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Recent Posts
- ‘The oil we eat’. Following the food chain back to iraq
- Vanishing open spaces: population growth and sprawl in America
- Admiral Rickover 1957: Energy Resources & Our Future
- The Green New Deal is not a solution for the real problem: Overshoot
- A transition from fossil fuels to renewables could take a century – if it ever happens
- Electrifying freight trains in the U.S. is a bad idea
- Why Nuclear Power can’t replace fossil fuels
- Energy, Water, & Climate Change are interdependent
- Why fusion power is Forever Away
- Climate Change dominates news coverage at expense of other existential planetary boundaries
- Excerpt from “The Geopolitics of Resource Wars”
- Homes & Buildings
- Book Review “The Outlawed Ocean” by Ian Urbina
- Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future
- Motherboards: too complicated to make after oil
Category Archives: Infrastructure
How sand transformed civilization
Preface. No wonder we’re reaching peak sand. We use more of this natural resource than of any other except water. Civilization consumes nearly 50 billion tons of sand & gravel a year, enough to build a concrete wall 88 feet … Continue reading
Posted in Concrete, Peak Sand
Tagged civilization, peak sand, sand
Comments Off on How sand transformed civilization
How a pandemic or bioweapon could take civilization down
Preface. I just listened to a 3.5 hour podcast on pandemics and bioweapons with the best up-to-date coverage I know of, and more interesting to listen to than reading a book or article. Just one of many scary problems: synthetic … Continue reading
Posted in Biowarfare, Infrastructure, Interdependencies, Pandemic
Tagged biowarfare, bioweapon, collapse, CRISPR, interdependency, pandemic, synthetic biology
3 Comments
Nuclear Power problems
Preface. There are half a dozen articles below. Although safety and disposal of nuclear waste ought to be the main reasons why no more plants should be built, what actually stops them today are the high costs: it can take … Continue reading
Fossil-fueled industrial heat hard to impossible to replace with renewables
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 electricity, heat, hydrogen, manufacturing
2 Comments
Peak Phosphorus
Sources: Peak phosphorus curve indicating a peak in production by 2033, derived from US Geological Survey and industry data. Cordell, D.; Drangert, J.-O.; White, S. The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thought. Glob. Environ. Change 2009, … Continue reading
MIT: Why the electric-car revolution may take a lot longer than expected
Preface. This study from MIT explains why price parity of electric and gasoline vehicles is likely to take a lot longer than 5 years, and perhaps never if cars continue to depend on lithium-ion batteries. Deeper cost declines beyond 2030 … Continue reading
Biomass charcoal to create manufacturing high heat
Preface. The following industries need heat of up 1800 to 3275 F: Chemicals, Forest products, Iron and Steel, Plastics & Rubber, Fabricated metals, Transport Equipment, Computers, electronics & equipment, Aluminum, Cement, Glass, Machinery, Foundries. For nearly all of these products, … Continue reading
Posted in Manufacturing & Industrial Heat, Peak Biofuels, Wood
Tagged biomass, charcoal, industrial heat, wood
3 Comments
Why self-driving cars may not be in your future
Preface. Below are excerpts from several articles about why a completely automated vehicle is unlikely. Heaven forbid they are invented. Researchers have found that people will drive 76% more miles, stop using bicycles and mass transit, waste a considerable amount … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Automobiles
Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, automated, NASA, not ready, reaction time, self-driving, tesla
1 Comment
Foreign Policy: The limits of clean energy
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
Airplanes are energy gluttons. Finite oil should be used for ships, locomotives, & trucks
Preface. As oil declines and the energy crisis worsens, airplanes ought to be the first to go since they are 600 times less energy efficient than large cargo ships (30,000 / 50), 50 to 120 times less efficient than trains, … Continue reading
Posted in Airplanes, Transportation What To Do
4 Comments