Author Archives: energyskeptic

“More and More and More” one of the best books on energy ever written

Posted on May 12, 2026 by

Preface. This is about Jean-Baptiste Fressoz’s book “More and More and More”, an amazing history of energy and explanation of why there never has been an energy transition or will be. We just keep burning more and more and more … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Books, Interdependencies | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The staggering destruction of knowledge by Christians in the Roman Empire

Posted on May 5, 2026 by

Preface. Ever since reading Gibbons “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” I’ve been fascinated by the complexity of reasons for why the Roman Empire fell.  But so many books and writings were lost that much remains unknown. Mainly … Continue reading →

Posted in Preservation of Knowledge, Roman Empire | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why the R/P Reserves to Production ratio does not show when oil will run out

Posted on April 21, 2026 by

Venezuela has an incredibly high oil reserves-to-production ratio This is calculated b dividing proved oil reserves by its annual production. That tells us how many years proved reserves would last if production stayed constant, and no new reserves were discovered … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Peak Oil | Tagged , | Comments Off on Why the R/P Reserves to Production ratio does not show when oil will run out

Catton on Collapse “Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse”

Posted on April 14, 2026 by

Preface. Below is a very short summary of a book written by the founding father of human ecology, William R Catton Jr called Bottleneck: Humanity’s impending Impass written in 2009.  His first book in 1980, Overshoot, introduced basic concepts of … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Energy Books | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Catton on Collapse “Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse”

Book Review of Grain Brain: Extraordinary claim not backed up by evidence

Posted on April 7, 2026 by

This is my book review of David Perlmutter’s (2013) Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers. At the New York Times, this book was the #1 best seller in the Dining list and #9 … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Farming & Ranching | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Book Review of Grain Brain: Extraordinary claim not backed up by evidence

Why did everyone stop talking about Population & Immigration?

Posted on March 31, 2026 by

Preface. This post summarizes the top 26 reasons why population growth was abandoned the past 50 years. Further reasons can be found in Beck & Kolankiewicz (2000) “The Environmental Movement’s Retreat from Advocating U.S. Population Stabilization” and Weisman’s “Countdown: Our … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Climate Change, Deforestation, Disease, Overpopulation, Pesticides, Pollution, Population, Transportation, Water Pollution, Wildfire | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

What would happen if trucks stopped running?

Posted on March 24, 2026 by

Preface. In “Why You Should Love Trucks” I showed that essential supply chains depend on trucks nearly completely.  Because of little inventory and dependence on just-in-time deliveries, our civilization would almost immediately feel the repercussions of trucks stopping. In fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Dependence on Oil, Electric & Hydrogen trucks impossible, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Oil Shocks, Transportation Infrastructure, Transportation Supply chain, Trucks, When Trucks Stop Running | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

How to survive a nuclear winter

Posted on March 17, 2026 by

Preface. New Zealand and other countries in the southern hemisphere are expected to be safer since they are far from nuclear targets. But they would still experience extreme temperature drops and less sunlight, though less than the Northern hemisphere.  Still, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuclear War, Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged , , | Comments Off on How to survive a nuclear winter

The insect apocalypse will kill billions more people than climate change

Posted on March 10, 2026 by

  Preface. Below are excerpts from two articles on why and how the extinction of insects could lead to our own extinction and many other species. Although climate change is more deadly now, an insect apocalypse will kill far more … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Extinction, Scientists Warnings to Humanity | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The war on drugs. A book review of “Chasing the scream”

Posted on March 3, 2026 by

Preface. The founder of the War on Drugs in the U.S., Harry Anslinger, wanted to build as large a bureaucracy as possible. But a war on narcotics alone—cocaine and heroin, outlawed in 1914—wasn’t enough. They were used only by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Drug wars and the prison system | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments