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- The Biblical Revelations, critical thinking, and how this affects us today
- Why the U.S. is ignoring nuclear winter in nuclear policies & strategies
- Oil choke points vulnerable to war, chaos, terrorism, accidents, & piracy
- Nuclear weapons must be reduced or we risk nuclear winter
- Fusion is already running out of fuel
- Peak Oil is Officially Here! World oil production peaked November of 2018
- Wood, the fuel of preindustrial societies, is half of EU renewable energy
- Rare Earth updates: recent research on why complex & intelligent life are rare in the Universe
- Book review of “Chip War” and the Fragility of microchips
- The tremendous material and energy toll of the digital economy
- Nuclear attack on U.S. could kill 90% of Americans
- What percent of Americans are rational?
- Book review of Lights Out. A Cyberattack. A Nation Unprepared. Surviving the Aftermath
- Off-Road vehicles & equipment need diesel fuel
- Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”
Category Archives: Alternative Energy
Power density of biomass, wind, & solar take too much land to replace fossil fuels
Volumetric versus specific energy density for selected energy carriers. Source: Palmer, G. 2020. Energy storage & civilization: a systems approach. Springer. Preface. Vaclav Smil writes “The fact that wind, solar, and biomass have incredibly low energy density per square meter … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Biomass, Coal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Oil
Tagged alternative energy, biodiesel, biomass, coal, ethanol, natural gas, oil, renewable energy
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Why it is futile to think that Wind could ever make a significant contribution to energy supplies
Matt Ridley. May 15, 2017. Wind turbines are neither clean nor green and they provide zero global energy. Even after 30 years of huge subsidies, it provides about zero energy. The Spectator. The Global Wind Energy Council recently released its … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Wind
Tagged alternative energy, energy, wind
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Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations: Biofuels make it worse
Preface. In 2018 I thought it was time to reorganize this post, as it grew more and more bloated and disorganized with new information. Eventually it turned into my 2021 book Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels, Peak Topsoil, Soil
Tagged aquifer depletion, biodiesel, biofuel, climate change, EROEI, EROI, erosion, ethanol, fertilizer, hunger, peak soil, pollution, topsoil
2 Comments
Federal government subsidies, tax breaks, costs of renewable and fossil energy production GAO 2014
[ I’m far more interested in the energy returned on invested than money since that’s what really matters. So I often stopped taking notes, and didn’t organize them. But the tables and figures give you an idea of subsidies and … Continue reading
Posted in GAO Government Accountability Office, Subsidies
Tagged renewable energy, subsidy, tax
1 Comment
Alternative Energy Booklist: Biofuels, Batteries, Solar, Wind, Nuclear, Hydropower, Hydrogen, Fusion, Geothermal, Wind & tidal, Muscle power, Far out
Why Alternative Energy can’t replace fossil fuels More booklists 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 of Transportation”, Barriers to Making Algal Biofuels, & … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Book List
Tagged fusion, geothermal, hydrogen, solar, wave, wind
1 Comment
Why Nuclear Power can’t replace fossil fuels
Last updated August 2022. Preface. Economic reasons are the main hurdle to new nuclear plants now, with capital costs so high it’s almost impossible to get a loan, especially when natural gas is so much cheaper and less risky. But … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy, Nuclear Power Energy, Renewable Integration
Tagged breeder, nuclear
14 Comments
Alternative fuels to replace transportation oil. U.S. House hearing 2012
House 112–159. July 10, 2012. The American energy initiative part 23: A focus on Alternative Fuels and vehicles. House of Representatives. [ Excerpts from this 210 page transcript follow ] MIKE BREEN, Vice President of the Truman National Security Project. … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Natural Gas Vehicles, Transportation, U.S. Congress Transportation
Tagged alternative fuel, FFV, Flex-fuel, transportation
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Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar PV, Part 1
Book review by Alice Friedemann at energyskeptic of “Spain’s Photovoltaic Revolution. The Energy Return on Investment”, by Pedro Prieto and Charles A.S. Hall. 2013. Springer. Conclusion: the EROI of solar photovoltaic is only 2.45, very low despite Spain’s ideal sunny … Continue reading
Renewable subsidies in Spain, Germany, Italy, and the UK
HRG. 113-623. 2014-7-22. U.S. Security implications of international energy and climate policies and issues. U.S. Senate 113th congress MARY HUTZLER, Distinguished senior fellow, Institute for Energy Research, Berlin, MD RENEWABLE SUBSIDIES IN EUROPE Spain (Also see Spain’s Photovoltaic Revolution) In … Continue reading
Posted in Subsidies
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