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Recent Posts
- How to survive a nuclear winter
- The insect apocalypse will kill billions more people than climate change
- The war on drugs. A book review of “Chasing the scream”
- Peak crude oil did not happen in 2018. But we are still running out of time
- Sheriffs have too much power
- Book review “They poisoned the world: Life & death in the age of Forever Chemicals”
- John Howe on one child per woman: still too high to stay under limits to growth curves
- Ted Trainer: The radical implications of a zero growth economy
- Part 5 Raven Rock. Hidey holes for government and military officials to carry on democracy after nuclear war destroys the planet
- Become a Bison rancher
- Part 4 Raven Rock. The government abandons plans to aid the public, only the government to survive
- Prisoners are treated worse than slaves in America
- Part 3 Raven Rock. The government’s plans for after a nuclear holocaust
- Part 2 Raven Rock. The U.S. government’s plans to save civilians from nuclear war
- Legal & Illegal Immigration numbers must drop to carrying capacity
Category Archives: 3) Fast Crash
Can democracy survive peak oil?
Preface. This is a book review of Howard Bucknell’s Energy and the National Defense. University of Kentucky Press. Bucknell was amazingly prescient as you’ll see in this review, especially about why democracy might not survive the energy crisis. Heck, it … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Energy Books, Military, Politics, Rationing
Tagged authoritarianism, Bucknell, defense, democracy, energy crises, energy transitions, rationing, synthetic fuel
1 Comment
Energy abundance depends entirely on the RATE of energy flow
Preface. Below are excerpts from two articles on why the FLOW RATE of oil is what matters for our fossil-fueled civilization. It’s like how, when filling up a bathtub, you want to turn the faucet on as high as it … Continue reading
Posted in Flow Rate, How Much Left, Peak Oil
Tagged oil, peak oil, petroleum, rate of flow
Comments Off on Energy abundance depends entirely on the RATE of energy flow
Diesel is finite. Trucks are the bedrock of civilization. So where are the battery electric trucks?
Last updated: 2023-1-21 Preface. Heavy-duty diesel-engine trucks (agricultural, mining, logging, construction, garbage, cement, 18-wheelers, and more) are essential for doing the actual work of our fossil-fueled civilization. Without them, no goods would be delivered, no food grown, nothing manufactured, no … Continue reading
Posted in Batteries, Electric & Hydrogen trucks impossible, Trucks: Electric
Tagged battery, BEV, drayage, e-truck, electric truck, heavy-duty, HHD, Nikola, tesla, truck
11 Comments
Was the fall of the Roman Empire due to plagues & climate change?
Preface. Harper (2017) shows the brutal effects of plagues and climate change on the Roman Empire. McConnell (2020) proposes that a huge volcanic eruption in Alaska was a factor in bringing the Roman Empire and Cleopatra’s Egypt down. In addition, … Continue reading
Posted in Pandemic Fast Crash, Roman Empire
Tagged climate change, collapse, pandemic, plague, roman empire
1 Comment
Biogas from cow manure is not a solution for the energy crisis
Preface. Smil’s article about biogas sums up why it won’t contribute to energy shortages as fossils decline. Biogass doesn’t scale and is easy to muck up. Hayes (2015) also makes this case, pointing out that even if every ounce of … Continue reading
Posted in Biofuels, Biomass EROI, Peak Biofuels, Pollution
Tagged bacteria, biofuel, biogas, cow manure, EROI, pollution
2 Comments
The Next Big Thing: Distributed Generation & Microgrids
Preface. Last updated 2022-9-5 The first article below explains what microgrids will look like in the future. But first a brief look at what a microgrid is, as Angwin explains in her book “Shorting the Grid. The Hidden Fragility … Continue reading
Interdependencies & supply chain failures in the News
Preface. Joseph Tainter, explains in his famous book “The collapse of complex societies” how complexity causes civilizations to collapse. Fossil fuels have created the most complex society that has ever, or will ever exist, using fossil energy that can’t be … Continue reading
Posted in Interdependencies, Microchips and computers, Supply Chains
Tagged autos, electric grid, ford, interdependency, microchip, plastic, supply chain
2 Comments
A Century from Now Concrete Will be Nothing But Rubble
Photo: road abandoned since 1984 in the Florida Keys Preface. Much of the material that follows is based on Robert Courland’s 2011 book Concrete Planet, which explains why concrete is an essential part of our infrastructure. And it’s all falling … Continue reading
Population explosion to destroy 11% of remaining ecosystems and biodiversity
Preface. According to a recent paper in Nature Sustainability (Williams et al 2020), we are on the verge of destroying 11% of earth’s remaining ecosystems by 2050 to grow more food. We already are using 75% of Earth’s land. What … Continue reading
Posted in Chemicals, Deforestation, Food production, Overpopulation
Tagged agriculture, birth control, climate change
4 Comments