Author Archives: energyskeptic

From Wood (10,000 BC to 1750) to coal (1750-1920) to Oil, Natural Gas, & Electricity to What?

Posted on July 2, 2014 by

Cutler J. Cleveland . Energy Quality, Net Energy, and the Coming Energy Transition.  Department of Geography and Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Boston University The level of health, food security and especially material standard of living that exists today … Continue reading →

Posted in Wood | 2 Comments

Increasing population + declining fossil fuels = less population

Posted on July 1, 2014 by

[ This essay looks at the human footprint on the planet, how it grew so large, the problems it causes, and the consequences. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Food, Population | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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 | 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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$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 →

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