Category Archives: Energy

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

Why studies come up with different Energy Returned on Invest (EROI) results: can it be fixed?

Posted on March 21, 2017 by

[ There are many issues with biofuels beyond their trivial to negative energy return on investment (EROI). In Peak Soil I point out that current industrial farming techniques are destroying topsoil about 15 times faster than pre-fossil fuel economies — … Continue reading →

Posted in Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Charles A. S. Hall | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Why studies come up with different Energy Returned on Invest (EROI) results: can it be fixed?

Murphy & Hall 2011 Adjusting the economy to the new energy realities of the second half of the age of oil

Posted on March 18, 2017 by

[ Below are excerpts from this 5 page paper, slightly rearranged, go here to see all of the text, figures, and tables.   Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation, 2015, Springer] Murphy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles A. S. Hall, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, How Much Left | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The electromagnetic pulse EMP Threat: House of Representatives hearing 2005

Posted on March 10, 2017 by

[ Related articles: Russian hackers suspected in attack that blacked out parts of Ukraine How the weapon works (pdf): CRASHOVERRIDE Analyzing the Threat to Electric Grid Operations The EMP Commission estimates a nationwide blackout lasting one year could kill up … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackouts, Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Nuclear spent fuel fire | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why railroads are against running locomotives on natural gas

Posted on February 27, 2017 by

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 →

Posted in LNG Liquified Natural Gas, Natural Gas Vehicles, Railroads | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

EROI explained and defended by Charles Hall, Pedro Prieto, and others

Posted on February 21, 2017 by

[ If you found this post interesting, the following posts are even better (more detailed and in-depth): Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar PV, Part 1 Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles A. S. Hall, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Pedro Prieto | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

Posted on February 18, 2017 by

[ 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 →

Posted in Blackouts, Coal, Interdependencies, Railroads, Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

Failing states, collapsing systems: biophysical triggers of political violence

Posted on January 31, 2017 by

Preface. In this post I summarize the sections of Nafeez’s book about the biophysical factors that bring nations down (i.e. climate change drought & water scarcity, declining revenues after peak oil, etc.) The Media tend to focus exclusively on economic … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Caused by Scarce Resources, Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed & collapsing nations, Drought & Collapse, Exports decline to ZERO, Food production, Interdependencies, Limits To Growth, Middle East, Other Experts, Over Oil, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Violence, War & Violence | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar PV, Part 2

Posted on January 26, 2017 by

Preface. Below is a book review of Charles Hall’s 2017 book, “Energy Return on Investment: A Unifying Principle for Biology, Economics, and Sustainability“, that he wrote to discover why solar advocate EROI results are so much higher than what was … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles A. S. Hall, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Pedro Prieto, Photovoltaic Solar, Solar EROI | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Tilting at Windmills, Spain’s disastrous attempt to replace fossil fuels with Solar PV, Part 2

Sand mines used to frack oil & gas are destroying the best topsoil in the Midwest

Posted on January 19, 2017 by

Preface. Frac sand is a high-purity quartz sand that is injected into wells to blast and hold open cracks in the shale rock layer during the fracking process. In the United States, frac sand is being mined intensively from sandstone … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Peak Sand, Soil | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Peak coal 2013-2045 — most likely 2025-2030

Posted on January 16, 2017 by

Preface.  The amount of coal reserves is far less than what the IPCC has assumed in their models, where they used RESOURCES, which is coal that can’t be economically and/or technologically obtained.  Typical economists, they assume humans are so smart … Continue reading →

Posted in Coal, Peak Coal | Tagged | Comments Off on Peak coal 2013-2045 — most likely 2025-2030