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Category Archives: Life Before Oil
Book Review of “Against the Grain. A Deep History of the Earliest States”
Preface. Energyskeptic.com is ultimately about the rise and fall of civilizations, although I didn’t know that when I first started writing this as an energy and resource blog. Our civilization too will fail as fossil fuels decline, and then we’re … Continue reading
Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Historically, Human Nature, Life Before Oil, Slavery
Tagged agriculture, collapse, life before oil, slavery
2 Comments
Will life after peak oil be like the middle ages?
Preface. Winston recreates what life was like from the 5th to the 15th centuries — from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance. Energyskeptic.com shows why hydrogen, wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear, fusion, and other alternatives … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Biomass, Life Before Oil
Tagged biomass, life before oil, middle ages, wood world
8 Comments
Rare Earth – why we may be the only intelligent species in the universe
Preface. I think that Ward & Brownlee’s 2000 book “Rare Earth : why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe” is one of the most profound books I’ve ever read. What if we are the only intelligent species in the … Continue reading
Replacing diesel tractors with horses or oxen – what will that be like?
Preface. Since fossil fuels are clearly finite, at some point increasing numbers of farmers with diesel vehicles and equipment will want to replace them with horses, which can do the work of six people. Here’s what energy expert Vaclav Smil … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, Peak Food, Vaclav Smil
Tagged agriculture, horsepower, muscle power, oxen
1 Comment
Using manure for fertilizer in the future – it won’t be easy
Preface. At John Jeavons Biointensive workshop back in 2003, I learned that phosphorous is limited and mostly being lost to oceans and other waterways after exiting sewage treatment plants. He said it can be dangerous to use human manure without … Continue reading
Posted in Life Before Oil, Soil, Waste, Water
Tagged eutrophication, excrement, fertilizer, manure, phosphorus, sewage, water
8 Comments
Book review of Wrigley’s “Energy and the English Industrial revolution”
Preface. I’ve made a strong case in my book “When trucks stop running” and this energyskeptic website that we will eventually return to wood and a 14th century lifestyle after fossil fuels are depleted. So if you’re curious about what … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Energy, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth
Tagged coal, industrial revolution, land, wood
5 Comments
From Horsepower to Horse Power. When Trucks stop, Horses start.
Preface. Before the industrial revolution there were only four sources of mechanical power of any economic significance. They were human labor, animal labor, water power (near flowing streams) and wind power. Work done by animals, especially on farms, was still … Continue reading
Muscle Power
Preface. Before fossil fuels, the energy to do work came from muscle power and the heat from burning biomass, mainly wood. When I visited the Deutsches museum in Munich in 2017, I saw two animal treadmills: The first picture shows … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, What to do
Tagged muscle power, treadmill
3 Comments
Vaclav Smil. Making the modern world: materials and dematerialization
Preface. I can’t believe I read this book, it is just a long litany of the gigantic amounts of materials we exploit, with no analysis, implications, or the meaning of what impact this will have on the planet. I certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Infrastructure, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Vaclav Smil
Tagged materials, recycling, vaclav smil
9 Comments
Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”
Preface. This contains excerpts from John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”. It’s one of my favorite books about natural resources, exploring the role wood has played in the rise and fall of civilizations since they … Continue reading
Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed, Deforestation, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Soil, Wood
Tagged civilization, collapse, deforestation, peak wood, wood
1 Comment