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?
Category Archives: Peak Resources
Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”
Preface. This is my book review of Vaclav Smil’s “Prime Movers of Globalization”. A topic near and dear to my heart after working for the 5th largest shipping company, American President Lines (now Neptune Orient Lines), for 22 years and … Continue reading
Posted in Energy Books, Peak Resources, Rail, Roads, Transportation, Where to Be or Not to Be
Tagged diesel engines, microprocessor, ships, trucks
1 Comment
Review of “Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads”
Preface. This is a book review of Rundell’s “Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads”. If this book is right, things have gotten a lot better in Saudi Arabia than when my other review on Saudi Arabia was written … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East, Peak Oil, Peak Resources, Threats to oil supply
Tagged Export Land Model, oil, saudi arabia, stability
1 Comment
Toasters are Toast
Preface. Thomas Thwaites’ book, “The Toaster Project” illustrates why it will be so hard, if not impossible, to bounce back from collapse in the future to anything like what we take for granted today. Thwaites set about trying to make … Continue reading
Vaclav Smil. Making the modern world: materials and dematerialization
Preface. I can’t believe I read this book, it is just a long litany of the gigantic amounts of materials we exploit, with no analysis, implications, or the meaning of what impact this will have on the planet. I certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Infrastructure Books, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Vaclav Smil
Tagged materials, recycling, vaclav smil
9 Comments
Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”
Preface. This contains excerpts from John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”. It’s one of my favorite books about natural resources, exploring the role wood has played in the rise and fall of civilizations since they … Continue reading
Summary of German Armed Forces Peak Oil Study
[This is a summary I first published in 2011. It’s important, so I’ve re-posted it today. According to Der Spiegel this study was leaked and not meant for publication. The document concludes that the public must be made aware of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, GOVERNMENT, Government study predictions, Military, Over Oil, Peak Oil, Peak Resources, War, War Books
Tagged and Technologies, Armed Forces, Capabilities, collapse, fast crash, german peak oil, in the 21st Century Environmental Dimensions of Security, market crash, peak oil, war
4 Comments
Hirsch predicts Oil Shocks by 2017, panic, and stock market crash
I believe oil shocks could lead to a FAST CRASH Robert L. Hirsch was the author of the first US government report on peak oil in 2005, which recommended taking action to mitigate Peak Oil at least 20 years before … Continue reading
Posted in By People, Energy Books, Oil Shocks, Peak Resources, Robert Hirsch
Tagged hirsch, liquid fuel crisis, transportation
Comments Off on Hirsch predicts Oil Shocks by 2017, panic, and stock market crash