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)

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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Syrian conflict due to climate change drought

Posted on March 4, 2015 by

Fountain, H. March 2, 2015. Researchers Link Syrian Conflict to a Drought Made Worse by Climate Change. New York Times. Drawing one of the strongest links yet between global warming and human conflict, researchers said Monday that an extreme drought … Continue reading →

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Wind turbines hit limits to growth before 50% wind power penetration

Posted on February 27, 2015 by

Material requirements of 50% wind power in the USA hit limits to growth Also see: Davidsson, S., et al. 2014. Growth curves and sustained commissioning modelling of renewable energy Investigating resource constraints for wind energy. Energy Policy. Fizaine, F., et … Continue reading →

Posted in Electrification, Limits To Growth, Renewable Integration, Wind | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wind’s dirty secret: it goes on vacation in the summer and year-round in the South East

Posted on February 26, 2015 by

  Figure 1. Summer wind across the USA is barely to not economically viable Class 3 (light blue), or not at all economically viable Class 2 (orange) and class 1 (blank) (NREL), with very limited darker blue (class 4) and … Continue reading →

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German wind and solar integration

Posted on January 22, 2015 by

Schiermeier, Q. April 10, 2013. Renewable power: Germany’s energy gamble. An ambitious plan to slash greenhouse-gas emissions must clear some high technical and economic hurdles. Nature 496: 156–158 The rapid rise in wind and solar power has created a nightmare … Continue reading →

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Homeland Security and Dept of Energy: Dams and Energy Sectors Interdependency Study

Posted on January 21, 2015 by

[Below are excerpts from this 45 page document. Dams not only provide power but also water for agriculture, drinking water, cooling water for thermal power plants, ecosystem health, fisheries, and so on.  All dams have a finite lifespan of 50 … Continue reading →

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Electricity, fuel, and other interdependencies

Posted on January 16, 2015 by

Freight trucks, trains, ships, airplanes all stop when the electricity is out because the pumps depend on it.  Related: Why you should love trucks and When Trucks Stop CR. September 4 & 23, 2003. Implications of power blackouts for the … Continue reading →

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Why You Should Love Trains

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

Why You Should Love Trains by Alice Friedemann    November 13, 2014 Trains rock! Trains are over 4 times more fuel efficient than trucks. On average it takes just 1 gallon to move a ton 473 miles, using just 2% of … Continue reading →

Posted in Rail, Railroads, Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments