Tag Archives: oil

Vaclav Smil: from wood to coal to oil, energy transitions take a long time

Posted on December 17, 2018 by

Preface.  This post has a shortened, reworded, and heavily commented on article from Scientific American in 2014.  You can also see two much longer articles about energy transitions by Smil from n 2008 and 2010 here: Vaclav Smil: Our transition … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Coal, Dependence on Oil, Energy, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Royal Society on peak oil and how much oil is left

Posted on June 1, 2018 by

[ This is a great introduction to the whole topic of oil, reserves, resources, and so on. It’s very long so I’ve only excerpted bits of it and reworded some of it.  I can’t say there’s anything new in here … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Steve St. Angelo: The global oil & gas industry is cannibalizing itself to stay alive

Posted on May 19, 2018 by

[ I heard Steve recently on a Peak prosperity podcast here.  I like St. Angelo because he is one of very few financial advisors who understand the role energy plays in the economy.  Though I don’t think that gold and … Continue reading →

Posted in Debt, Economic, Investing advice, Natural Gas, Oil | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Power density of biomass, wind, & solar take too much land to replace fossil fuels

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

Preface. Vaclav Smil writes “The fact that wind, solar, and biomass have incredibly low energy density per square meter means that a fully renewable system to replace the 320 GW of fossil fueled electricity generation and 1.8 TW of coal, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Biomass, Coal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Richard Heinberg on why low oil prices do not mean there is plenty of oil, EROI, collapse

Posted on April 5, 2018 by

[ Yet another wise, thoughtful, and wide-ranging essay from my favorite writer of the many facets of a civilization about to decline as it is starved of the fossil fuels that feed it.  Although the topics are quite varied, Heinberg … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil, Peter Turchin, Richard Heinberg, Social Disorder | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Oil theft around the world: Cartels and exploding donkeys

Posted on April 4, 2018 by

Preface. Oil thefts cost Nigerian oil producers at least $18 billion a year. In Mexico, cartels spend only $5-8,000 to tap into pipelines and withdraw “unlimited” amounts of gasoline, and did so 7,000 times in 2016, resulting in $1 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Oil, Threats to oil supply | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

U.S. Senate 2014 Freight rail service: improving the performance of America’s rail system

Posted on December 14, 2017 by

Preface. This Senate hearing is mainly full of oil and grain industry leaders bashing the rail industry and asking Senators to do something about it. But the railroad industry is four times more energy efficient than trucks, and not guilty … Continue reading →

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Permafrost will limit natural gas, oil, and coal extraction

Posted on November 29, 2017 by

Preface. For many people, it’s comforting to know that about 25% of remaining oil and gas reserves (we have the know-how and economics to get it) and resources (beyond our technical and monetary capability) are in the arctic. They assume … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, EROEI remaining oil too low, How Much Left, Peak Natural Gas, Peak Oil, Reserves Lower than stated, Roads, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Permafrost will limit natural gas, oil, and coal extraction

Minerals and War from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Posted on September 5, 2017 by

Here are 7 other posts from this great book: Mining: Waste, Pollution, Destruction Ugo Bardi predictions of the future Minerals and War Minerals: Natural gas Minerals: Coal Mineral: Soil Peak Uranium Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: … Continue reading →

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Responding to arctic oil spills

Posted on August 26, 2017 by

[ It is insane to even contemplate putting oil rigs into an area with such vast amounts of ice on the move, and all the additional dangers listed below.  Before I read this 210 page NRC report, I thought the … Continue reading →

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