Author Archives: energyskeptic

Robert Rapier: Oil demand is growing, not shrinking. There is no peak oil demand in sight.

[ Yes, this article was published 10 months ago, but with all the attention to fake news today, I thought it would be worthwhile pointing out that peak demand is propaganda, not based on facts. Since the goal of fake … Continue reading

Posted in Dependence on Oil, Electric Vehicles, Other Experts, Peak Oil, Transportation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Korowicz: A study of global system collapse

Preface. I’ve extracted about half of Korowicz’s paper, left out the references, math, charts, and tables, so you might want to read the original document yourself. This is a great explanation – one of the best – of the intertwined … Continue reading

Posted in 2) Overshoot, Cascading Failure, Critical Thinking, David Korowicz, Interdependencies, Liebig's Law, Social Disorder, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Why world leaders are terrified of water shortages

Preface. The article blow shows how water crisis in Yemen and Syria led to civil war, mass migration, roadblocks by angry citizens, water riots, increased dengue fever as people hard water, and 1 million refugees fleeing to Europe.  Egypt also … Continue reading

Posted in Caused by Scarce Resources, Drought & Collapse, Mass migrations, Middle East, Social Uprising, Starvation, Water | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Renewable EROI must include storage, low capacity factor, wide boundaries

[ Trainer argues that when you consider how the capacity factor of wind and solar are to fossil plants, seasonality of wind and solar the number of facilities is quite large to deal with the intermittency problem.  Therefore the storage … Continue reading

Posted in Solar, Solar EROI, Wind, Wind EROI | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Biodiversity loss has gone beyond the planetary boundaries

Source: Tanja Folnovic, June 23, 2015 “Loss of Biodiversity”. http://blog.agrivi.com/post/loss-of-biodiversity Preface. The survival of homo sapiens depends on the ecosystem that supports us, so a loss of biodiversity is a threat to our survival and ultimately can lead to extinction. … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Extinction | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Biodiversity loss has gone beyond the planetary boundaries

Homer-Dixon predicts 20 to 30% chance of Trump causing financial crisis, war, civil violence, and authoritarianism over next 5 years

[ Homer-Dixon wrote an article over a year ago for the Toronto Globe and Mail titled “Crisis analysis, how much damage can Trump do? (A lot). How’d his prediction turn out? Within this article is a link showing 4 major … Continue reading

Posted in Crash Coming Soon, Scientists, Social Disorder, War | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Energy from cow flatulence

[ Other “energy alternatives” in the Far Out category of menu item Energy include escaping to Mars, liposuction fat, whirlwinds, playground power, garbage, tornadoes, and turning seawater into fuel.    Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy … Continue reading

Posted in Far Out | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

U.S. Industrial farming destroys future food production for centuries

Preface. Below are excerpts from a devastating critique of current farming practices by the National research council who show the myriad ways that industrial farming is harming the land and future food production.

Posted in Air, Biodiversity Loss, Groundwater, Limits To Growth, Peak Food, Pesticides, Planetary Boundaries, Soil, Water Pollution | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Challenges & opportunities for alternative transportation fuels and vehicles. U.S. House hearing, 2011

Preface. Congress is aware that an energy crisis looms, though they seldom acknowledge or deal with it.  Here are a few excerpts from this U.S. House hearing (2011) The American energy initiative part 6: Challenges & opportunities for alternative transportation … Continue reading

Posted in Alternative Energy, U.S. Congress Energy Policy, U.S. Congress Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Challenges & opportunities for alternative transportation fuels and vehicles. U.S. House hearing, 2011

Richard Heinberg: Systemic change driven by moral awakening is our only hope

[ Although this was written over a year ago on August 14, 2017 by Richard Heinberg on Ecowatch, it’s as true today as it was then, and worth republishing since people forget what they’ve read in the past Alice Friedemann   … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Critical Thinking, Overpopulation, Overshoot, Population, Richard Heinberg | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments