Yearly Archives: 2017

Why didn’t any white collar corporate criminals go to jail after the crash?

Posted on October 16, 2017 by

[ This is a book review with excerpts of “The Chickenshit club: Why the justice department fails to prosecute executives”.  Here is how the author Eisinger summarizes the problem and consequences: “Businesses now have privileges not seen since the Gilded … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Mortgages, No Jail for Bankers & Wall St execs | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Why is nearly all solar power built where subsidies are the highest?

Posted on October 8, 2017 by

If solar net energy return is as high as some solar advocates claim, why does solar need any subsidies? And not just U.S. subsidies, it’s subsidies on top of subsidies when you add in that we’re buying Chinese government subsidized … Continue reading →

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Photovoltaic Solar, Solar EROI, U.S. Congress Energy Policy | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Minerals & Energy from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Posted on October 5, 2017 by

Preface. This is a small section of Ugo Bardi’s excellent book “Extracted”. His most important observation is that: “The limits to mineral extraction are not limits of quantity; they are limits of energy. Extracting minerals takes energy, and the more … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Peak Critical Elements, Ugo Bardi | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Minerals & Energy from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

House hearing on Venezuela’s collapse March 2017

Posted on October 2, 2017 by

“The economy of Venezuela is largely based on the petroleum sector and manufacturing. Revenue from petroleum exports accounts for more than 50% of the country’s GDP and roughly 95% of total exports” (wiki). Preface. Venezuela supposedly has 18.2% of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass migrations, U.S. Congress Energy Dependence, Venezuela | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

What would happen if trucks stopped running?

Posted on October 1, 2017 by

Preface. In “Why You Should Love Trucks” I showed that essential supply chains depend on trucks nearly completely.  Because of little inventory and dependence on just-in-time deliveries, our civilization would almost immediately feel the repercussions of trucks stopping. In fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Dependence on Oil, Electric & Hydrogen trucks impossible, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Oil Shocks, Transportation Infrastructure, Transportation Supply chain, Trucks, When Trucks Stop Running | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on What would happen if trucks stopped running?

How long will the marriage of fracked oil and tar sands last?

Posted on September 29, 2017 by

[ Below is a post by Art Berman which I found interesting because I’m concerned about whether enough diesel can be made in the future to keep trucks running.  Light tight “fracked” oil is better at making plastics and gasoline … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Tar Sands (Oil Sands) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Underground pumped hydro storage is the only technology capable of massive storage for renewable electricity

Posted on September 27, 2017 by

[ Picard concludes that “None of the candidate technologies for massive-scale renewable and sustainable generation of ‘‘green’’ electricity deliver it in a form suitable for high-efficiency storage. None of the prospectively-massive storage modes for transformed electricity is at present well … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Storage, Grid instability, Hydropower, Renewable Integration | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Nate Hagens “Peak Oil” – Why Smart Folks Disagree – Part II

Posted on September 25, 2017 by

[ There’s a great deal of interest in the Hill’s Group report, but Nate Hagens came up with similar results back in 2007 and he explains his ideas far more eloquently.  Although much production of U.S. oil and gas may … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Nate Hagens | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Kurt Cobb: Peak oil production has been hidden by the EIA by including condensate and other non-transportation fuels

Posted on September 20, 2017 by

[ The Energy Information Administration has done what they can to hide peak oil production by adding in everything but the kitchen sink to overall oil production numbers, such as ethanol and natural gas liquids, which are not true transportation … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Kurt Cobb, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

House hearing: no solutions for North Korea in sight

Posted on September 17, 2017 by

[ This is a summary of the March 2017 house hearing titled “Pressuring North Korea–evaluating options”. First are some of the reasons why nothing is going to change –in my own wording–followed by congressional testimony.  Then Chairman Yoho gives a … Continue reading →

Posted in North Korea, Oil shock collapse, U.S. Congress Energy Policy | Tagged , | Comments Off on House hearing: no solutions for North Korea in sight