Category Archives: 1) Decline

Decline will be death by a thousand cuts as too many problems occur and overwhelm societies ability to fix them (i.e. Tainter’s “complexity”). Already our infrastructure (oil and gas pipelines, electric grid, roads, bridges, etc) has a Report Card of D from the American Society of Civil Engineers. All 18 components of essential infrastructure, from the electric grid to the financial system are vulnerable to cyber-attack, The end of growth means bankruptcy for cities, pensions, families, and businesses, and no credit for energy companies to borrow for new projects to obtain oil, coal, and natural gas, the real drivers of the economy (just try putting dollar bills in your gas tank)

How Much Oil is in an Electric Vehicle? by Nicholas LePan

Posted on September 28, 2019 by

LePan shows how plastics, made from fossil fuels, make up so much of a car, plus lighten the weight so the car can go further on gasoline. Since fossil fuels are finite, many assume we’ll just make them out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Why technology can’t solve all of our problems

Posted on September 13, 2019 by

I have many posts about energy contraptions that have had hundreds of thousands of breakthrough stories in the media, yet here we are, without powerful enough batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and so on to replace fossil fuels despite the exciting … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Transportation | 2 Comments

China is deforesting Russia

Posted on August 7, 2019 by

Preface. Here’s more than half of a New York Times article about China deforesting Russia. Yikes! Peak oil had better come soon before we denude the earth. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future … Continue reading →

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Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining

Posted on August 4, 2019 by

Preface. Everyone talks about oil spills, but what about the dirty mining that will have a huge polluting footprint on the earth of mercury, arsenic, and other toxic heavy metals.  The Pebble mine is canceled for now, but if the … Continue reading →

Posted in Groundwater, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Pollution | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining

Automated vehicles: more driving, energy wasted, & congestion

Posted on August 1, 2019 by

  Preface. My main post on this is: “Why self-driving cars may not be in your future“. Alice Friedemann  www.energyskeptic.com  Author of Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy; When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Efficiency | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Antibiotic Resistance

Posted on July 23, 2019 by

Preface. Just a few of the many articles in the media on antibiotic resistance, which like climate change, will make matters worse for whoever survives Peak Oil.  And it won’t be just bacterial resistance, fungi are now growing resistant to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Why we must get rid of pesticides

Posted on July 14, 2019 by

Preface. France is one of the few nations trying to use fewer pesticides. This is the direction we must go to prepare for the end of the fossil age, since pesticides are made out of finite petroleum. Also, we are running … Continue reading →

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Quartermaster Meigs was essential to winning the Civil War

Posted on July 8, 2019 by

Preface. This is a book review of Robert O’Harrow’s 2016 book “The Quartermaster.Montgomery C. Meigs. Lincolns general, master builder of the Union army”. I can’t believe I never heard of him, but he is as much responsible for the North … Continue reading →

Posted in Railroads, Ships and Barges, War Books | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Humans destroyed 10% of wilderness in just 25 years

Posted on June 29, 2019 by

Preface. Humans are destroying the wilderness so quickly there it could mostly disappear in less than a century. Since 1993 the world lost an area twice the size of Alaska. So kiss biodiversity, carbon sequestration, ecology, and a stable climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Deforestation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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