Categories
-
Recent Posts
- The staggering cost of Net Zero in Britain
- Why the R/P Reserves to Production ratio does not show when oil will run out
- Catton on Collapse “Bottleneck: Humanity’s Impending Impasse”
- Book Review of Grain Brain: Extraordinary claim not backed up by evidence
- Why did everyone stop talking about Population & Immigration?
- What would happen if trucks stopped running?
- How to survive a nuclear winter
- The insect apocalypse will kill billions more people than climate change
- The war on drugs. A book review of “Chasing the scream”
- Peak crude oil did not happen in 2018. But we are running out of time
- Sheriffs have too much power
- Book review “They poisoned the world: Life & death in the age of Forever Chemicals”
- John Howe on one child per woman: still too high to stay under limits to growth curves
- Ted Trainer: The radical implications of a zero growth economy
- Part 5 Raven Rock. Hidey holes for government and military officials to carry on democracy after nuclear war destroys the planet
Category Archives: Energy
Blackouts in the news
Preface. Richard C Duncan proposed an “Olduvai Theory” that the current industrial civilization would have a maximum duration of 100 years from 1930 to 2030. A key indicator the End Was Near would be when partial and total blackouts began … Continue reading
Posted in Blackouts, Blackouts Electric Grid
Tagged blackout, Duncan, electric grid, middle east, Olduvai gorge, right wing, terrorism
1 Comment
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
Comments Off on Why it is futile to think that Wind could ever make a significant contribution to energy supplies
Richard Heinberg on why low oil prices do not mean there is plenty of oil, EROI, collapse
[ Yet another wise, thoughtful, and wide-ranging essay from my favorite writer of the many facets of a civilization about to decline as it is starved of the fossil fuels that feed it. Although the topics are quite varied, Heinberg … Continue reading
Posted in Oil, Peter Turchin, Richard Heinberg, Social Disorder
Tagged 100% renewable, collapse, EROI, oil, prices, richard heinberg, social instability, violence
Comments Off on Richard Heinberg on why low oil prices do not mean there is plenty of oil, EROI, collapse
Oil theft around the world: Cartels and exploding donkeys
Preface. Oil thefts cost Nigerian oil producers at least $18 billion a year. In Mexico, cartels spend only $5-8,000 to tap into pipelines and withdraw “unlimited” amounts of gasoline, and did so 7,000 times in 2016, resulting in $1 billion … Continue reading
Posted in Peak Oil, Threats to oil supply
Tagged oil, production, theft
Comments Off on Oil theft around the world: Cartels and exploding donkeys
How horses changed native cultures after 1492
[ This is a very brief overview of Peter Mitchel’s “Horse Nations”. As oil and other fossils decline, will we will almost certainly return to using more horse “muscle power” as we did in the past. Alice Friedemann www.energyskeptic.com author … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Farming & Ranching, Muscle Power
Tagged horses, muscle power, pack animals
Comments Off on How horses changed native cultures after 1492
Richard Heinberg: Paul Krugman’s Errors and Omissions
Preface. This article by Richard Heinberg at Postcarbon refutes a column by Paul Krugmen called “Errors and Emissions Could Fighting Global Warming Be Cheap and Free?” here. Most of my friends and family think I’m nuts because articles like this … Continue reading
Posted in EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Richard Heinberg, Solar, Wind
Tagged climate change, end of growth, EROEI, paul krugman, richard heinberg, solar, wind
3 Comments
By 2020 it may be clear to everyone that oil decline has begun
Preface. There are two parts to Dittmar’s study. The first one concerns production, based on the most recent years of oil production. Dittmar found a strong pattern of oil decline after the plateau of 3% a year for five years, … Continue reading
Posted in Exports decline to ZERO, How Much Left, Peak Oil
Tagged collapse, decline, peak oil
3 Comments
Want to go off-grid? You might need hundreds of Tesla batteries
Preface. Although you may not be as far north as Victoria, British Columbia (48.4 latitude), you’d ideally want to be at 30 degrees or less latitude from the equator to even consider the expense of off-grid solar power. And even … Continue reading
Vaclav Smil on wood
[ I’ve extracted bits about wood from Smil’s book about materials below, read the book for the larger context. Enormous amounts of wood were used in former civilizations with much smaller populations than today, so it’s clear we can’t go … Continue reading
China is securing energy resources. A potential threat to Europe and U.S. interests.
Preface. China is vastly expanding its fleet of natural gas heavy-duty trucks to 700,000 in 2018 and similar or more amounts after that. They are building pipelines to Russia and other Central Asian countries to keep the gas coming. I … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Gas, U.S. Congress Energy Dependence, U.S. Congress Energy Policy
Tagged china, energy security
1 Comment