Category Archives: Transportation

97% of vehicles and trains run on oil which peaked in world-wide production in 2005 — the tractors to plant and harvest, the trucks to deliver food all depend on combustion engines that burn oil

Anyone who whines about airplanes should have to take the Oregon Trail

Source: Book cover of “Oregon Or Bust: True Short Stories from the Descendants of Oregon Trail Pioneers, Prospectors, Trappers, and Settlers in the Great Northwest Hardcover” by Gentry Ward Cutsforth (2012), XLibris. Preface. Also listen to the Louis CK rant … Continue reading

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Why railroads are against running locomotives on natural gas

Since oil is finite, natural gas was seen as a fuel that could extend how long oil lasted by being a “bridge” fuel.  Since natural gas is finite also, and would lead to dependence on unstable foreign nations, the plan … Continue reading

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Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

[ The extract of a Senate hearing below is mostly spent on testimony by utilities bashing the railroads for not delivering enough coal due to a disaster in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming area, where coal dust infiltrated the stone … Continue reading

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Matchmaking for trucks so fewer run empty after deliveries

[ These apps have the potential to prevent some trucks from returning empty after their delivery, which wastes finite diesel fuel.  See the full article here. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of … Continue reading

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Agricultural Transportation and Energy Issues. Senate hearing 2005.

Preface. What follows are excerpts from this hearing.  Over and over senators warn of our dependence on oil.  The question is: what are they doing about it?  I’d guess given the crackdown on immigration that the government is aware of … Continue reading

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Electric Cars and Biofuels switch dependence from foreign oil to domestic water and weather risks

  Figure 1. Energy/Water Nexus Amy Hardberger, Matthew E. Mantell, Michael Webber, Carey W. King, Karl Fennessey [ This Senate hearing covers a lot of ground. I found the most interesting testimony to be the intersection of water and energy, … Continue reading

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U.S. House meeting on terrorist threats to energy security

[ Even though this hearing was over a decade ago, the issues are still the same.  Nothing has changed. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation, 2015, Springer] House 109-70. July 27, … Continue reading

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Electrifying freight trains in the U.S. is a really bad idea

Preface. Diesel-electric locomotives are ALREADY electric, and more energy efficient than electric freight trains. Diesel-electric freight is very efficient and moves 4 times more tons per mile than trucks because they hardly ever accelerate, stop, start, or travel over 40 … Continue reading

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Review of “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World” by Steve LeVine

Preface. This is a book review of Steve Levine’s 2015 “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World”. If you ever wondered why batteries are still not even close to powerful enough to replace fossil fuels, … Continue reading

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U.S. House looks at how to improve the nation’s highway freight network

[ Like all books and articles I read on transportation for my book, this session assumes endless growth and worries about future congestion, which will not be a problem on the other side of peak oil, which is coming soon.  … Continue reading

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