Categories
-
Recent Posts
- The staggering cost of Net Zero in Britain
- Why the R/P Reserves to Production ratio does not show when oil will run out
- Catton on Collapse “Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse”
- Book Review of Grain Brain: Extraordinary claim not backed up by evidence
- Why did everyone stop talking about Population & Immigration?
- What would happen if trucks stopped running?
- How to survive a nuclear winter
- The insect apocalypse will kill billions more people than climate change
- The war on drugs. A book review of “Chasing the scream”
- Peak crude oil did not happen in 2018. But we are running out of time
- Sheriffs have too much power
- Book review “They poisoned the world: Life & death in the age of Forever Chemicals”
- John Howe on one child per woman: still too high to stay under limits to growth curves
- Ted Trainer: The radical implications of a zero growth economy
- Part 5 Raven Rock. Hidey holes for government and military officials to carry on democracy after nuclear war destroys the planet
Author Archives: energyskeptic
Natural Gas & Coal essential for energy storage
Preface. The U.S. Department of energy has stated a renewable grid is not possible without long-duration energy storage (Colthorpe 2022). Another report explains why around-the-clock renewables and decarbonization will not be possible without it (McKinsey 2022). This post explains why … Continue reading
When will gold production peak?
Figure 1. Mine production of gold worldwide from 2010 to 2024 (in metric tons). Source: USGS – Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, page 83 Preface. Ores are decreasing in gold concentrations, and found in deeper and more remote places, requiring more … Continue reading
Posted in Mining, Peak Precious Elements
Tagged peak gold
Comments Off on When will gold production peak?
Palm Oil biofuels destroy rain forests
Preface. This is a book review of “Planet Palm: How Palm Oil Ended Up in Everything-and Endangered the World.” I am mainly interested in the use of palm oil for biofuels, but it also harms health, which much of the … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biofuels, CO2 and Methane
Tagged biofuel, oil, palm, rainforests, renewable diesel
Comments Off on Palm Oil biofuels destroy rain forests
Why carbon capture contraptions are absurd
Preface. At the first USA peak oil conference in Denver (ASPO 2005), many of the attendees speculated renewable energy would be the last chance for Wall Street to make money from government subsidies and “dumb money” investors before limits to … Continue reading
Posted in Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), CO2 and Methane
Tagged capture, Carbon, CCS, CCUS, CO2, DAC, Direct Air Capture, Sekera, sequestration
Comments Off on Why carbon capture contraptions are absurd
Will California’s high-speed rail go off the tracks?
Preface. Way down below is the original post, a 2014 U.S. House hearing I summarized that revealed so many flaws with the California high-speed rail project I was sure funding would end. It is so bad, so flawed, that in … Continue reading
Why do leaders & the public deny peak oil & limits to growth?
Preface. It’s strange that we’re on the cusp of Peak Oil, and yet the only existential threat you ever hear about is Climate Change. The New York Times has mentioned climate change over 15,000 times the past 5 years, and … Continue reading
Vaclav Smil on why there will be no energy transition
Preface. This post has excerpts from energy expert Vaclav Smil‘s 2024 free paper “Halfway between Kyoto and 2050“. Smil’s book is free, here. Below is a shortened, reworded article from Scientific American in 2014 written by Smil on this topic … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy Books, Mining, Vaclav Smil
Tagged carbon capture, climate change, coal, energy transition, natural gas, oil, wind
Comments Off on Vaclav Smil on why there will be no energy transition
Republicans Brains are wired to deny science & reality
Preface. This is my book review of Chris Mooney’s 2012 “The Republican Brain. The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality”. This has grown from a review of this book (far below) to more recent science and writing on the … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution, Human Nature
Tagged bias, brain, conservative, curiosity, open to experience, Republican
7 Comments
Egads! An unfair distribution of wealth is good for the climate
Preface. Good grief!!! I never thought I would write a post with that title. I am pro Democracy, pro fair distribution of wealth! As you can see at posts here. But it has occurred to me that if if everyone … Continue reading
Posted in Distribution of Wealth, Overshoot, Poverty, Social Disorder
Tagged consumption, energy, manufacturing
5 Comments