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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: Alternative Energy
Opposition to mining will prevent a green transition to renewables
Source: Bare (2012) Environmentalists win review of two more plants near Rosemont copper mine. Arizona Capitol times. I could overwhelm you with world-wide trillions of tons of mining waste and how China has rendered 20% of its farmland too toxic … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, An Index of Best Energyskeptic Posts, Energy Supply Chain, Mining, Peak Copper
Tagged copper, mining, renewables, supply chain
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David Fridley, LBNL scientist, on why alternative energy won’t save us
Preface. I’ve sought out David Fridley’s insights since I first met him in the Oakland Peak Oil group that formed in 2004. That group eventually dissolved, but David’s expertise is still sought out by many of us following energy decline. … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, An Overview, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Net Energy Cliff
Tagged alternative energy, David Fridley, EROI, renewables
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Dozens of reasons why solar power can’t replace fossil fuels
Preface. Last update 2022-9-2. All solar (and wind) do is add to the giant bonfire of burning fossil fuels — which still provide two-thirds of the power for the electric grid. Electricity is just a fraction of how we use … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, CSP with thermal energy storage, Photovoltaic Solar, Recycle, Recycling, Solar, Solar EROI
Tagged china, EROI, fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, orbiting solar, PV, solar, toxic chemicals
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The Texas electric grid outage
Preface. In February of 2021, millions of Texans and Mexicans lost electric power in a hard freeze. Oxer (2021) on the March 2 Power Hungry podcast, said that if the Texas grid had blacked out, it would have taken until … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Grid instability, Pedro Prieto
Tagged electric grid, Prieto, stability, wind
2 Comments
The Next Big Thing: Distributed Generation & Microgrids
Preface. Last updated 2022-9-5 The first article below explains what microgrids will look like in the future. But first a brief look at what a microgrid is, as Angwin explains in her book “Shorting the Grid. The Hidden Fragility … Continue reading
The orbiting solar power fantasy
Preface. This 2020 article “Solar Power Beamed Down To Earth From Space Moves Forward” will leave you all warm, fuzzy, and unworried about the future. The Scientists Will Come Up With Something. But that’s because you know little to nothing … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Critical Thinking, Far Out, Orbiting Solar
Tagged far out, orbiting solar, solar power
2 Comments