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Recent Posts
- In a world without people, how long would NYC last?
- Network States to replace democratic governments with billionaire Silicon Valley CEO dictators & Republicans
- Why the kerogen in oil shale will never fill up your tank
- ‘The oil we eat’. Following the food chain back to iraq
- Vanishing open spaces: population growth and sprawl in America
- Admiral Rickover 1957: Energy Resources & Our Future
- The Green New Deal is not a solution for the real problem: Overshoot
- A transition from fossil fuels to renewables could take a century – if it ever happens
- Electrifying freight trains in the U.S. is a bad idea
- Why Nuclear Power can’t replace fossil fuels
- Energy, Water, & Climate Change are interdependent
- Why fusion power is Forever Away
- Climate Change dominates news coverage at expense of other existential planetary boundaries
- Excerpt from “The Geopolitics of Resource Wars”
- Homes & Buildings
Author Archives: energyskeptic
Why towns have a hard time adding EV, solar, heat pumps
Preface. This article from IEEE does a good job of explaining how and why it is incredibly expensive for cities to cope with with L2 chargers, EV, solar, and heat pumps by zeroing in on Palo Alto, where there are … Continue reading
Posted in Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Electric Vehicles
Tagged electric grid, EV, heat pump, solar, transformer
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Building a national super grid in America
Preface. Renewables are not evenly distributed. Just 10 states have 80% of hydropower (Homeland Security 2011), 10 states produce 75% of wind power (EIA 2017), and 10 states produce 79% of solar power (CE 2020). With a national grid, instead … Continue reading
The Mayflower from the book The Barbarous Years
Preface. It was recently Thanksgiving so I thought I’d post something from Mann’s 1491 about the pilgrims that I later found out was grievously wrong from an expert who gives lectures on the Mayflower history. Here is a more subtle, … Continue reading
The deep sea is a desperate place to drill for more
Preface. Peak crude oil is on a plateau that is likely to peak soon, but when it happens we won’t be out of oil, just halfway through. Giant fields continue to be found, but in the deep ocean or arctic … Continue reading
Book review of “Livewired. The inside story of the ever-changing brain”
Preface. This book conveys a sense of wonderment and awe about our brains work and how we become who we are. I think if you read the excerpts below you will understand why Artificial Intelligence will probably never come close … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Evolution
Tagged artificial intelligence, brain, neurons
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The conveyor belt may be slowing down — Yikes!
Preface. The conveyor belt (AMOC: Atlantic meridional overturning circulation) may be slowing down. If it stops, floods, increased sea level rise, and disturbed weather systems. Until recently the IPCC and other scientists didn’t think this might happen until 2300 or … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Peak Food, Sea Level Rise
Tagged AMOC, climate change, conveyor belt, ocean currents, sea level rise
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Battery Energy storage batteries (BESS) too complex to ever be commercial
Source: RWE connects its first utility-scale battery storage project to the California grid Preface. In 2024 if all of the BESS battery storage time were added up, they could store 8 of the 8,760 hours of annual electricity generated in … Continue reading
Posted in Battery - Utility Scale
Tagged battery energy storage system, BESS, fire, thermal runaway
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New war and energy alliances over next resource wars
Preface. My greatest fear is nuclear war over the remaining resources on earth, since that has the potential of driving us extinct. But with the end of oil and endless growth capitalism depends on, the world will return resource wars … Continue reading
Book review of “Siege: Trump Under fire”
Preface. Wolff’s book continues the mordant humor of Fire & Fury. His books are the best, by far, of the dozens I’ve read about the Trump Administration. There will never be any books as insightful because Wolff was given unprecedented … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged incompetence, politics, Trump
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Why do people vote for Trump?
Preface. Before the election, it was widely known that Trump was a gangster who bragged about grabbing women’s asses, lied over 30,000 times during his term, went bankrupt 4 times, and much more. So how could people have voted for … Continue reading