Author Archives: energyskeptic

The staggering level of corruption & kleptocracy in the world

Preface.  This is a book review of Frank Vogl’s 2021 book “The Enablers: How the West Supports Kleptocrats and Corruption – Endangering Our Democracy” (well, mostly kindle notes).  They couldn’t get away with it if there weren’t so many places … Continue reading

Posted in Banking, Bond Market, Corporate Welfare, Corruption, Crime, Gangs, Corrupt police, Private security, Debt, No Jail for Bankers & Wall St execs, Politics, Scams | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The staggering level of corruption & kleptocracy in the world

Horses will be essential to wars in the future

Source: De Decker K (2008) Bring back the horses. Low-Tech Magazine. Preface. Horses will not only play a key role in agriculture in the future after oil decline, they’ll replace the dozens of kinds of trucks that exist today, and … Continue reading

Posted in Muscle Power | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

China is destroying itself

Preface. China has been destroying itself for many decades now.  In Mao’s “great leap forward” about 35 to 50 million are estimated to have died from starvation from 1958 on, as you’ll read in my book review of” Shapiro J … Continue reading

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Hazardous Waste, Mining, Soil | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nuclear Waste Disposal and Peak Oil

Preface. One the greatest tragedies of energy decline will be the nuclear waste left to harm thousands of future generation for hundreds of thousands of years. We owe it to them to clean up our mess while we still have … Continue reading

Posted in Nuclear Waste | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Dust Bowl 2.0 – they’re coming back!

Preface. Two forms of soil erosion may bring back the Great Depression Dustbowls. The first is that Great Plains grasslands have been replaced with corn crops to grow ethanol, which have increased the amount of dust 100% over the past … Continue reading

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Dennis Meadows of Limits to Growth: Collapse inevitable

Preface. Dennis Meadows is a co-author of The Limits to Growth.  In 1972, the team of 66 scientists he assembled for the original Limits to Growth study concluded the most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline … Continue reading

Posted in Limits To Growth, Peak Oil History | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Peak oil, food & the “King of Chemicals” sulfuric acid

Preface. I first learned of sulfur’s existence when my grandmother told me how she loved going to tent revivals on the edge of town where it was common for preachers to get converts by burning sulfur to make the fire … Continue reading

Posted in Mining, Peak Fertilizer, Peak Food, Peak Oil, Peak Phosphorus, Starvation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Peak oil, food & the “King of Chemicals” sulfuric acid

Hibernating freeze-thaw molten salt batteries for seasonal energy storage

Preface.  A 100% renewable grid can’t happen without long-term energy storage. Today that’s done with natural gas (with a little help from hydropower in the 10 states that have most of it). Meanwhile nuclear and coal chug along at a … Continue reading

Posted in Battery - Utility Scale, CSP with thermal energy storage, Renewable Integration | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Most plastic isn’t recycled, burns in fires at recycling centers

Preface.  Plastics are just one of 500,000 products made out of oil and gas, but very important to just about every aspect of society, from making vehicles lighter so go further using less energy, to clothes, food storage, bags, toothbrushes, … Continue reading

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The toxic chemicals harming you are yet another symptom of overshoot

Source: Byrd J (2022) What is PFAs in Drinking Water? Water filter Guru. Preface. PFAS are a class of about 15,000 chemicals often used to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. The compounds are ubiquitous, and linked at … Continue reading

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