Author Archives: energyskeptic

Humanity will need 27 planet Earths by 2050, a new study estimates.

Stephen Leahy. 3 Aug 2011.  Data Shows All of Earth’s Systems in Rapid Decline. Inter Press Service. Overpopulation is causing huge losses in biodiversity, and ‘protected areas’ such as national parks aren’t working. UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jul 29 (IPS) – Protecting … Continue reading

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William Catton, Chapter 2 of Overshoot: The Tragic Story of Human Success

William Catton. 1980. Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. University of Illinois Press. Origins of Man’s Future We are already living on an overloaded world. Our future will be a product of that fact; that fact is a product … Continue reading

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Rapid Population Growth in California: A Threat to Land and Food Production

David & Marcia Pimentel. June 2, 2008. Rapid Population Growth in California: A Threat to Land and Food Production. Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Are Californians —who are now coping with overcrowded cities, jammed highways, and a … Continue reading

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Nothing is So Powerful As an Exponential Whose Time Has Come

Donella Meadows on: Nothing is So Powerful As an Exponential Whose Time Has Come The reason environmentalists are often so gloomy is that they know what the word “exponential” means. “A lack of appreciation for what exponential increase really means … Continue reading

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Nering on the Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply

4 June 2001. Evar D. Nering. The Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply. New York Times. In my classes, I describe the following hypothetical situation: We have a 100-year supply of oil if it were consumed at its current rate. … Continue reading

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Poverty is Increasing

4 Apr 2013. 21 Statistics About The Explosive Growth Of Poverty In America That Everyone Should Know. TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com A few of the 21 stats: An all-time record 47.79 million Americans are now on food stamps. Back in the 1970s, about one … Continue reading

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Natural Gas Facts and Statistics

SBC. October 2014. Factbook Natural Gas Factbook. SBC Energy Institute 83% of natural gas comes from conventional reservoirs: 2.9 trillion cubic meters 13% of reservoirs account for 70% of global reserves The number of discoveries of giant fields has fallen … Continue reading

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Humans are a ‘plague on Earth’: Sir David Attenborough warns that negative effects of population growth will come home to roost

22 Jan 2013. Humans are a ‘plague on Earth’: Sir David Attenborough warns that negative effects of population growth will come home to roost. The Independent. TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough has warned that human beings have become a “plague … Continue reading

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UK Government: Food, energy, water & the climate. A perfect storm of global events?

John Beddington. December 12, 2012.  Food, Energy, Water and Climate change: A perfect storm of global events?  Government Office For Science. Kingsgate House. 66-74 Victoria street. London SUMMARY There is an intrinsic link between the challenge we face to ensure … Continue reading

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Why is modern concrete falling apart?

Here’s more information from Courland’s book “Concrete Planet” and other information I found on the web since I wrote Enough energy after Peak Oil to rebuild and repair concrete infrastructure? Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory has been trying to figure out … Continue reading

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