Category Archives: Roads

Super heavy trucks ruin roads

Posted on July 18, 2020 by

Preface. I’m writing a book now which concludes that only biomass and biofuels can replace diesel and other fossil fuels.  But 3 billion people are expected to arrive by 2050, consuming a good chunk of the biomass, plus it will … Continue reading →

Posted in Roads, Trucks | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Permafrost will limit natural gas, oil, and coal extraction

Posted on January 14, 2020 by

Preface. For many people, it’s comforting to know that about 25% of remaining oil and gas reserves (we have the know-how and economics to get it) and resources (beyond our technical and monetary capability) are in the arctic. They assume … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, EROEI remaining oil too low, How Much Left, Peak Natural Gas, Peak Oil, Reserves Lower than stated, Roads, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Permafrost will limit natural gas, oil, and coal extraction

Climate change may corrode concrete even faster

Posted on May 2, 2017 by

[ I’ve paraphrased and shortened this article about how climate change will corrode concrete faster in the future from increasing carbon dioxide levels, and in coastal cities, from the chloride ions in sea spray. After that is the introduction section … Continue reading →

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Do taxes cover the cost to maintain your street?

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

From: http://mapstoryblog.thenittygritty.org/costofstreets/  Are Your Taxes Paying for the Cost of Your Street? Believe it or not, almost everywhere in the country, people are not paying for the cost of the street right in front of their own properties. I made a … Continue reading →

Posted in Roads, Transportation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ecological cost of new roads in Africa

Posted on September 14, 2016 by

[ What follows are excerpts from the January 8 2014 issue of Newscientist’s “Africa’s road-building frenzy will transform continent” by Andy Coghlan.  ] China is funding most of the new roads to get the minerals they’ve mined, and transport food … Continue reading →

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Unpave low traffic roads to save energy and money

Posted on April 12, 2016 by

The U.S. has 4.1 million miles of roads (1.9 million paved, 2.2 million gravel). About 3 million miles of roads have less than 2,000 vehicles a day, less than 15% of all traffic. The paved portion of these low-volume roads … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Roads, Transportation, Transportation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cost overruns on roads from subsurface conditions

Posted on January 2, 2016 by

[ What follows are excerpts from the 91 page NRC document on cost overruns. As energy declines, future new roads aren’t likely to be built, and existing roads unpaved, so I didn’t excerpt much.  Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com ] NRC. 2016. … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Expressways & Interstates are only designed to last for 20 years

Posted on May 28, 2014 by

Roads are Essential There are 4,016,741 miles of roads in the United States.  The most critical roads are the almost 47,000 miles long with 55,000 bridges and 4 or more lanes wide Interstate Highways, the largest single investment the American people … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Roads | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”

Posted on February 26, 2014 by

Alice Friedemann’s book review of: Vaclav Smil. 2013. Prime Movers of Globalization. The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines. MIT press. Smil makes the case that civilization is based on the billions of engines that make global … Continue reading →

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