Category Archives: Infrastructure

This site makes the case that collapse will take decades, not centuries. And the worst that ever has been or will be, it is fossil fuels that enabled 8.2 people to exist on the planet

Do taxes cover the cost to maintain your street?

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

From: http://mapstoryblog.thenittygritty.org/costofstreets/  Are Your Taxes Paying for the Cost of Your Street? Believe it or not, almost everywhere in the country, people are not paying for the cost of the street right in front of their own properties. I made a … Continue reading →

Posted in Roads, Transportation What To Do | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Why is Detroit falling apart so fast?

Posted on February 6, 2017 by

Using Google street view history, www.goobingdetroit.com records the decay of homes in Detroit. Above shows homes September 2009, September 2011, and September 2013 I’ve been fascinated with the decline of Detroit since a guy in my dormitory told me back … Continue reading →

Posted in Crash Coming Soon, Infrastructure & Collapse, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Poverty | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Why is Detroit falling apart so fast?

Matchmaking for trucks so fewer run empty after deliveries

Posted on February 3, 2017 by

[ These apps have the potential to prevent some trucks from returning empty after their delivery, which wastes finite diesel fuel.  See the full article here. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of … Continue reading →

Posted in Efficiency | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Failing states, collapsing systems: biophysical triggers of political violence

Posted on January 31, 2017 by

Preface. In this post I summarize the sections of Nafeez’s book about the biophysical factors that bring nations down (i.e. climate change drought & water scarcity, declining revenues after peak oil, etc.) The Media tend to focus exclusively on economic … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Caused by Scarce Resources, Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed & collapsing nations, Drought & Collapse, Exports decline to ZERO, Food production, Interdependencies, Limits To Growth, Middle East, Other Experts, Over Oil, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Violence, War & Violence | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

After the harvest – protecting food from rats, mold, insects, fire, and bacteria

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Preface. It’s hard enough to protect crops before a harvest. In New South Wales, Australia a plague of millions of mice has multiplied after a bumper grain harvest and eating whatever they can find. Mice can produce 500 offspring a … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Books, Farming & Ranching, Peak Food | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Agricultural Transportation and Energy Issues. Senate hearing 2005.

Posted on January 25, 2017 by

Preface. What follows are excerpts from this hearing.  Over and over senators warn of our dependence on oil.  The question is: what are they doing about it?  I’d guess given the crackdown on immigration that the government is aware of … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation, Trucks, U.S. Congress Energy Dependence, U.S. Congress Transportation | Comments Off on Agricultural Transportation and Energy Issues. Senate hearing 2005.

Sand mines used to frack oil & gas are destroying the best topsoil in the Midwest

Posted on January 19, 2017 by

Preface. Frac sand is a high-purity quartz sand that is injected into wells to blast and hold open cracks in the shale rock layer during the fracking process. In the United States, frac sand is being mined intensively from sandstone … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil & Gas Fracked, Peak Sand, Soil | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Peak Uranium by Ugo Bardi from Extracted: How the Quest for Mineral Wealth Is Plundering the Planet

Posted on January 11, 2017 by

Preface. This is an extract of Ugo Bardi’s must read “Extracted” about the limits of production of uranium. You can find plenty of material saying there is are a lot of uranium reserves and resources  left elsewhere (EMD 2019). The … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Uranium, Ugo Bardi | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Drinking water and sewage treatment use a lot of energy

Posted on January 4, 2017 by

[ Water treatment (drinking and sewage) use tremendous amounts of energy. Some of the statistics from this document “Water & Wastewater Utility energy research roadmap” below are: In 2008 municipal wastewater treatment systems (WWTP) in the United States used approximately … Continue reading →

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Electric Cars and Biofuels switch dependence from foreign oil to domestic water and weather risks

Posted on December 29, 2016 by

  Figure 1. Energy/Water Nexus Amy Hardberger, Matthew E. Mantell, Michael Webber, Carey W. King, Karl Fennessey [ This Senate hearing covers a lot of ground. I found the most interesting testimony to be the intersection of water and energy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Drought, Energy Production, Hydropower, Transportation, Water Infrastructure | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Electric Cars and Biofuels switch dependence from foreign oil to domestic water and weather risks