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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: Ships and Barges
Why methanol cannot replace petroleum in shipping
Preface. Methanol, or CH₃OH, is primarily used to make chemicals for plastics, paints, and cosmetics. It is made from coal or natural gas. “Green” methanol is made from biomass or biogas from landfills or sewage plants. Or it can be … Continue reading →
Posted in Methanol, Ships and Barges
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Tagged M85, methanol, ships, vehicle modifications
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Climate change will damage energy infrastructure, costing trillions
Preface. Climate change and extreme weather will harm oil and gas exploration and production, electric power generation and increase energy demand due to sea level rise, heat, drought, floods, more storms, and blackouts. Extreme heat and drought will force electric … Continue reading →
Posted in Blackouts Electric Grid, Cascading Failure, Climate Change, Electric Grid, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Production, Hydropower, Peak Water, Ships and Barges
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Tagged barge, drought, extreme storms, flood, heat, peak water, sea level rise, wildfire
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How to fix our inland waterway system
Preface. As you can see in Table 1 below, water transport is far more energy efficient than land transport, especially once we’re back to muscle power after fossil fuels are gone. Kilojoules of energy used to carry one ton of … Continue reading →
Posted in Ships and Barges, Transportation What To Do
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Tagged barge, canal, inland waterway, ship
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The latest monster ships could be a disaster
Preface. The article below makes the case for the hazards of one of these enormous ships running aground or sinking, blocking a major shipping line, leaking oil, and possibly impossible to salvage. In 2020, the largest container ship is the … Continue reading →
Electrify ships with batteries?
Preface. You’d need 100,000 metric tons of batteries taking 40% of cargo space to go from Asia to Europe in 31 days on an 18,000 TEU container ship, and it is hard to imagine how or how long it would … Continue reading →
Posted in Ships and Barges, Transportation What To Do
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Tagged battery, container, electric, electrify, ship, smil
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6 Comments
Oil consumption of containerships
Preface. Since 90% of international goods move by ships, I was curious about how much fuel they burned. It’s a lot: The very large container ship CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin above, which can carry 18,000 20-foot containers, carries approximately 4.5 … Continue reading →
Quartermaster Meigs was essential to winning the Civil War
Preface. This is a book review of Robert O’Harrow’s 2016 book “The Quartermaster.Montgomery C. Meigs. Lincolns general, master builder of the Union army”. I can’t believe I never heard of him, but he is as much responsible for the North … Continue reading →
Posted in Railroads, Ships and Barges, War Books
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Tagged railroads, ships, supply chains, war
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1 Comment
The coming crash in 2020 from high diesel prices for cleaner emission of oceangoing ships
Preface. Ships made globalization possible, and play an essential role in our high standard of living, carrying 90% of global goods traded. But the need for a new, cleaner fuel may cause the next economic crisis. Currently ships can burn … Continue reading →
Posted in By People, Crash Coming Soon, Peak Oil, Ships and Barges
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Tagged 2020, financial crash, ocean ships, peak diesel
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3 Comments
The Dark side of Cruise ships. Garbage. Sewage. And more.
[ I detest cruise ships which destroy the ambiance of small towns in Alaska and everywhere else they go. While cruise ships disgorged their sewage and garbage in Alaska’s Skagway harbor, passengers disgorged into shops owned by the cruise ships … Continue reading →
Posted in Ships and Barges
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Tagged cruise ships, pollution, rape, tourism
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Sex, crime, and death on the high seas. A U.S. Senate investigation of the cruise ship industry
Senate 113–642. July 24, 2013. Cruise Industry Oversight: recent incidents show need for stronger focus on consumer protection. U.S. Senate hearing. 169 pages. Since 2011, cruise lines voluntarily reported 959 alleged crimes to the FBI, and 130 crimes that must … Continue reading →
Posted in Congressional Record U.S., Ships and Barges
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Tagged cruise ships, senate hearing
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