Category Archives: Energy

the posts in this category used to be in “Energy in A Nutshell” at my former web site.

Hydropower can’t help with the energy crisis

Posted on June 11, 2019 by

Preface. When fossil fuels are gone, there aren’t many ways to balance the unreliable, intermittent, and often absent for weeks at a time power from wind and solar.  Biofuels and burning biomass is one solution, it’s dispatchable and can kick … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy, Hydropower | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Black starting the grid after a power outage

Posted on June 5, 2019 by

Black starts Large blackouts can be quite devastating and it isn’t easy to restart the electric grid again. This is typically done by designated black start units of natural gas, coal, hydro, or nuclear power plants that can restart themselves … Continue reading →

Posted in Grid instability | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Replacing diesel tractors with horses or oxen – what will that be like?

Posted on April 27, 2019 by

Preface. Since fossil fuels are finite, at some point increasing numbers of farmers with diesel vehicles and equipment will want to replace them with horses, which can do the work of six people.  Below is what  energy expert Vaclav Smil … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, Peak Food, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Fish scraps could power some cruise ships by 2021

Posted on April 24, 2019 by

Preface.  Some black humor for those following energy descent. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts:  KunstlerCast 253, KunstlerCast278, Peak Prosperity] … Continue reading →

Posted in Far Out | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Book review of Heinberg’s “Afterburn: society beyond fossil fuels”

Posted on March 25, 2019 by

Preface. This book has 15 essays Heinberg wrote from 2011 to 2014, many of them available for free online.  These are some of my Kindle notes of parts that interested me, so to you it will be disjointed and perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Books, Peak Oil, Richard Heinberg | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Why aren’t there battery powered airplanes or flying cars?

Posted on March 13, 2019 by

Preface.  Batteries are too heavy for airplanes to get off the ground. Though that hasn’t stopped people from trying: Norway’s new electric plane crashes during demo flight (Robitzski 2019) The two articles below explain why. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of … Continue reading →

Posted in Batteries, Energy | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Book review of Underbug: an obsessive tale of termites and technology

Posted on February 23, 2019 by

Preface.  I read this book mainly to find out where “grassoline” stood. Scientists thought 10 years ago that we could recreate the termite biota system of digesting biomass to create biofuels.  But this appears to be far in the future … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Wood | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Book review of Underbug: an obsessive tale of termites and technology

From Horsepower to Horse Power. When Trucks stop, Horses start.

Posted on February 8, 2019 by

Preface. Before the industrial revolution there were only four sources of mechanical power of any economic significance. They were human labor, animal labor, water power (near flowing streams) and wind power.   Work done by animals, especially on farms, was still … Continue reading →

Posted in Life Before Oil, Muscle Power | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Muscle Power

Posted on February 5, 2019 by

Preface. Below is a review of “Prime Mover: A Natural History of Muscle: from Natural History Magazine. Since both my books explain why we will be returning to biomass and muscle power, here’s yet another preparation opportunity: breed horses and … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy Books, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, What to do | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Challenges to the Integration of Renewable Resources at High System Penetration

Posted on February 2, 2019 by

Preface.  This overview of challenges for wind and solar written in 2010 is still true today. We are far from being able to reach even a 50% renewable grid (excluding hydropower from the total) given the lack of storage, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid, Solar, Wind | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Challenges to the Integration of Renewable Resources at High System Penetration