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)

Peak fossil fuels limits climate change to low-to-medium outcomes in IPCC report

Posted on June 4, 2015 by

Excerpts from 24 page:  Höök, M., Tang, X. 2013. Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change: a review. Energy Policy, 52: 797-809 Conclusion of paper: Fossil fuel constraints will limit anthropogenic climate impact towards the low-medium outcomes presented by … Continue reading →

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Peak soil, peak phosphate, peak fertilizer means Peak Food

Posted on May 9, 2015 by

Amundson, R., et al. May 7, 2015. Soil and human security in the 21st century. Science 348. A group of leading soil scientists has summarized the precarious state of the world’s soil resources and the possible ramifications for human security … Continue reading →

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Livestock diseases, Science Mag Review of “Arresting Contagion”

Posted on May 7, 2015 by

Science 17 April 2015: Vol. 348 no. 6232 p. 294 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa7672 The fever on the farm Arresting Contagion Science, Policy, and Conflicts over Animal Disease Control Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode Harvard University Press, 2015. 477 pp. … Continue reading →

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Better truck fuel efficiency to delay the end of the oil age

Posted on April 26, 2015 by

NAS. 2010. Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles (National Academy of Sciences Study) This free, 251 page document is one of the best I’ve seen on the myriad ways trucks could double their … Continue reading →

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All Electric Trucks. Probably not going to happen. Ever. Why not?

Posted on April 14, 2015 by

There are “forms of transport that cannot be electrified — heavy-duty trucks and planes… Even if the electricity problem can be solved, it won’t address the needs of planes, trucks, ships and some industrial heating that cannot be electrified” (Long). … Continue reading →

Posted in Batteries, Lithium-ion, Trucks | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

GAO on why ethanol, and other non-drop in fuels, face pipeline & installation at service station challenges

Posted on April 9, 2015 by

[The challenges that ethanol faces in being put into new or modified pipelines and added to gas stations are issues faced by all alternative fuels (methanol, CNG, LNG, DME, diesohol, CTL, hydrogen, and so on) in a transition from gasoline … Continue reading →

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Oil shortages: Transportation needs to go back to high inventories, not just-in-time delivery

Posted on April 8, 2015 by

Huge amounts of fuel are wasted as trucks arrive half full with just the needed parts at factories and warehouses and return empty. As oil shocks strike, fuel will be less available.  Large inventories will help by cushioning businesses from … Continue reading →

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Kurt Cobb Cheap oil, complexity and counter-intuitive conclusions

Posted on March 23, 2015 by

Kurt Cobb. March 22, 2015.   Cheap oil, complexity and counterintuitive conclusions. Resource Insights. It is a staple of oil industry apologists to say that the recent swift decline in the price of oil is indicative of long-term abundance. This … Continue reading →

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Gail Tverberg The oil glut and low prices reflect an affordability problem

Posted on March 12, 2015 by

Tverberg, G. March 9, 2015. The oil glut and low prices reflect an affordability problem. ourfiniteworld.com For a long time, there has been a belief that the decline in oil supply will come by way of high oil prices. Demand … Continue reading →

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Tuberculosis

Posted on March 4, 2015 by

The fear is that a fast-spreading, anti-biotic resistant strain will spread via mutation or bioterrorism. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that two billion people — one third of the world’s population — are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 25 January … Continue reading →

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