Monthly Archives: November 2019

How safe are utility-scale energy storage batteries?

Posted on November 28, 2019 by

Preface.  Airplanes can be forced to make an emergency landing if even a small external battery pack, like the kind used to charge cell phones, catches on fire (Mogg 2019). If a small battery pack can force an airplane to … Continue reading →

Posted in Safety | Comments Off on How safe are utility-scale energy storage batteries?

Global oil discoveries far from breaking even with consumption

Posted on November 25, 2019 by

Preface.  According to Bloomberg (2016), oil discoveries in 2015 were the lowest since 1947, with just 2.7 billion barrels of conventional oil found globally (though Rystad calculated this differently at 5.6, nearly twice as much). Since the world burns 36.5 … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Peak Oil | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Scientists on where to be in the 21st century based on sustainability

Posted on November 22, 2019 by

Preface. The article below is based on Hall & Day’s book “America’s Most Sustainable Cities and Regions: Surviving the 21st Century Megatrends”. Related articles: Hess, P. 2016. These will be the best places to live in America in 2100 A.D. … Continue reading →

Posted in Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged , | 30 Comments

Microbes a key factor in climate change

Posted on November 19, 2019 by

Preface. The IPCC, like economists, assumes our economy and burning of fossil fuels will grow exponentially until 2100 and beyond, with no limits to growth. But conventional oil peaked and has stayed on a plateau since 2005, so clearly peak … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Scientists Warnings to Humanity | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Tesla pickup truck claims defy the laws of physics by John Engle

Posted on November 16, 2019 by

In 2017 scientists questioned whether the Tesla Semi could meet Musk’s claims (see post “Given the laws of physics, can the Tesla Semi really go 500 miles, and what will the price be?”). I suspect this is why Tesla has … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Trucks, Electric trucks impossible, Electrification | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

America loves the idea of family farms. That’s unfortunate. By Sarah Taber

Posted on November 13, 2019 by

Preface. As declining fossil fuels force more and more people back into being farmers, eventually 75 to 90% of the population, it would be much better for this to happen with family farms than gigantic mega-farms with workers who are … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Bodhi Paul Chefurka: Carrying capacity, overshoot and sustainability

Posted on November 10, 2019 by

Preface. This is a post written by Bodhi Paul Chefurka in 2013 at his blog paulchefurka.ca here. I don’t understand his ultimate sustainable carrying capacity based on hunter gatherers. Why will agriculture go away? But the rest of the article … Continue reading →

Posted in Overshoot, Paul Chefurka, Population | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Gravity energy storage

Posted on November 7, 2019 by

Preface. This is interesting, but not commercial. And as my book “When trucks stop running” explains, trucks are the basis of civilization, and can’t run on electric batteries or overhead wires. Even if they could, I explained why a 100% … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Storage, Research | Tagged | 9 Comments

Peak Stainless Steel

Posted on November 4, 2019 by

This study shows that there is a significant risk that stainless steel production will reach its maximum capacity around 2055 because of declining nickel production, though recycling, and use of other alloys on a very small scale can compensate somewhat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Important Minerals, Infrastructure | Tagged , , | 4 Comments