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Recent Posts
- The insect apocalypse will kill billions more people than climate change
- The war on drugs. A book review of “Chasing the scream”
- Peak crude oil did not happen in 2018. But we are still running out of time
- Sheriffs have too much power
- Book review “They poisoned the world: Life & death in the age of Forever Chemicals”
- John Howe on one child per woman: still too high to stay under limits to growth curves
- Ted Trainer: The radical implications of a zero growth economy
- Part 5 Raven Rock. Hidey holes for government and military officials to carry on democracy after nuclear war destroys the planet
- Become a Bison rancher
- Part 4 Raven Rock. The government abandons plans to aid the public, only the government to survive
- Prisoners are treated worse than slaves in America
- Part 3 Raven Rock. The government’s plans for after a nuclear holocaust
- Part 2 Raven Rock. The U.S. government’s plans to save civilians from nuclear war
- Legal & Illegal Immigration numbers must drop to carrying capacity
- Part 1 Intro. Raven rock: the story of the U.S. governments secret plans to save itself after a nuclear war and let the rest of us die
Author Archives: energyskeptic
What is the plan for an electric grid outage that lasts for months?
Preface. There are three posts on Ted Koppel’s book “Lights out”: Book review of Lights Out. A Cyberattack. A Nation Unprepared. Surviving the Aftermath What is the plan for an electric grid outage that lasts for months? Want to survive … Continue reading
Where to be? Superfund, hazardous waste & other toxic sites in U.S.
Preface. If you’re thinking of moving to another state that is under carrying capacity, where agriculture depends on rainfall rather than irrigation, with good topsoil and other ecologically important factors in the approaching postcarbon world, also make sure you’re not … Continue reading
Posted in Chemical Pollution, Hazardous Waste, Where to Be or Not to Be
Tagged pollution, superfund, toxic wastes, wildfire
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Why is everyone afraid of AI or thinks it will solve all our problems?
I question how useful and existentially threatening AI really is. I am not denying that AI can do marvelous things, especially finding patterns, which is terrifically useful across many fields. It is best when it has very narrow objectives, such … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Critical Thinking
Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, critical thinking, hallucination
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Do you want to eat, drink, or fly?
Preface. In this post the New York Times writes about renewable airplane fuel from corn ethanol, and questions whether there is enough water and a few other problems. First I’m going to summarize their issues with this, and then follow … Continue reading
Posted in Airplanes, Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Groundwater, Peak Water
Tagged aquifer, aviation fuel, corn, EROI, ethanol
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The 10th planetary boundary: Salt
Preface. In 2009, Johan Rockström proposed that there were nine planetary boundaries we must not cross. In 2023, Richardson et al found that 6 of the 9 boundaries had been transgressed: Climate change CO2 and radiative forcing, Biosphere integrity, land … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Planetary Boundaries, Pollution, Soil
Tagged biodiversity, existential threat, salt
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Unpave concrete & asphalt to save energy and money
Preface. The U.S. has 4.1 million miles of roads (1.9 million paved, 2.2 million gravel). About 3 million miles of roads have less than 2,000 vehicles a day, less than 15% of all traffic. The paved portion of these low-volume … Continue reading
Posted in Concrete, Roads, Transportation, Transportation What To Do
Tagged depave, roads, unpave
2 Comments
Subsistence life in West Virginia before capitalism
Preface. These are a few of my kindle notes from Steven Stoll’s “Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia” that may give you an idea of how people might survive after collapse. It is a damning critique of capitalism.
Posted in Jobs and Skills, Life Before Oil
Tagged capitalism, farming, hunting, Subsistence
3 Comments
Will Congress ever create a new independent agency to store nuclear waste permanently?
Preface. The lack of permanent geological storage of nuclear waste will be yet another nightmare for those living after fossils have declined and civilizations go back to biomass fuels and muscle power. They will already be dealing with heat making … Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear Waste, U.S. Congress Energy Policy
Tagged energy policy, nuclear power, nuclear waste, Nuclear Waste Administration Act, S. 1240, senate hearing, Yucca mountain
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Nuclear waste will harm future generations for a million years without underground storage
Preface. This is a book review of “Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste” and the best book I’ve read on the topic, as well as additional research on the topic. Now that world wide production of … Continue reading