Category Archives: 3) Fast Crash

The case for a fast, rather than a slow one. Most societies crashed in 20 years or less. There has never been or will be again a crash like ours, where the world of 7 billion people became utterly dependent on a non-renewable source of energy — fossil fuels.

The carbon trap by Paul Chefurka

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

Preface. We are caught in the carbon trap — we utterly depend on fossils that don’t have an electric replacement. Someday people will figure this out the hard way, but Chefurka compassionately points out that there is no one to … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Interdependencies, Paul Chefurka | Tagged , , | 13 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

Saudi oil infrastructure at risk from drone attacks

Posted on September 19, 2019 by

Preface. This NYT article was published 4 months ago, and its warning just came true. Quite prescient! Drones make it pretty easy to anonymously attack the thousands of miles of pipelines across the Arabian peninsula, oil tankers, pumping stations, and … Continue reading →

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Why “fracked” shale oil and gas will not save us

Posted on September 16, 2019 by

Preface. As early as 2011 experts were questioning how large fracked natural gas reserves were. The latest IEA 2018 report predicts shale oil/gas could start to decline by 2025, and all global oil as soon as 2023.  Shale oil and … Continue reading →

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One million plant & animal species at risk of extinction

Posted on August 31, 2019 by

As usual, no mention of birth control or carrying capacity. Related: 2019-9 Huge decline in songbirds linked to common insecticide (neo nicotinoids). National Geographic. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, … Continue reading →

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Global wildlife populations have fallen 60% in just 40 years

Posted on August 28, 2019 by

Below is a summary of the World Wildlife Fund report. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers”. Podcasts: Derrick Jensen, Practical Prepping, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Extinction | 1 Comment

Peak Copper

Posted on August 25, 2019 by

Preface. Copper is essential for modern civilization and any hope of migrating to renewable energy, since solar, wind, tidal, hydro, biomass and geothermal use 5 times more copper than traditional power generation in fossil and nuclear power plants. Nothing matches … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Copper | Tagged , , , , | 3 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 →

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Nafeez Ahmed: Venezuela’s collapse is a window into how the Oil Age will unravel

Posted on June 17, 2019 by

Preface. Ahmed is one of the best writers on the energy crisis and other biophysical calamities. He’s written about why many states are failing now in part due to peak oil, but also drought and other biophysical factors in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Oil, Tar Sands (Oil Sands), Venezuela | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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