Category Archives: CO2 and Methane

Why carbon capture contraptions are absurd

Preface.  At the first peak oil conference in Denver (ASPO 2005), many of the other attendees speculated that renewable energy would be the last chance for Wall Street to make money before limits to growth and energy decline put a … Continue reading

Posted in Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), CO2 and Methane | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why carbon capture contraptions are absurd

Not enough fossil fuels left to trigger another mass extinction

Preface. Since both conventional and unconventional oil peaked in 2018, we clearly won’t be burning fossils at exponentially increasing rates until 2400 as the IPCC expected. Quite the opposite, currently the decline rate of oil is 8% a year, which … Continue reading

Posted in But not from climate change: Peak Fossil Fuels, CO2 and Methane, Global Warming, Mass Extinction, Planetary Boundaries, Runaway Greenhouse | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

800 scientists: Burning forests for electricity & heat releases more 1.5x more CO2 than coal, 3x more than natural gas

Preface. The 2015 Paris climate change agreement states that burning biomass is carbon neutral. Not true. Over 800 scientists have written the European Parliament to tell them that burning wood for heat or electricity emits 1.5 x more CO2 than … Continue reading

Posted in Biomass, Climate Change, CO2 and Methane, Deforestation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Methane apocalypse? Not likely.

Preface. The four articles below explain why methane from permafrost or hydrates are not likely to erupt abruptly and send Earth into a hothouse hell.  In addition, here are some posts debunking Guy McPherson who believes the world will end … Continue reading

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Methane Hydrates | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Far Out | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Hydropower dams and the ways they destroy the environment

Preface. Hydropower comprises 71% of renewable energy worldwide.  Nations like the U.S. and Europe have dams that have reached the end of their lifespan — more are being torn down than built. In the U.S. 546 dams were removed between … Continue reading

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Dams, Hydropower | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hydropower dams and the ways they destroy the environment

Because we’ve stuffed staggering numbers of cows on factory farms we live in a cow toilet

[ Book review of “Cowed: The hidden impactof 93 million cows” by Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer] Hayes, Denis and Gail. 2015. Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 … Continue reading

Posted in Antibiotics, Biodiversity Loss, CO2 and Methane, Pollution, Soil | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Plants are sucking streams dry thanks to more CO2

Slezak, M. October 24, 2015. Carbon emissions make Earth greener but are also drying it out. NewScientist. Source: Ukkola, A. M., et al. October 19, 2015 Reduced streamflow in water-stressed climates consistent with CO2 effects on vegetation. Nature Climate Change 6, … Continue reading

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Peak Water, Water | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Plants are sucking streams dry thanks to more CO2

External costs of coal: probably over $500 billion per year in USA

Paul R. Epstein, et al. 2011. Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal in “Ecological Economics Reviews.” Robert Costanza, Karin Limburg & Ida Kubiszewski, Eds. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1219: 73–98. This paper tabulates a wide range of … Continue reading

Posted in Chemicals, CO2 and Methane, Coal, Hazardous Waste, Water Pollution | Comments Off on External costs of coal: probably over $500 billion per year in USA

PNAS: Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises

Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises. 2013. sponsored by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Intelligence community. This was the best summary of the 223 page National Academy of Sciences publication I could … Continue reading

Posted in CO2 and Methane | 1 Comment