Category Archives: Energy

Book review of Wrigley’s “Energy and the English Industrial revolution”

Posted on April 12, 2019 by

Preface. I’ve made a strong case in my book “When trucks stop running” and this energyskeptic website that we will eventually return to wood and a 14th century lifestyle after fossil fuels are depleted. So if you’re curious about what … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Energy, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Book review of Bryce’s “Power hungry: the myths of green energy and the real fuels of the future”

Posted on March 28, 2019 by

Preface.  This is a book review of: Robert Bryce. 2009. Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future. This is a brilliant book, very funny at times, a great way to sharpen your critical … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Other Experts | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Book review of Heinberg’s “Afterburn: society beyond fossil fuels”

Posted on March 25, 2019 by

Preface. This book has 15 essays Heinberg wrote from 2011 to 2014, many of them available for free online.  These are some of my Kindle notes of parts that interested me, so to you it will be disjointed and perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in By People, Energy, Peak Oil, Richard Heinberg | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Muscle Power

Posted on February 5, 2019 by

Preface. Before fossil fuels, the energy to do work came from muscle power and the heat from burning biomass, mainly wood.  When I visited the Deutsches museum in Munich in 2017, I saw two animal treadmills: The first picture shows … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, What to do | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Book review of Vaclav Smil’s “Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects”

Posted on November 13, 2018 by

Preface.  In my extract of the 178 pages in the book below, Smil explains why renewables can’t possibly replace fossil fuels, and appears to be exasperated that people believe this can be done when he writes “Common expectations of energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The electric grid: fragile, filthy, poorly managed, polluting, inefficient, corrupt

Posted on September 18, 2018 by

Preface. Most forms of alternative energy depend on the electric grid (nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower). But the Grid is falling apart because of privatization and the splitting of the grid into thousands of competing, uncoordinated entities where there’s no … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Blackouts, Books, Electricity, Energy | 3 Comments

Book review of “Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste”

Posted on January 2, 2017 by

A book review by Alice Friedemann of “Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste” by William M. Alley & Rosemarie Alley. 2013. Cambridge University Press. We’re leaving our descendants with toxic nuclear waste that will last up … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, Nuclear, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Waste | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Notes from “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World” by Steve LeVine

Posted on December 2, 2016 by

[ My notes from 2015 “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World” by Steve LeVine follow this introduction. I read this book because I’ve done extensive research on batteries and was surprised by all the … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Batteries, Energy | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How burning biomass made us human

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

[ This is a book review of Wrangham’s “Catching Fire: How cooking made us human”. Fire enabled us to have larger brains from the increased calories in cooked food, held carnivores at bay, killed bacteria, and gave us many other … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Evolution, Health, Wood | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on How burning biomass made us human

Book review of Door to Door and the amazing world of transportation

Posted on May 19, 2016 by

Edward Humes.  2016. Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation. HarperCollins. A book review by Alice Friedemann at www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation, 2015, Springer] I was in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Transportation, Travel | Tagged , , | 3 Comments