Author Archives: energyskeptic

How long will concrete last if it isn’t maintained?

As energy grows scarcer and is devoted to growing food and other life-support services, our infrastructure will crumble. Bob Holmes. 12 Oct 2006. Imagine Earth without people. NewScientist.com Lack of maintenance will spell an early demise for buildings, roads, bridges … Continue reading

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What is global EROI now? A Review of 2012 EROI of Global Energy Resources

[ FYI the USDA recently updated the numbers on the energy balance of corn ethanol in 2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry.  Todd “Ike” Kiefer has written a rebuttal that can be found here. Past articles of his include … Continue reading

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Peak Coal already happened or likely soon, so worst IPCC scenarios may never happen

[ The good news is that The IPCC has greatly exaggerated the amount of coal reserves we actually have The scientists below find that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has greatly exaggerated coal reserves, so the IPCC scenario … Continue reading

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Up to 9% of Methane lost in leaks erodes green credentials of natural gas

Jeff Tollefson. 2 Jan 2013. Methane leaks erode green credentials of natural gas.  Losses of up to 9% show need for broader data on US gas industry’s environmental impact. Nature, volume 493 Scientists are once again reporting alarmingly high methane … Continue reading

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Professor Tad Patzek on Oil in the Arctic

[Shell spent 10 years and $7 billion before withdrawing from exploring the arctic because the oil and gas reserves they found were too meager.  The company needed “a multi-billion barrel discovery” to “justify going ahead,” Shell chief executive Ben van … Continue reading

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Statistics. Michael Snyder’s “75 economic numbers from 2012”

Michael Snyder. 21 Dec 2012. 75 economic numbers from 2012 that are almost too crazy to believe. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com #1 In December 2008, 31.6 million Americans were on food stamps.  Today, a new all-time record of 47.7 million Americans are on … Continue reading

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ASPO 2012 Conference: What I found Interesting

A picture is worth a thousand words — you may want to scroll through these presentations yourself. ASPO 2012 slide presentations Robert L. Hirsch. Peak Oil. Some Knowns & Unknowns. Slide 6: Peak oil isn’t yet impacting oil prices — … Continue reading

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Wind and Solar Power Require MORE Fossil Fuels

Ralph Vartabedian. 9 Dec 2012.  Rise in renewable energy will require more use of fossil fuels. Los Angeles Times. As California attempts to reach the goal of producing one-third of its electricity from wind and solar sources by 2020, more … Continue reading

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Birth Control Impossible due to Religion, they prefer you die of starvation, disease, and war

What a horror: so-called “Pro-Life” religions force their nasty beliefs on a woman’s right to control her own destiny and a civilizations ability to decently house and feed citizens, dooming societies of the future crazed from hunger and disease brought … Continue reading

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Overpopulation is destroying the planet — China for example

Kenneth R. Weiss. July 22, 2012. China’s population and economy are a double whammy for the world China’s ‘one-child’ policy has slowed population growth and brought prosperity — but it couldn’t avert massive damage to the environment. Los Angeles Times. … Continue reading

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