Tag Archives: energy

Book review of Vaclav Smil’s “Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects”

Posted on November 13, 2018 by

Preface.  In my extract of the 178 pages in the book below, Smil explains why renewables can’t possibly replace fossil fuels, and appears to be exasperated that people believe this can be done when he writes “Common expectations of energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Why it is futile to think that Wind could ever make a significant contribution to energy supplies

Posted on April 8, 2018 by

Matt Ridley. May 15, 2017. Wind turbines are neither clean nor green and they provide zero global energy. Even after 30 years of huge subsidies, it provides about zero energy. The Spectator. The Global Wind Energy Council recently released its … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Wind | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Conventional economic theory ignores the laws of physics

Posted on November 4, 2017 by

[ It’s the energy stupid!  These figures clearly show a link between energy and the economy. Conventional economic theory has to ignore energy or that would prove that there are Limits to Growth.  What follows is from Nafeez Ahmed’s 2017 … Continue reading →

Posted in Economists are Stupid and Crazy, Limits To Growth | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Energy Crisis Booklist: EROEI, Peak oil, Peak coal, Peak natural gas, Nuclear, Kerogen, Methane hydrates

Posted on October 28, 2017 by

Preface. Civilization is utterly dependent on fossil fuels for heavy-duty transportation (batteries are too heavy to scale up to trucks). Electricity is too intermittent, unpredictable, and sometimes absent for weeks to fulfill many of societies needs, and consequently, no one … Continue reading →

Posted in Book List | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Minerals & Energy from Ugo Bardi’s “Extraction”

Posted on October 5, 2017 by

Bardi, Ugo. 2014. Extracted: How the Quest for Mineral Wealth Is Plundering the Planet. Chelsea Green Publishing. The limits to mineral extraction are not limits of quantity; they are limits of energy. Extracting minerals takes energy, and the more dispersed … Continue reading →

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Interdependencies of Energy Infrastructure, Water, and Climate Change GAO 2014

Posted on May 28, 2017 by

[ This report shows the interdependencies of Climate Change and the nation’s energy infrastructure, which is especially vulnerable because it’s so old and falling apart already. Another GAO report discusses the energy-water nexus.  Interdependent systems are more vulnerable – climate … Continue reading →

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Drinking water and sewage treatment use a lot of energy

Posted on January 4, 2017 by

[ Water treatment (drinking and sewage) use tremendous amounts of energy. Some of the statistics from this document “Water & Wastewater Utility energy research roadmap” below are: In 2008 municipal wastewater treatment systems (WWTP) in the United States used approximately … Continue reading →

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The effect of high energy prices on small business. U.S. House of Representatives, 2014

Posted on January 1, 2017 by

[ This hearing is about how the unaffordable prices of energy are affecting ordinary people.  Chairman Tipton at one point says that “I do not think that Americans truly realize the significant amount of energy that is necessary to be … Continue reading →

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The Back to the Land Movement: why it failed and why we need to try again

Posted on December 19, 2016 by

[ This is my book review of “Back from the Land: how young Americans went to nature in the 1970s, and why they came back”.   Some succeeded, but most failed, and there are lessons to be learned from the previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Books | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap, Department of Energy

Posted on November 5, 2016 by

[ This is the best document of the many I’ve read. If my post Dozens of reasons why the world doesn’t run on algal biofuels didn’t convince you that the scientists are NOT likely to come up with something, get … Continue reading →

Posted in Algae | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments