Categories
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Recent Posts
- Rare Earth updates: recent research on why complex & intelligent life are rare in the Universe
- Book review of “Chip War” and the Fragility of microchips
- The tremendous material and energy toll of the digital economy
- Nuclear attack on U.S. could kill 90% of Americans
- What percent of Americans are rational?
- Book review of Lights Out. A Cyberattack. A Nation Unprepared. Surviving the Aftermath
- Off-Road vehicles & equipment need diesel fuel
- Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”
- Mental Health. Coping with the future: notes from Jackson & Jensen’s “An Inconvenient Apocalypse”
- Tesla Semi trucks hauling corn chips
- What is the plan for an electric grid outage that lasts for months?
- Where to be? Links to Superfund, hazardous waste and other toxic sites in U.S.
- Why methanol cannot replace petroleum in shipping
- Why is everyone afraid of AI taking over? It makes stuff up!
- Do you want to eat, drink, or fly?
Monthly Archives: December 2019
Vaclav Smil on natural gas (ethane) and plastics
Preface. Vaclav Smil doesn’t mention using plastic for heat, but in a letter to The Guardian, David Reed suggests: “The effort of collecting, transporting and cleaning plastics for possible recycling has largely failed, created much more pollution and contributed massively … Continue reading
Venezuela collapse: looting, hunger, blackouts, environmental catastrophe
Preface. Venezuela is experiencing a double whammy of drought and low oil prices, which has lead to blackouts and inability to import food, due to their oil production peaking in 1997. If you want to know how collapse will unfold … Continue reading
Peak Sand
Preface. With world peak oil production in 2018 so far (Peak oil is here!) it looks like peak sand won’t be the main factor in the fall of our fossil-fueled civilization. After all, oil makes all materials and activities possible, … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Concrete, Peak Sand, Soil
Tagged biodiversity, concrete, ecosystem destruction, food loss, peak sand, shoreline erosion
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Boston Globe: the false promise of nuclear power
Last Updated August 2021. Preface. This article raises many objections to nuclear power. Theoretically it could be cheaper, but the exact opposite has happened, it keeps getting more expensive. For example the only new reactors being built in the U.S. … Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear Power Energy
Tagged accidents, climate change, Fukushima, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, waste
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Rust Power
Preface. This is yet another article with an energy generation idea that will probably never work out and become commercial. But it gives hope and dreams to ordinary people who think what a cool idea, and who will never check … Continue reading
Net Energy Cliff Will Lead to Collapse of Civilization
The remaining oil is poor quality, and the energy to get this often remote oil so great that more and more energy (blue) goes into oil production itself, leaving far less — the grey area — available to fuel the … Continue reading
Carbon capture could require 25% of all global energy
Preface. This is clearly a pipedream. Surely the authors know this, since they say that the energy needed to run direct air capture machines in 2100 is up to 300 exajoules each year. That’s more than half of global energy … Continue reading
Himalayan glaciers supplying water to a billion people melting fast, Andes too
Preface. The Himalayan glaciers that supply water to a billion people are melting fast, already 30% has been lost since 1975. Adding to the crisis are the 400 dams under construction or planned for Himalayan rivers in India, Pakistan, Nepal, … Continue reading
Posted in Caused by Scarce Resources, Climate Change, Dams, Peak Water, Planetary Boundaries, Water, Water Infrastructure
Tagged Andes, climate change, dams, glaciers melting, Himalaya
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Billionaire apocalypse bunkers & other hideouts
Source: Cohen L (2018) A Survival Condo in a Missile Silo? It’s a Thing. Zillow Preface. There are many reasons why people might want a bunker, but peak oil, peak food, peak everything for that matter were not mentioned in … Continue reading