Category Archives: Peak Oil

Peak Fossil Fuels: overview of world peak oil, peak coal, & peak natural gas

Last updated 2022-6-24 Preface. Below are overviews of peak oil, coal, and natural gas, each followed by additional reading material from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, which explains why we are unlikely to … Continue reading

Posted in Coal, How Much Left, Natural Gas, Peak Coal, Peak Natural Gas, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Peak oil: “It’s the flows, stupid!” Energy abundance depends entirely on the RATE of energy flow

Preface. Below are excerpts from two articles on why the FLOW RATE of oil is what matters for our fossil-fueled civilization. It’s like how, when filling up a bathtub, you want to turn the faucet on as high as it … Continue reading

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Peak oil in the news 2023

Preface. Conventional crude oil production may have already peaked in 2008 at 69.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) according to Europe’s International Energy Agency (IEA 2018 p45). The U.S. Energy Information Agency shows global peak crude oil production at a … Continue reading

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Youngquist on Oil, natural gas, heavy oil, tar sands, GTL, GTO, oil shale

Preface. I was fortunate enough to know Walter for 15 years. He became a friend and mentor, helping me learn to become a better science writer, and sending me material I might be interested in, and delightful pictures of him … Continue reading

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Why no single or combination of alternative energy resources can replace fossil fuels

Preface. This 2002 paper is still true today. There simply are no renewable replacements for the fossil fuels that power our civilization.  If only scientists could violate the laws of thermodynamics and physics the way capitalistic crooks cheat, like Bernie … Continue reading

Posted in Alternative Energy, Biomass, Fusion, Hydrogen, Nuclear Power Energy, Orbiting Solar, Peak Oil, Photovoltaic Solar, Wind | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Climate Change dominates news coverage at expense of other existential planetary boundaries

Preface. In the half dozen science magazines and newspapers I get, almost the only environmental stories are about climate change. Yet there are 8 other ecological boundaries (Rockström 2009) we must not cross (shown in bold with an asterisk below) … Continue reading

Posted in Acidification, Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion, Climate Change, Critical Thinking, Peak Oil, Planetary Boundaries | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Telling others about peak oil and limits to growth

Preface. Obviously the planet is finite. We’re using many times more oil than we’re discovering, and therefore at some point global oil production will peak and decline.  In fact, global oil production peaked in 2018 (EIA 2020) or 2008 (EIA) … Continue reading

Posted in Critical Thinking, Limits To Growth, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

How much oil left in America? Not much

Preface. If you think we have no worries because we can get arctic oil, think again. We can’t because icebergs mow drilling platforms down in the ocean. On land, massive amounts of expensive new drilling rigs, roads, rail lines, platforms, … Continue reading

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Maddow’s “Blowout”, Russian peak oil, corruption, fake news

Preface.  Since this blog focuses on peak resources, I drastically rearranged my notes from this book in the order I found most interesting. I’m also interested in corruption, Putin, fake news, and more, as you’ll see below.  Since the book … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Corruption & Finance, Oil shock collapse, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Golden Age of Russian Oil Nears an End

Preface.  One huge factor in Russia’s future oil decline not mentioned below is how incredibly corrupt and inefficient Russia’s oil and gas companies are, as Rachel Maddow describes in her book “Blowout”. A few quotes: The Russian oil and gas … Continue reading

Posted in How Much Left, Peak Oil | Tagged , | 3 Comments