Category Archives: Experts

experts in energy, ecology, collapse, carrying capacity, biophysical and neoclassical economics, etc.

America’s energy future. U.S. House hearing 2011

[  It’s always good to look back in time to when our representatives were worried about our dependency on oil.  Apparently they were desperate, since the proposed H.R. 909 bill included Coal-To-Liquids (CTL), much of it for the military.  I … Continue reading

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Federal government subsidies, tax breaks, costs of renewable and fossil energy production GAO 2014

[ I’m far more interested in the energy returned on invested than money since that’s what really matters.  So I often stopped taking notes, and didn’t organize them. But the tables and figures give you an idea of subsidies and … Continue reading

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Energy, Water, & Climate Change are interdependent

Preface. This is a very long post with summaries of two GAO reports on interdependencies of energy, water, and climate change from 2014 and 2012. While cheap and plentiful oil remains, these problems can be fixed, hiding the true depth … Continue reading

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Ugo Bardi on money, gold, and silver

What follows is from a really great book: Bardi, Ugo. 2014. Extracted: How the Quest for Mineral Wealth Is Plundering the Planet. Chelsea Green Publishing. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, … Continue reading

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Why can’t we have a global government?

MacKenzie, D. September 6, 2014. Imagine there’s no countries…it isn’t hard to do, sang John Lennon. Actually it is. Is there an alternative?  NewScientist. Nation states cause some of our biggest problems, from civil war to climate inaction. Try, for … Continue reading

Posted in GOVERNMENT | 2 Comments

The Peak Oil paradox revisited by Euan Mearns

Euan Mearns. July 16, 2016. The Peak Oil Paradox Revisited. theautomaticearth.com Euan Mearns: Back in the mid-noughties the peak oil meme gained significant traction in part due to The Oil Drum blog where I played a prominent role. Sharply rising … Continue reading

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Limits to Growth? 2016 United Nations report provides best evidence yet

Preface. This is a summary of a United Nations report that ought to scare the pants off of anyone who understands exponential growth. Here are a few examples what that means: If 2 grams of gold grew at a 5% … Continue reading

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M. King Hubbert and the future of peak oil by Kurt Cobb

Preface. M. King Hubbert predicted that if we were unable to replace fossil energy with water, nuclear and solar power, that we would go back to an agrarian existence (Hubbert MK (1949) Energy from Fossil Fuels. Science). That is how … Continue reading

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Should America Export Oil? Senate hearings 2014-2015

[ There are excerpts from two senate hearings on exporting crude oil below. Much of the testimony is either from industries that will make money off of exports, or industries that will lose money because they use (cheap) oil as … Continue reading

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How are energy storage batteries coming along? U.S. House hearing 2015

[ My favorite quotes from this U.S. House of Representatives session: THOMAS MASSIE, KENTUCKY. I want to say this has been a very enlightening hearing, and it confirms my personal experience, which is batteries are not sexy. Buckets of acid … Continue reading

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