et al. 2018. Human powered electricity generation as a renewable resource.  BioPhysical Economics and Resource Quality. Before fossil fuels arrived, we depended on the energy from burning wood … Continue reading →

Posted in Far Out, Muscle Power | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Why solar power can’t save us from the coming energy crisis

Posted on July 2, 2019 by

Preface. Embedded within the posts below are many reasons why solar electricity can’t replace fossil fuels.  All solar and wind do is add to the giant fire of burning fossil fuels with just a tiny bit more power, about 4% … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, CSP with thermal energy storage, Solar, Solar EROI | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment