Yearly Archives: 2017

Of course the reason the U.S. invades other countries for oil

  This post contains information from Nafeez Ahmed’s 2017 book “Failing States, Collapsing Systems BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence“, Springer. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole … Continue reading

Posted in Middle East, Over Oil, Social Disorder, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Bonds – a hidden risk to the economy

Condon, B. August 24, 2016. The hidden risk to the economy in corporate balance sheets. AP. America has a debt problem, but it’s not what you think. Yes, the federal government owes trillions of dollars more than it did a … Continue reading

Posted in Bond Market | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Minerals and War from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Preface. This is an extract from Ugo Bardi’s book “Extracted”.  He makes the case that once we were able to forge metal weapons was when predatory nations began to invade one another to gain resources like coal to make more … Continue reading

Posted in Mining, Peak Coal, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Oil, Peak Precious Elements, Ugo Bardi, War | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Minerals and War from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Tackling mine wastes

Preface. This barely scratches the problems of mining wastes, but for what it’s worth, here are a few of the articles I’ve run across on this topic.  Like burying nuclear waste deep underground while we still have cheap energy and … Continue reading

Posted in Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, Pollution | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Tackling mine wastes

Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations: Biofuels make it worse

Preface. In 2018 I thought it was time to reorganize this post, as it grew more and more bloated and disorganized with new information. Eventually it turned into my 2021 book Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative … Continue reading

Posted in Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels, Peak Topsoil, Soil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book review of “1493 Uncovering the new world Columbus Created”

[ This book will be included in the “must read” category of my giant booklist when I get around to updating it. This book isn’t just about the past, the implications reverberate into the postcarbon future.  Will slavery return without … Continue reading

Posted in 2) Collapse, Agriculture, Disease, Pesticides, Soil | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Book review of “1493 Uncovering the new world Columbus Created”

Transportation: How long can we adapt before we fall off the Net Energy Cliff?

Preface. There are too many factors besides geological depletion to predict a future timeline of collapse. Plus each region will be more or less affected by each factor, sooner or later as well. This is a unique crash – there … Continue reading

Posted in Cascading Failure, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Infrastructure, Exponential Growth, Exports decline to ZERO, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Net Energy Cliff, Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Responding to arctic oil spills

Preface. It is nuts to put oil rigs in an area with such vast amounts of ice on the move, and all the additional dangers listed below. No wonder there’s little to no drilling.  It’s too expensive to keep oil … Continue reading

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Overfishing is driving large marine creatures extinct

[Overfishing is driving marine mammals extinct.  Luckily oil will soon begin a relentless decline and fishing boats won’t be able to travel to the ends of the world using spotter planes to net the remaining schools of fish.  And it … Continue reading

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Pigeon towers to cope with peak phosphate and natural gas fertilizer?

[ Natural gas based fertilizers intensified crop production per acre up to 5-fold, yet natural gas, like phosphate, is finite.  We are going to be forced to reinvent our fossil-based agriculture, why not start with pigeon towers? Beats going to … Continue reading

Posted in Farming & Ranching, Peak Phosphorus | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments