Category Archives: 2) Overshoot

The polycrisis/overshoot, collapse of the financial system, breakdown of supply chains, blackouts, end of being able to make computer chips, and so on are symptoms of the underlying cause: peak energy and peak everything, especially peak diesel since trucks, rail, and ships make this one-time only fossil fueled civilization possible. Wind, solar, nuclear, and so on also need fossil fuels for every single step of their life cycle, so that is a dead end. It is back to before the 15th century — wood world. Whether the house of cards collapses from chokepoints in the middle east such as the Suez canal, the financial shock of a natural disaster or from debt and corruption, Export Land Model, or nuclear war — there is certain to be a series of dislocations that ultimately bring population down to 400 million (population before fossil fuels) or less (due to overshoot factors such as top soil erosion, pollution, etc) Let’s hope there are some islands of sanity and that you are living on one of them!

PNAS: Human population reduction is not a quick fix

Human population reduction is not a quick fix for environmental problems by Corey J. A. Bradshaw and Barry W. Brook Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Edited by Paul R. Ehrlich, Stanford University, and approved September 15, 2014 … Continue reading

Posted in Birth Control, Population, Scientists Warnings to Humanity | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Naomi Oreskes on “The Collapse of Western Civilization”

A Chronicler of Warnings Denied: Naomi Oreskes Imagines the Future History of Climate Change By Claudia Dreifus, Oct 27, 2014, New York Times “I get from the scientific community a feeling that things are going from bad to worse. I … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Scientists, Scientists Warnings to Humanity | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Naomi Oreskes on “The Collapse of Western Civilization”

The Scientific Consensus on Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century

May 21, 2013. the Scientific Consensus on Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century In the one month since it was written, 520 global scientists have signed on to this statement. You can, too. There is more information, … Continue reading

Posted in Scientists Warnings to Humanity | 2 Comments

Will Republican “Hate Talk” be the spark of violence in the future?

Will Republican “Hate Talk” be the spark of violence in the future? by Alice Friedemann, Oct 9, 2014 As long as trucks keep delivering goods, enough food is grown and distributed, then even if times get a lot worse, I … Continue reading

Posted in Violence, Who is to Blame? | 1 Comment

Almost half of Rail Freight is Energy, increasingly Crude Oil

Source: American Association of Railroads. 46% of all tonnage hauled by freight trains is Energy: In 2014, crude oil will likely be 650,000 carloads — 2% of all carloads, 2.2% of tonnage.  In addition 2.6% of rail tonnage was refined … Continue reading

Posted in Oil & Gas, Pipeline, Railroads, Refining, Trucks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Almost half of Rail Freight is Energy, increasingly Crude Oil

Super Rust Corrodes hundreds of ships and could sink the oil industry

Blame it on super-rust, a virulent form of corrosion that has destroyed hundreds of ships and could sink the oil industry. By Richard Martin, June 2002. Wired Magazine. Key points (see the full article at http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/superrust.html): Ships that cost hundreds … Continue reading

Posted in Exports decline to ZERO, Ships and Barges, Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Super Rust Corrodes hundreds of ships and could sink the oil industry

Why You Should Love Trucks

source: bitsandpieces1.blogspot.com Preface. Before the age of fossil fuels, getting food, water, and shelter was simple. Nine out of ten people were self-sufficient farmers. But now there are global 24/7 just-in-time supply chains that depend on trucks and other modes … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture Infrastructure, Supply Chains, Transportation Infrastructure, Trucks | 4 Comments

Signs of Peakiness, oil companies are running out of cash

Andrew Nikiforuk, August 29, 2014. A big summer story you missed: Soaring oil debt. The Tyee.  Over 100 of the world’s largest energy companies are running out of cash. Photo of Keystone pipeline in Nebraska by Shannon Ramos. Creative Commons … Continue reading

Posted in Debt, Energy Markets, Peak Oil | 1 Comment

American Physical Society: has the Battery Bubble Burst?

Aug/Sep 2012. Has the Battery Bubble Burst? Fred Schlachter. American Physical Society. APS News Vol 21, number 8. Phys.org Three years ago at a symposium on lithium-air batteries at IBM Almaden there was great optimism. The symposium “Scalable Energy Storage: … Continue reading

Posted in Batteries, Transportation Infrastructure | Comments Off on American Physical Society: has the Battery Bubble Burst?

David Korowicz: Catastrophic shocks through complex socio-economic systems

David Korowicz. 2013. Catastrophic Shocks through Complex Socio-Economic Systems. The globalized economy has become more complex (connectivity, interdependence, and speed), delocalized, with increasing concentration within critical systems. This has made us all more vulnerable to systemic shocks. This paper provides … Continue reading

Posted in David Korowicz, Stages of | 1 Comment