Category Archives: 2) Collapse

The collapse of the financial system, breakdown of supply chains, blackouts, end of being able to make computer chips, and so on are symptoms of the underlying cause: LESS OIL AVAILABLE TO DO MILLIONS OF ESSENTIAL TASKS. Whether the house of cards goes from the financial shock of a natural disaster or from debt and corruption, blockage of the Suez canal, Export Land Model, or (nuclear war) — there is certain to be a series of dislocations that ultimately bring population down to 1 billion or less, and given past collapses, take about 20-30 years. Let’s hope there are some islands of sanity and that you, dear reader, are living on one of them!

Net Energy Cliff Will Lead to Collapse of Civilization

Posted on December 11, 2019 by

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 →

Posted in 2) Collapse, 3) Fast Crash, An Overview, By People, Energy, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Net Energy Cliff, Stages of | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Carbon capture could require 25% of all global energy

Posted on December 8, 2019 by

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 →

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Far Out | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Himalayan glaciers that supply water to a billion people are melting fast

Posted on December 5, 2019 by

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, Climate Change, Dams, Water, Water, Water | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

Oil Choke Points vulnerable to war, chaos, terrorism, piracy

Posted on October 22, 2019 by

Preface. The U.S., thanks to fracking, which is likely to peak by 2025, produces half of the 20 million barrels of oil it uses per day. The other half of our oil is imported, with 45% of imports (4.5 million … Continue reading →

Posted in Chokepoints, Infrastructure Attacks, Oil & Gas, Oil Shocks, Threats to oil supply | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS)

Posted on October 13, 2019 by

Preface. This is the only commercial way to store energy now (CAES hardly counts with just one plant and salt domes to put more in existing in only 5 states). Though of course hydropower is only in a few states … Continue reading →

Posted in Dams, Energy Production, Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS) | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

The 10 countries with the most endangered species in the world

Posted on October 10, 2019 by

I don’t know whether to go to these countries to see these beautiful creatures before they’re extinct, or to spend my money on countries like Costa Rica and Tanzania that have set aside a quarter or more of their land … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Deforestation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The carbon trap by Paul Chefurka

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

Preface. We are caught in the carbon trap — we utterly depend on fossils that don’t have an electric replacement. Someday people will figure this out the hard way, but Chefurka compassionately points out that there is no one to … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumption, Human Nature, Interdependencies, Paul Chefurka | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Can concentrated solar power be used to generate industrial process heat?

Posted on September 25, 2019 by

Preface. The bright future of solar thermal powered factories, makes some important points about using concentrated solar power to generate heat: “…A large share of energy consumed worldwide is by heat. Cooking, space heating and water heating dominate domestic energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Energy | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments