Author Archives: energyskeptic

The Back to the Land Movement: why it failed and why we need to try again

Posted on December 19, 2016 by

[ This is my book review of “Back from the Land: how young Americans went to nature in the 1970s, and why they came back”.   Some succeeded, but most failed, and there are lessons to be learned from the previous … Continue reading →

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Energy Security: Historical perspectives and Modern challenges. Senate hearing 2009

Posted on December 17, 2016 by

[ In this hearing former President Carter was brought in by the Senate to help them cope with the energy crisis.  Carter said that no one but the President can educate the public about the energy crisis and  “explain to … Continue reading →

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House hearing on Canadian oil sands

Posted on December 14, 2016 by

House 112-128. March 20, 2012. The American Energy Initiative Part 17: A focus on the future of energy technology with an emphasis on Canadian oil sands. U.S. House of Representatives. [ Excerpts from the 203 page transcript ] President Obama … Continue reading →

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How is California’s AB2514 experiment with utility scale battery storage coming along?

Posted on December 3, 2016 by

[ This is an excellent article by Tod Kiefer about tests of sodium-sulfur batteries, which are the only kind of battery for which there is enough material on earth to make. Battery electric storage is meant to “replace nimble, fast-ramping … Continue reading →

Posted in Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Electricity Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review of “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World” by Steve LeVine

Posted on December 2, 2016 by

Preface. This is a book review of Steve Levine’s 2015 “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World”. If you ever wondered why batteries are still not even close to powerful enough to replace fossil fuels, … Continue reading →

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Stansberry on “The End of America”

Posted on December 1, 2016 by

[ Stansberry has been predicting a market crash and currency collapse for a long time.  But this hasn’t happened yet, so Stansberry re-evaluates his ideas. He notes that the top 20 industrialized nations have pension and retiree obligations that aren’t … Continue reading →

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Book review of “Spiral: Trapped in the forever war”

Posted on November 28, 2016 by

[ I understand why anyone who might be believed about the energy crisis keeps their mouth shut about peak oil, it would be like shouting “fire” in a crowded theater and could bring down stock markets world-wide.  Why?  Because there … Continue reading →

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U.S. House looks at how to improve the nation’s highway freight network

Posted on November 23, 2016 by

[ Like all books and articles I read on transportation for my book, this session assumes endless growth and worries about future congestion, which will not be a problem on the other side of peak oil, which is coming soon.  … Continue reading →

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Water as a geopolitical threat. U.S. House of Representatives

Posted on November 20, 2016 by

Preface. Water scarcity is causing unrest and could led to war in Asia and the Middle East. There’s a website that keeps track of conflicts over water going back for 3,000 years here — 655 of them.   The prevalence of … Continue reading →

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Largest Mass Extinction caused by Mega-Eruptions in Siberia

Posted on November 17, 2016 by

Kerr, R.A. December 20, 2013. Mega-Eruptions Drove the Mother of Mass Extinctions.  Science  Vol. 342:1424  [Excerpts] After 20 years of trying, researchers have finally convicted massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia as the culprit in the greatest of all mass extinctions, … Continue reading →

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