Author Archives: energyskeptic

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

Posted on June 6, 2018 by

[ 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

Mass migration: Africa

Posted on June 4, 2018 by

Sengupta, S. 2016-12-15. Heat, Hunger and War Force Africans Onto a ‘Road on Fire’. New York Times. AGADEZ, Niger — The world dismisses them as economic migrants. The law treats them as criminals who show up at a nation’s borders … Continue reading →

Posted in Drought & Collapse, Extreme Weather, Mass migrations | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Royal Society on peak oil and how much oil is left

Posted on June 1, 2018 by

[ This is a great introduction to the whole topic of oil, reserves, resources, and so on. It’s very long so I’ve only excerpted bits of it and reworded some of it.  I can’t say there’s anything new in here … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Royal Society on peak oil and how much oil is left

Nobel prize economist Robert Shiller: market risk keeps him awake worrying

Posted on May 28, 2018 by

[ According to this article: “Shiller’s latest analysis shouldn’t be taken lightly. His forecasting skills were recognized in 2013 when he won the Nobel Prize in Economics. He’s known for predicting both the dot-com bubble and the housing bubble in … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

BBC: Fusion energy pushed back beyond 2050

Posted on May 25, 2018 by

Cartlidge, E. July 11, 2017. Fusion energy pushed back beyond 2050. BBC. We will have to wait until the second half of the century for fusion reactors to start generating electricity, experts have announced. A new version of a European … Continue reading →

Posted in Fusion | Tagged | 7 Comments

One of the biggest risks to the world’s financial system is the $3 trillion of debt owed by oil and gas firms

Posted on May 24, 2018 by

[ Yet another “crash coming soon” post, if it hasn’t happened already (I scheduled this article and others to appear a year or more later, since crashes always take longer to happen than you expect. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bond Market, Crash Coming Soon, Debt, Oil & Gas Fracked | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Steve St. Angelo: Prepare for asset price declines of 50 to 75%

Posted on May 22, 2018 by

Steve St. Angelo. July 4, 2017. Prepare for asset price declines of 50 to 75%. SRSRocco report. What we have is a totally propped-up market based upon debt. Energy isn’t producing positive growth. So instead of having real economic growth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Power density of biomass, wind, & solar take too much land to replace fossil fuels

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

Volumetric versus specific energy density for selected energy carriers. Source: Palmer, G. 2020. Energy storage & civilization: a systems approach. Springer. Preface. Vaclav Smil writes “The fact that wind, solar, and biomass have incredibly low energy density per square meter … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Biomass, Coal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

America’s energy security, jobs & climate challenges

Posted on May 4, 2018 by

Preface. In this 2010 House of Representatives hearing, General Wesley Clark foresaw in 1973 “that US military forces might have to become engaged to defend or protect oil-producer governments”.  Today “we can look back on the continuing failures of American … Continue reading →

Posted in Caused by Scarce Resources, Climate Change, Congressional Record U.S., Military | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Peak Carbon

Posted on May 1, 2018 by

[ This is from the Seneca Effect written by somebody in the Netherlands, wish I knew who, he or she is quite brilliant. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Coal, Peak Oil | Tagged , | 1 Comment