Author Archives: energyskeptic

Shale “fracked” natural gas peak by 2020: Mason Inman’s “Natural gas, the fracking fallacy”

Posted on December 4, 2014 by

[ In 2005 the U.S. was making desperate plans to build dozens of Liquefied Natural Gas plants for importing gas. Fracked gas changed that for the past 10 years, indeed, now the U.S. is talking about exporting natural gas.  But … Continue reading →

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Natural Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) as a Drop-in Diesel fuel

Posted on November 29, 2014 by

[The reason GTL is a big deal is that it can substitute for diesel without having to modify a diesel engine to do so — therefore, it’s a “drop-in fuel” substitute. However, GTL isn’t likely to be the answer, since … Continue reading →

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Population posts on the internet

Posted on November 23, 2014 by

[Below are posts I’ve run across on population. It will be left to Mother Nature to cut our numbers back to what the earth can support after fossil fuels decline.  In the brief 100 years or so the oil-boom lasted, … Continue reading →

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Giant Oil Field Decline Rates

Posted on November 22, 2014 by

Summary of article 1, Cobb’s “Aging Giant Oil Fields” 2013 The world’s 507 giant oil fields comprise a little over 1% of all oil fields, but produce 60% of current world supply Of the 331 largest fields, 261, or 79%, … Continue reading →

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Gail Tverberg: 8 pitfalls in evaluating green energy solutions

Posted on November 20, 2014 by

Eight Pitfalls in Evaluating Green Energy Solutions November 18, 2014 by Gail Tverberg Does the recent climate accord between US and China mean that many countries will now forge ahead with renewables and other green solutions? I think that there are … Continue reading →

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Why You Should Love Trains

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

Why You Should Love Trains by Alice Friedemann    November 13, 2014 Trains rock! Trains are over 4 times more fuel efficient than trucks. On average it takes just 1 gallon to move a ton 473 miles, using just 2% of … Continue reading →

Posted in Rail, Railroads, Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Looking for a good book to read?

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

Here are eight book lists with recommendations from 45 years of non-fiction reading Booklist: Natural history & Science, Evolution, Critical thinking, Health, Resource allocation, Climate change, Fire Booklist: Travel, Psychology, World history, Food, Anthropology, (Auto)biography, Religion Booklist: American History, Politics, … Continue reading →

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Statistics: USA Rail, Truck, and Water Transportation

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

Average Miles of track, # of Rail Tonnage Length road, or Carloads 2010 in tons of haul navigable water Class 1 Rail 29,200,000 1,851,000,000 914 95,700 Class II & III Rail 7,800,000 600,000,000 32 43,000 Truck 8,778,000,000 4,016,000 Inland water … Continue reading →

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PNAS: Human population reduction is not a quick fix

Posted on October 29, 2014 by

Human population reduction is not a quick fix for environmental problems by Corey J. A. Bradshaw and Barry W. Brook Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Edited by Paul R. Ehrlich, Stanford University, and approved September 15, 2014 … Continue reading →

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Naomi Oreskes on “The Collapse of Western Civilization”

Posted on October 28, 2014 by

A Chronicler of Warnings Denied: Naomi Oreskes Imagines the Future History of Climate Change By Claudia Dreifus, Oct 27, 2014, New York Times “I get from the scientific community a feeling that things are going from bad to worse. I … Continue reading →

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