Author Archives: energyskeptic

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 →

Posted in Agriculture, Farming & Ranching | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Book review of Fruits of Eden: David Fairchild & Americas Plant Hunters

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

The orbiting solar power fantasy

Posted on June 22, 2021 by

Preface. This 2020 article “Solar Power Beamed Down To Earth From Space Moves Forward” will leave you all warm, fuzzy, and unworried about the future. The Scientists Will Come Up With Something.  But that’s because you know little to nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Far Out, Orbiting Solar | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Population explosion to destroy 11% of remaining ecosystems and biodiversity

Posted on June 19, 2021 by

Preface. According to a recent paper in Nature Sustainability (Williams et al 2020), we are on the verge of destroying 11% of earth’s remaining ecosystems by 2050 to grow more food. We already are using 75% of Earth’s land. What … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemicals, Deforestation, Food production, Overpopulation | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Negative energy return of solar PV in Northern Europe

Posted on June 16, 2021 by

Preface.  I once yanked this paper after huge blow back, almost as bad as nuclear proponents, but in the past few years, I have no reason to doubt Ferroni and Hopkirks methods, boundaries, or conclusions, so I’m putting this post … Continue reading →

Posted in Photovoltaic Solar, Solar EROI | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Negative energy return of solar PV in Northern Europe

Government plans to reduce dependency on fossil fuels won’t work

Posted on June 13, 2021 by

Preface. Yikes!  These government plans from 2009 won’t help the energy crisis much!  I do like these ideas though: Get Yucca mountain ready to take nuclear waste. We need to sequester nuclear wastes while there is still energy to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Government on what to do, U.S. Congress Energy Dependence | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why we aren’t mining methane hydrates now — or perhaps ever

Posted on June 10, 2021 by

Preface. Methane hydrates are far from being commercial, and probably always will be. Scientists and companies have been trying to exploit them since the first energy crisis in 1973 to no avail. Nor are they likely to trigger a runaway … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Global Warming, Methane Hydrates | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why we aren’t mining methane hydrates now — or perhaps ever