Category Archives: Infrastructure & Collapse

90% of why we live past 50 due is clean water (and food) from water treatment facilities and sewage treatment plants that are all falling apart. Oil & gas pipes essential to heating and cooking are rusting apart. Dams, bridges, roads — all built when the EROEI of oil was 100:1 need replacing at a time when the EROEI has fallen below 15:1

Saudi oil infrastructure at risk from drone attacks

Posted on September 19, 2019 by

Preface. This NYT article was published 4 months ago, and its warning just came true. Quite prescient! Drones make it pretty easy to anonymously attack the thousands of miles of pipelines across the Arabian peninsula, oil tankers, pumping stations, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, Oil & Gas, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Saudi oil infrastructure at risk from drone attacks

Groundwater rise. Yet another climate change threat.

Posted on June 20, 2019 by

Preface. In coastal areas flooding is likely to be caused from groundwater rise because as sea levels rise, they won’t only move inland, flooding low-lying land near the shore; but also push water up from the saltwater water table, on … Continue reading →

Posted in Floods, Groundwater, Hazardous Waste, Sea Level Rise, Water Infrastructure | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Threats to America’s oil pipeline grid

Posted on May 30, 2019 by

Preface. At some point of energy decline there will be Americans who tap into pipelines to get scarce oil for themselves and to sell it on black markets. Just look at the massive amount of oil being stolen in Nigeria … Continue reading →

Posted in Fuel Distribution, Oil & Gas, Terrorism | Tagged | 1 Comment

Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible

Posted on May 15, 2019 by

What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Critical Thinking, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Electricity Infrastructure, Renewable Integration | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth

Posted on May 12, 2019 by

Preface. Some of the points I found most alarming or interesting: After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth. Concrete is a thirsty behemoth, sucking up almost a 10th of the world’s industrial water use. This often … Continue reading →

Posted in Concrete, Infrastructure & Collapse | Tagged | 7 Comments

Hydropower dams and the ways they destroy the environment

Posted on April 15, 2019 by

Preface. Hydropower comprises 71% of renewable energy worldwide.  Nations like the U.S. and Europe have dams that have reached the end of their lifespan — more are being torn down than built. In the U.S. 546 dams were removed between … Continue reading →

Posted in CO2 and Methane, Dams, Hydropower | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hydropower dams and the ways they destroy the environment

California’s central valley aquifers may be gone in 2030s, Ogallala 2050-2070

Posted on April 6, 2019 by

Preface. Clearly the human population isn’t going to reach 10 billion or more. California grows one-third of the nation’s food, the 10 high-plains states over the Ogallala about a quarter of the nations food, and exports a great deal of … Continue reading →

Posted in Groundwater, Peak Water, Water Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on California’s central valley aquifers may be gone in 2030s, Ogallala 2050-2070

Lakes run dry from too much water extraction and climate change

Posted on January 8, 2019 by

Preface.   I think that declining oil will be the main cause of civilization to collapse, since it is the energy that makes all other activities possible, but there are so many other contenders I wonder if scholars in the future … Continue reading →

Posted in Air, Drought & Collapse, Overpopulation, Peak Water, Water Infrastructure | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Lakes run dry from too much water extraction and climate change

Vaclav Smil: from wood to coal to oil, energy transitions take a long time

Posted on December 17, 2018 by

Preface.  This post has a shortened, reworded, and heavily commented on article from Scientific American in 2014.  You can also see two much longer articles about energy transitions by Smil from n 2008 and 2010 here: A transition from fossil … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Coal, Dependence on Oil, Energy Infrastructure, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Germany’s wind energy mess: As subsidies expire, thousands Of turbines to close

Posted on November 16, 2018 by

Preface. This means that the talk about renewables being so much cheaper than anything else isn’t necessarily true.  If wind were profitable, more turbines would be built to replace the old ones  without subsidies needed. Unless they can be dumped … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Infrastructure, Wind | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments