Category Archives: Manufacturing & Industrial Heat

328 Million Americans use 3.2 million pounds of minerals, metals, and fuels in their lifetime

Posted on January 10, 2021 by

Preface. Even if you go off the grid, civilization is using up minerals at an exponential rate to maintain the non-negotiable American lifestyle, which in 2006, required 3.7 million pounds of minerals, metals, and fuels in each person’s lifetime, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Peak Critical Elements, Recycle, Recycling | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Batteries use rare, declining, critical, & imported elements from unstable countries

Posted on January 7, 2021 by

Preface.  Since oil and other fossils are finite and emit carbon, the plan is to electrify society with batteries.  But doh!  Minerals used in batteries are finite too.  And dependent on fossil-fuels entirely in their life cycle, from mining trucks … Continue reading →

Posted in Batteries, Mining, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Rare Earth Elements | Tagged , | 7 Comments

The Invisible oiliness of everything

Posted on November 20, 2020 by

Preface.  Even a simple object like a pencil takes hundreds of actions and objects requiring fossil energy to do and make. Not electricity.  This is on of many reasons why wind, solar, or other contraption that make electricity can’t replace … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, An Overview, EROEI Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Wind | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Fossil-fueled industrial heat hard to impossible to replace with renewables

Posted on April 14, 2020 by

Preface. Cement, steel, glass, bricks, ceramics, chemicals, and much more depend on fossil-fueled high heat (up to 3200 F) to make. Except for the electric-arc furnace to recycle existing steel, there aren’t any renewable ways to make cement, other metals, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Charcoal for the high heat needed in manufacturing after peak oil

Posted on January 11, 2020 by

Preface. De Decker (2011) writes: “A large share of energy consumed worldwide is by heat. Cooking, space heating and water heating dominate domestic energy consumption. In the UK, these activities account for 85% of domestic energy use, in Europe for … Continue reading →

Posted in Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Peak Biofuels, Wood | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Foreign Policy: The limits of clean energy

Posted on January 5, 2020 by

Preface. This article appeared in the magazine Foreign Policy. Some key points: Renewables to power the world would require 34 million metric tons of copper, 40 million tons of lead, 50 million tons of zinc, 162 million tons of aluminum, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Mining, Peak Lithium | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Peak stainless steel

Posted on November 4, 2019 by

Steel and nickel aren’t on the critical mineral list, but nickel ought to be, since this study shows that there is a significant risk that stainless steel production will reach its maximum capacity around 2055 because of declining nickel production, … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure & Collapse, Mining, Peak Critical Elements | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Can concentrated solar power be used to generate industrial process heat?

Posted on September 25, 2019 by

Preface. The bright future of solar thermal powered factories, makes some important points about using concentrated solar power to generate heat: “…A large share of energy consumed worldwide is by heat. Cooking, space heating and water heating dominate domestic energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Energy Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining

Posted on August 4, 2019 by

Preface. Everyone talks about oil spills, but what about the dirty mining that will have a huge polluting footprint on the earth of mercury, arsenic, and other toxic heavy metals.  The Pebble mine is canceled for now, but if the … Continue reading →

Posted in Groundwater, Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Pollution | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining

High-Tech can’t last: limited essential elements with limited lifespans

Posted on June 8, 2019 by

There are 17 rare earth elements in the periodic table. About nine of those elements go into every iPhone sold… and if China were suddenly to disappear from a map tomorrow, Apple would lose about 90% of those elements.  Source: … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Cascading Failure, Microchips and computers, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Rare Earth Elements, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments