Category Archives: Books

Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar Photovoltaics

Posted on December 17, 2014 by

Book review of “Spain’s Photovoltaic Revolution. The Energy Return on Investment”, by Pedro Prieto and Charles A.S. Hall. 2013.  Reviewed by Alice Friedemann, www.energyskeptic.com Olmedilla, Spain 60MW Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant. Source: SolarNovus Large Solar Installations around the world. Finally, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Debt, Electric Grid, Energy, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Photovoltaic Solar, Solar | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

book list: energy, ecology, evolution, extinction, war, natural resources, carrying capacity, infrastructure, agriculture, politics and more

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

My long reading list (below) is very long and out-of-date, so I’ve broken it up into reading lists by topic (in progress still).  I encourage you to buy the books and print off the articles on acid-free paper (see Preservation … Continue reading →

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Become a Bison rancher

Posted on September 21, 2014 by

Far more buffalo can be grazed per acre than cattle. It’s likely wild bison will return to the Great Plains in the future.   Already there are fewer people in areas where the Ogalla aquifer has been depleted than when Native … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Farming and Ranching | Comments Off

Biggest Waste of Wealth in All of history: America’s Interstate Highway system

Posted on June 9, 2014 by

A book review by Alice Friedemann of: Swift, Earl. 2012. The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways. Related articles $46 Trillion Infrastructure in USA, $6 Trillion is Transportation Expressways & … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure, Roads, Transportation, Transportation, Trucks | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

John Howe booklist

Posted on May 2, 2014 by

http://www.solarcarandtractor.com/Peak_Oil_Update.html Astyk, S. (2008) “Depletion and Abundance, Life On the New Home Front.” Bartlett, A. (2004) “The Essential Exponential, For the Future of Our Planet.” Bligh, J. (2004) “The Fatal Inheritance.” Brown, L. (2008) “Plan B 3.0, Mobilizing To Save … Continue reading →

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A book review of “Russia’s Food Policies and Globalization”

Posted on April 16, 2014 by

by Alice Friedemann Wegren, Stephen K.  Russia’s Food Policies and Globalization. 2005. Lexington Books. Governments that can’t feed their people lose their legitimacy and risk widespread social unrest.  The Russian government has made many mistakes in the past, such as … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Russia | Comments Off

Who Lives, Who dies in a never-ending energy crisis. Book review of Nothing to Envy. Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Posted on April 6, 2014 by

Who lives, Who Dies in a Never-Ending Energy Crisis a book review by Alice Friedemann of: Barbara Demick. 2010. “Nothing to Envy. Ordinary lives in North Korea”. North Korea and Cuba were the first countries to lose oil, the lifeblood … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy, North Korea | 1 Comment

Catton’s “Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse”

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Book Review of  Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse, by William R. Catton, Jr. Reviewed by George Mobus Below are some excerpts (some paraphrased) from from this review: In Catton’s book, Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse, Catton doesn’t mince words: we can’t evade … Continue reading →

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Energy in the Food System uses 19% of all energy consumed in the USA. Pimentel 2008

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Reducing Energy Inputs in the US Food System David Pimentel & Sean Williamson & Courtney E. Alexander & Omar Gonzalez-Pagan & Caitlin Kontak & Steven E. Mulkey. Hum Ecol (2008) 36:459–471 [some excerpts below. Clearly we’ve got to start reducing … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Agriculture, Food | Comments Off

Energy in Food System. March 2010. USDA

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Energy Use in the U.S. Food System 2010. P. Canning et al. USDA. Economic Research Report Number 94 Another great review of this article is Beyond Food Miles by Michael Bomford, a research scientist and extension specialist at Kentucky State … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Food | Comments Off