Author Archives: energyskeptic

Trucks running on CNG or LNG

Posted on July 23, 2021 by

Preface. My books “When Trucks stop running” and “Life After Fossil Fuels” explain why trucks can’t run on electricity — batteries simply don’t scale up, they are too heavy leaving little if any room for cargo. A catenary system has … Continue reading →

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Was the fall of the Roman Empire due to plagues & climate change?

Posted on July 20, 2021 by

Preface. Harper (2017) shows the brutal effects of plagues and climate change on the Roman Empire. McConnell (2020) proposes that a huge volcanic eruption in Alaska was a factor in bringing the Roman Empire  and Cleopatra’s Egypt down. In addition, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pandemic, Roman Empire | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Biogas from cow manure is not a solution for the energy crisis

Posted on July 17, 2021 by

Preface. Smil’s article about biogas sums up why it won’t contribute to energy shortages as fossils decline. Biogass doesn’t scale and is easy to muck up. Hayes (2015) also makes this case, pointing out that even if every ounce of … Continue reading →

Posted in Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Peak Biofuels, Pollution | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Next Big Thing: Distributed Generation & Microgrids

Posted on July 14, 2021 by

  Preface. Last updated 2022-9-5   The first article below explains what microgrids will look like in the future.  But first a brief look at what a microgrid is, as Angwin explains in her book  “Shorting the Grid. The Hidden Fragility … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Distributed Generation, Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Grid instability, Photovoltaic Solar, Wind | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Interdependencies & supply chain failures in the News

Posted on July 11, 2021 by

Preface. Joseph Tainter, explains in his famous book “The collapse of complex societies” how complexity causes civilizations to collapse. Fossil fuels have created the most complex society that has ever, or will ever exist, using fossil energy that can’t be … Continue reading →

Posted in Interdependencies, Microchips and computers, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jason Bradford on reforming the current food system

Posted on July 5, 2021 by

Preface. Jason Bradford is amazing: He taught ecology for a few years at Washington University in St. Louis, worked for the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and co-founded the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Farming & Ranching | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

There are over 300,000 contaminated groundwater sites in the U.S.

Posted on July 1, 2021 by

Preface.  If peak oil did indeed happen in 2018 as the EIA world production data shows, then let’s use the oil we still have, before it is rationed, to clean up the 126,000+ sites that threaten to pollute groundwater for … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, National Academies of Sciences, Water Pollution | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Book review of Fruits of Eden: David Fairchild & Americas Plant Hunters

Posted on June 28, 2021 by

Preface. Botanist David Fairchild is one of the reasons the average grocery store has 39,500 items. Before he came along, most people ate just a few kinds of food day in day out (though that was partly due to a … Continue reading →

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A Century from Now Concrete Will be Nothing But Rubble

Posted on June 26, 2021 by

Photo: road abandoned since 1984 in the Florida Keys Preface. Much of the material that follows is based on Robert Courland’s 2011 book Concrete Planet, which explains why concrete is an essential part of our infrastructure. And it’s all falling … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure & Collapse, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Peak Sand, Roads | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Microchip fabrication plants need electricity 24 x 7 for four months

Posted on June 25, 2021 by

Preface. Computer chip fabrication plants need to run continuously for months to accomplish the thousands of steps needed to make microchips. A half-hour power outage at Samsung’s Pyeongtaek chip plant caused losses of over $43 million dollars (Reuters 2019). Intermittent power … Continue reading →

Posted in Microchips and computers | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments