Author Archives: energyskeptic

Why is Detroit falling apart so fast?

Using Google street view history, www.goobingdetroit.com records the decay of homes in Detroit. Above shows homes September 2009, September 2011, and September 2013 I’ve been fascinated with the decline of Detroit since a guy in my dormitory told me back … Continue reading

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Alternative Energy Booklist: Biofuels, Batteries, Solar, Wind, Nuclear, Hydropower, Hydrogen, Fusion, Geothermal, Wind & tidal, Muscle power, Far out

Why Alternative Energy can’t replace fossil fuels More booklists Alice Friedemann  www.energyskeptic.com  Author of Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy; When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, & … Continue reading

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Matchmaking for trucks so fewer run empty after deliveries

[ These apps have the potential to prevent some trucks from returning empty after their delivery, which wastes finite diesel fuel.  See the full article here. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of … Continue reading

Posted in Efficiency | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Failing states, collapsing systems: biophysical triggers of political violence

Preface. In this post I summarize the sections of Nafeez’s book about the biophysical factors that bring nations down (i.e. climate change drought & water scarcity, declining revenues after peak oil, etc.) The Media tend to focus exclusively on economic … Continue reading

Posted in Cascading Failure, Caused by Scarce Resources, Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed & collapsing nations, Drought & Collapse, Exports decline to ZERO, Food production, Interdependencies, Limits To Growth, Middle East, Other Experts, Over Oil, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Violence, War & Violence | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

After the harvest – protecting food from rats, mold, insects, fire, and bacteria

Preface. It’s hard enough to protect crops before a harvest. In New South Wales, Australia a plague of millions of mice has multiplied after a bumper grain harvest and eating whatever they can find. Mice can produce 500 offspring a … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Books, Farming & Ranching, Peak Food | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar PV, Part 2

Preface. Below is a book review of Charles Hall’s 2017 book, “Energy Return on Investment: A Unifying Principle for Biology, Economics, and Sustainability“, that he wrote to discover why solar advocate EROI results are so much higher than what was … Continue reading

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Agricultural Transportation and Energy Issues. Senate hearing 2005.

Preface. What follows are excerpts from this hearing.  Over and over senators warn of our dependence on oil.  The question is: what are they doing about it?  I’d guess given the crackdown on immigration that the government is aware of … Continue reading

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Doomsday: Will peak phosphate get us before global warming?

Price, Ed.  July 22, 2013. Doomsday: Will Peak Phosphate Get us Before Global Warming? oilprice.com Although climate change catches the headlines, it is not the only doomsday scenario out there. A smaller but no less fervent band of worriers think … Continue reading

Posted in Peak Phosphorus | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sand mines used to frack oil & gas are destroying the best topsoil in the Midwest

Preface. Frac sand is a high-purity quartz sand that is injected into wells to blast and hold open cracks in the shale rock layer during the fracking process. In the United States, frac sand is being mined intensively from sandstone … Continue reading

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Peak Sand, Soil | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

HSBC bank report predicts another financial crisis in 2018

[ Bill Hill of the Hill’s group predicted in June 2016 (at a peakoil.com forum): “We expect to have reached permanent depression by the end of 2017. The reduction will not hit all nations the same way. The richer Western … Continue reading

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