Author Archives: energyskeptic

The coming crash in 2020 from high diesel prices for cleaner emission of oceangoing ships

Posted on November 21, 2018 by

Preface.  Ships made globalization possible, and play an essential role in our high standard of living, carrying 90% of global goods traded. But the need for a new, cleaner fuel may cause the next economic crisis.  Currently ships can burn … Continue reading →

Posted in By People, Crash Coming Soon, Peak Oil, Ships and Barges | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

India wants to build dangerous fast breeder reactors

Posted on November 19, 2018 by

Preface. India was planning to build six fast breeder reactors in 2016, but now in 2018, they’ve reduced the number to 2.  This is despite the high cost, instability, danger, and accidents of the 16 previous world-wide attempts that have … Continue reading →

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Germany’s wind energy mess: As subsidies expire, thousands Of turbines to close

Posted on November 16, 2018 by

Preface. This means that the talk about renewables being so much cheaper than anything else isn’t necessarily true.  If wind were profitable, more turbines would be built to replace the old ones  without subsidies needed. Unless they can be dumped … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Energy Infrastructure, Wind | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Book review of Vaclav Smil’s “Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects”

Posted on November 13, 2018 by

Preface.  In my extract of the 178 pages in the book below, Smil explains why renewables can’t possibly replace fossil fuels, and appears to be exasperated that people believe this can be done when he writes “Common expectations of energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy Books, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Rex Weyler on “what to do” about limits to growth, peak energy

Posted on November 10, 2018 by

Preface. Professor Nate Hagens is teaching a class at the University of Minnesota about the state of the world that may be expanded to all incoming freshmen.  Many despair when they learn about limits to growth and finite fossil fuels.  … Continue reading →

Posted in What to do | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Fresh water depletion, contamination, saltwater intrusion, & subsidence

Posted on November 7, 2018 by

Map of the U.S. showing cumulative groundwater depletion from 1900 through 2008 in 40 aquifers. Source: Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900-2008), USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5079. Preface.  This isn’t mentioned in the subsidence paper below, but half of USA … Continue reading →

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Why tar sands, a toxic ecosystem-destroying asphalt, can’t fill in for declining conventional oil

Posted on October 27, 2018 by

This is a book review of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk. Many “energy experts” have said that a Manhattan tar sands project could prevent oil decline in the future.   But that’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in Tar Sands (Oil Sands) | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Toxic textiles: the lethal history of Rayon

Posted on October 24, 2018 by

Preface. This is a book review from Science magazine of Paul David Blanc’s 2016 book “Fake Silk The Lethal History of Viscose Rayon”, Yale University Press.  I’ve shortened the review and changed some of the text. This book exposes how … Continue reading →

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Invasive insects

Posted on October 21, 2018 by

Preface.  Below is a by no means exhaustive list of insect scourges, just the ones I happen to run across.  Whoever is still around after collapse will sure be hard pressed to survive — unless they add insects to their … Continue reading →

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Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”

Posted on October 18, 2018 by

Preface.  This contains excerpts from John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”. It’s one of my favorite books about natural resources, exploring the role wood has played in the rise and fall of civilizations since they … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed & collapsing nations, Deforestation, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Soil, Wood | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment