Category Archives: Energy

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

Is Peak Oil dead? Not by a long shot! Remember Ladyfern?

Preface. Oil is finite. Period. Don’t be fooled by news stories that peak oil is dead, or we have reached peak demand.  They’re all nonsense. Gail Tverberg at ourfiniteworld.com is especially good at explaining this. Worse yet, what we have … Continue reading

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Peak Natural Gas | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Given the laws of physics, can the Tesla Semi really go 500 miles, and what will the price be?

Preface: Most people think that electric truck makers need to tell us the specs — the battery kWh, price, performance, and so on — before we can possibly know anything about their truck. But that’s simply not true.  We know … Continue reading

Posted in Efficiency, Electric & Hydrogen trucks impossible, Lithium-ion, Trucks: Electric | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Overview of the renewable fuel standard, U.S. House hearing 2013

House 113-61. June 26, 2013. Overview of the renewable fuel standard: Government perspectives. House of Representatives. [Excerpts from the 104 page transcript follow] Key points: The implicit premise that cellulosic and other advanced biofuels would be available in significant quantities … Continue reading

Posted in Renewable fuel standard RFS, U.S. Congress Transportation | Comments Off on Overview of the renewable fuel standard, U.S. House hearing 2013

Mining: Waste, Pollution, Destruction from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Preface. I’ve reworded/shortened some of the wording at times from this excellent book. Here are 7 other posts from this great book: Mining: Waste, Pollution, Destruction Ugo Bardi predictions of the future Minerals and War Minerals: Natural gas Minerals: Coal … Continue reading

Posted in Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, Mining, Nuclear Waste, Pollution, Ugo Bardi | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why is nearly all solar power built where subsidies are the highest?

If solar net energy return is as high as some solar advocates claim, why does solar need any subsidies? And not just U.S. subsidies, it’s subsidies on top of subsidies when you add in that we’re buying Chinese government subsidized … Continue reading

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Photovoltaic Solar, Solar EROI, U.S. Congress Energy Policy | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How long will the marriage of fracked oil and tar sands last?

[ Below is a post by Art Berman which I found interesting because I’m concerned about whether enough diesel can be made in the future to keep trucks running.  Light tight “fracked” oil is better at making plastics and gasoline … Continue reading

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Tar Sands (Oil Sands) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Underground pumped hydro storage is the only technology capable of massive storage for renewable electricity

[ Picard concludes that “None of the candidate technologies for massive-scale renewable and sustainable generation of ‘‘green’’ electricity deliver it in a form suitable for high-efficiency storage. None of the prospectively-massive storage modes for transformed electricity is at present well … Continue reading

Posted in Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Energy Storage, Grid instability, Hydropower, Renewable Integration | Tagged , | 4 Comments

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

[ 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

[ 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

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