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Recent Posts
- The Biblical Revelations, critical thinking, and how this affects us today
- Why the U.S. is ignoring nuclear winter in nuclear policies & strategies
- Oil choke points vulnerable to war, chaos, terrorism, accidents, & piracy
- Nuclear weapons must be reduced or we risk nuclear winter
- Fusion is already running out of fuel
- Peak Oil is Officially Here! World oil production peaked November of 2018
- Wood, the fuel of preindustrial societies, is half of EU renewable energy
- Rare Earth updates: recent research on why complex & intelligent life are rare in the Universe
- Book review of “Chip War” and the Fragility of microchips
- The tremendous material and energy toll of the digital economy
- Nuclear attack on U.S. could kill 90% of Americans
- What percent of Americans are rational?
- Book review of Lights Out. A Cyberattack. A Nation Unprepared. Surviving the Aftermath
- Off-Road vehicles & equipment need diesel fuel
- Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”
Category Archives: Electricity Infrastructure
Book review of “Chip War” and the Fragility of microchips
Major semiconductor producing countries rely on each other for different types of chips. Top semiconductor producers’ 2021 export values by source and destination, billions USD. Source: PIIE 2022 https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/major-semiconductor-producing-countries-rely-each-other-different-types-chips Preface. We have become insanely dependent on technology that can’t possibly … Continue reading →
Posted in Blackouts Electric Grid, Electricity Infrastructure, Microchips and computers
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Tagged china, computer chip, microchip, semiconductor, Taiwan
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The Impact of Climate Change on California: 8th Largest Economy, 40% of U.S. Shipping
Preface. California’s economy and population relies on one of the most extensive and costly infrastructure systems in the world. This includes thousands of miles of roads, highways and railroads, nearly 200 large water reservoirs of varying capacity, miles of canals, … Continue reading →
Posted in Electricity Infrastructure, Energy Infrastructure, Extreme Weather, Heat, Oil & Gas, Rail, Sea Level Rise, Transportation Infrastructure
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Tagged airports, california, climate change, infrastructure, ports, railroads, roads, sea level rise, wildfire
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The electric grid could be down for years if LPTs destroyed
Large Power Transformer Source: ABB Conversations (2013) Preface. This post contains excerpts from two Department of Energy documents and one about large geomagnetic storms and how they would affect Large power transformers (LPT) and the U.S. electric grid. They are … Continue reading →
Posted in An Index of Best Energyskeptic Posts, Electric Grid, Electricity Infrastructure, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Interdependencies
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Tagged cyber attack, electric grid, foreign dependency, HDVC, limited raw material, LPT, power transformer, special grade electrical steel, supply chain failure
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1 Comment
Review of Lights out: the electricity crisis, the global economy, and what it means to you
Preface. My books and energyskeptic.com explain why the electric grid can’t stay up. This is a book review of Makansi’s “Lights out: the electricity crisis, the global economy, and what it means to you”. He explains why the grid is … Continue reading →
Posted in Alternative Energy, Blackouts Electric Grid, Books, Electric Grid, Electricity Infrastructure, Energy Books
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Tagged blackouts, electric grid, electricity, how it works, stability
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1 Comment
How the grid works, why a distributed grid won’t work
Preface. This is a book review of Angwin’s 2020 “Shorting the Grid. The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid”. It is a good primer on how the grid works, especially why Volt-Ampere Reactives (VARs) are important and why renewables don’t … Continue reading →
Posted in Blackouts, Blackouts Electric Grid, Distributed Generation, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Electricity Infrastructure, Energy Books, Grid instability
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Tagged Angwin, blackouts, distributed generation, electric grid, solar, wind
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Microchip fabrication plants need electricity 24 x 7 for four months
Preface. I explain in both of my books, When Trucks Stop Running and Life After Fossil Fuels, why heavy duty transportation and manufacturing can’t be electrified, as well as why the electric grid can’t stay up without natural gas to … Continue reading →
Lifespan of infrastructure, transportation, and buildings
Preface. What follows is from the International Energy Agency 2020 report “Energy technology perspectives” on how to transition to net zero emissions by 2050. This might require the replacement of just about everything, since power plants, steel blast furnaces, cement … Continue reading →
Building a national super grid in America
Preface. Renewables are not evenly distributed. Just 10 states have 80% of hydropower (Homeland Security 2011), 10 states produce 75% of wind power (EIA 2017), and 10 states produce 79% of solar power (CE 2020). With a national grid, instead … Continue reading →
A nationwide blackout lasting 1 year could kill up to 90% Americans
Preface. What follows is the 30-page testimony of Dr. Pry at a 2015 U.S. House of Representatives session that I’ve summarized. In addition to electromagnetic pulses from a solar event, nuclear weapon, or purpose-built equipment, cyberattacks can also bring down … Continue reading →
Posted in Blackouts, Congressional Record U.S., Electricity Infrastructure, EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Extreme Weather, Nuclear Power Collapse, Nuclear War, U.S. Congress Energy Policy, U.S. Congress Infrastructure
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Tagged cyber attack, electromagnetic pulse, EMP, nuclear, spent fuel pool, war
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4 Comments
Concentrated Solar Power can only exist in deserts and use too much water
What follows is my summary of: Bracken, N., et al. 2015. Concentrating solar power and water issues in the U.S. Southwest. U.S. department of energy, National renewable energy lab. Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and … Continue reading →
Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Electricity Infrastructure
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Tagged aquifer, concentrated solar power, CSP, desert
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1 Comment