Category Archives: Energy

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

Nate Hagens “Peak Oil” – Why Smart Folks Disagree – Part II

Posted on September 25, 2017 by

[ There’s a great deal of interest in the Hill’s Group report, but Nate Hagens came up with similar results back in 2007 and he explains his ideas far more eloquently.  Although much production of U.S. oil and gas may … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Nate Hagens | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Kurt Cobb: Peak oil production has been hidden by the EIA by including condensate and other non-transportation fuels

Posted on September 20, 2017 by

[ The Energy Information Administration has done what they can to hide peak oil production by adding in everything but the kitchen sink to overall oil production numbers, such as ethanol and natural gas liquids, which are not true transportation … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Kurt Cobb, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations: Biofuels make it worse

Posted on August 31, 2017 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Responding to arctic oil spills

Posted on August 26, 2017 by

Preface. It is nuts to put oil rigs in an area with such vast amounts of ice on the move, and all the additional dangers listed below. No wonder there’s little to no drilling.  It’s too expensive to keep oil … Continue reading →

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Nuclear power in the U.S. is dead, reactors shutting down – not built

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

Preface. This article focuses on reactors being shut down, other posts discuss why they’re not being constructed, despite the intense and well funded efforts of the nuclear lobby.  Since this article was published in 2013, 12 of the 37 at … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuclear Power Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How reasonable are oil production scenarios from public agencies?

Posted on July 31, 2017 by

So far both the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and International Energy Agency (IEA) are on target in their predictions. In 2014 (the last year for which there is data), world production of crude oil and lease condensate was 77.833 … Continue reading →

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No, we’re not going to make ethanol out of CO2 and stop global warming

Posted on July 26, 2017 by

Preface.  In the article below Robert Rapier debunks the research paper proposing to convert CO2 into ethanol.  The researchers were honest and said “that the process is unlikely to be economically viable.” But the press spun it into a major … Continue reading →

Posted in Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Critical Thinking, Far Out, Other Experts | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Richard Heinberg: Will the US really be a major energy exporter?

Posted on July 23, 2017 by

[ I read this the day it was published (January 16, 2017) at resilience.org here, but thought it would be interesting to post in the future to see if the EIA predictions were as optimistic as Heinberg and Hughes thought … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Natural Gas, Oil & Gas Fracked, Richard Heinberg | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Wind and solar need natural gas to balance intermittent, variable, and seasonal power

Posted on July 8, 2017 by

Preface. The highest wind states are getting more and more dependent on natural gas to balance wind and solar as they live and die. Yet conventional natural gas in the U.S. has peaked (half of our national gas, and declining … Continue reading →

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The effects of Middle East events on U.S. Energy markets

Posted on July 2, 2017 by

[ Of note from this U.S. House 2011 hearing: John Hofmeister, former President of Shell Oil.  Matt Simmons, who passed away this past summer, used to speak of the Straits of Hormuz as, we live one day away from an … Continue reading →

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