Author Archives: energyskeptic

Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System. National Academy of Sciences.

Posted on July 1, 2014 by

Much of what follows is from the National Academy of Science 2012  (for the Department of Homeland Security): “Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System” & 2013 “The Resilience of the Electric Power Delivery System in Response to Terrorism and … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Electricity Infrastructure, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Oil & Gas, Water Infrastructure | 1 Comment

Sandra Postel: Wildfires in the Western U.S. Threaten Drinking Water

Posted on June 30, 2014 by

Sandra Postel. May 1, 2014. Wildfires in the Western U.S. Are on the Rise, Posing Threats to Drinking Water When the Las Conchas Fire scorched some 151,000 acres of northern New Mexico in 2011, it wasn’t just the direct fire damage that … Continue reading →

Posted in Wildfire | Comments Off on Sandra Postel: Wildfires in the Western U.S. Threaten Drinking Water

Richard Duncan : Olduvai Gorge – Civilization ends when Electric Grids Permanently Fail

Posted on June 26, 2014 by

The Olduvai Theory – Heading into the Gorge By Richard C. Duncan, Ph.D. Volume 23, Number 2 (Winter 2013) Summary: The Olduvai Theory is defined as the ratio of world energy production and population. It states that average energy production … Continue reading →

Posted in Where to Be or Not to Be | Comments Off on Richard Duncan : Olduvai Gorge – Civilization ends when Electric Grids Permanently Fail

Earth’s Magnetic Flips May Have Triggered Mass Extinctions

Posted on June 13, 2014 by

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2014/06/10/earths-magnetic-flips-may-triggered-mass-extinctions/#.U5oyJ41dVXu Earth’s Magnetic Flips May Have Triggered Mass Extinctions At several times in Earth’s history, mass extinctions have come close to wiping life out altogether. The reasons for these catastrophes are still unclear – they’ve been blamed on everything from asteroid impacts to cosmic … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction | Comments Off on Earth’s Magnetic Flips May Have Triggered Mass Extinctions

Biggest Waste of Wealth in All of history: America’s Interstate Highway system

Posted on June 9, 2014 by

A book review by Alice Friedemann of: Swift, Earl. 2012. The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways. Related articles $46 Trillion Infrastructure in USA, $6 Trillion is Transportation Expressways & … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure Books, Roads, Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure, Trucks | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Biggest Waste of Wealth in All of history: America’s Interstate Highway system

Wind notes from government studies

Posted on June 7, 2014 by

[These are here to help me do research and find citations] Notes from 96 page: EERE. August 2014. 2013 Wind technologies market report. Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. No commercial offshore turbines have been commissioned in the United States, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Wind | Comments Off on Wind notes from government studies

$46 Trillion Infrastructure in USA, $6 Trillion is Transportation

Posted on June 3, 2014 by

James Howard Kunstler has written that Suburbia will be the largest waste of money and physical assets in human history. The end of the age of oil means that just about everything will be useless too.  Below is just the … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Gail Tverberg: How this collapse differs from past collapses

Posted on June 1, 2014 by

Converging Energy Crises – And How our Current Situation Differs from the Past  May 29, 2014 by Gail Tverberg At the Age of Limits Conference, I gave a talk called Converging Crises (PDF), talking about the crises facing us as we reach energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon, Gail Tverberg | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Gail Tverberg: How this collapse differs from past collapses

Exponential growth examples

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

Monbiot, George. 27 May 2014. It’s simple. If we can’t change our economic system, our number’s up It’s the great taboo of our age – and the inability to discuss the pursuit of perpetual growth will prove humanity’s undoing. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Exponential Growth, Limits To Growth | 2 Comments

Expressways & Interstates are only designed to last for 20 years

Posted on May 28, 2014 by

Preface. I make the case that civilization would end in a week if trucks stopped running in my first book, and though I had in mind that they would be running low on diesel fuel on the downside of world … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Roads, Trucks | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments