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.

Kurt Andersen on Trump & Covid-19 in “Evil Geniuses”

Posted on September 27, 2020 by

Preface. If you want to know all the economic and political history that got us to the right-wing extremist Trump and Republican party, there’s no more entertaining way to do so than Kurt Anderson’s latest book “Evil Geniuses”.  Better yet, … Continue reading →

Posted in Disease, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Strong Case for the Anthropocene: no other species has ever consumed so much of earth’s resources so quickly

Posted on September 24, 2020 by

Figure 1. Produced energy and the pattern of human population growth from 1750. Utilization of these energy sources, together with the energy used by humans from net primary production, is now approaching the entire energy available to the global ecosystem … Continue reading →

Posted in ! PEAK EVERYTHING, Climate Change, Human Nature | Tagged , | 10 Comments

EV cars and utility scale energy storage batteries are not likely to materialize

Posted on September 21, 2020 by

Preface.  Clearly there’s not enough minerals and metals to shift from fossil fuels to electric vehicles and utility scale battery storage, due to peak critical elements, peak platinum group elements, peak precious elements, peak rare earth elements, and peak everything … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Batteries, Battery - Utility Scale, Peak Lithium | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

How much oil left in America? Not much

Posted on September 18, 2020 by

Preface. If you think we have no worries because we can get arctic oil, think again. We can’t because icebergs mow drilling platforms down in the ocean. On land, massive amounts of expensive new drilling rigs, roads, rail lines, platforms, … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Peak Oil | Tagged , | 6 Comments

A book review of “Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America“ by David J. Silverman

Posted on September 12, 2020 by

Preface. This is a book review of “Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America“ by David J. Silverman 2016. I found this book hard to put down.  It should be read because it tells the role guns played … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Military, guns, Slavery, Social Disorder, Violence, War Books | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on A book review of “Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America“ by David J. Silverman

Think covid-19 is bad? The tuberculosis pandemic is still killing millions

Posted on August 30, 2020 by

Preface.  These are my kindle notes from “The Plague and I” by Betty MacDonald.  Her great sense of humor, beautiful writing, and finding out what it would have been like to be in a Tuberculosis (TB) sanitarium in 1937 are … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Pandemic Fast Crash, Pandemics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Nuclear winter could kill 2 to 5 billion people

Posted on August 24, 2020 by

Preface. Carl Sagan introduced the idea of a “nuclear winter”, which helped to end the cold war.  The smoke from fires started by bombs would absorb so much sun the earth wold grow cold, dry, and dark, killing plants on … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction, Farming & Ranching, Fisheries, Nuclear War, Nuclear Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Maddow’s “Blowout”, Russian peak oil, corruption, fake news

Posted on August 21, 2020 by

Preface.  Since this blog focuses on peak resources, I drastically rearranged my notes from this book in the order I found most interesting. I’m also interested in corruption, Putin, fake news, and more, as you’ll see below.  Since the book … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Corruption & Finance, Oil shock collapse, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Golden Age of Russian Oil Nears an End

Posted on August 15, 2020 by

Preface.  One huge factor in Russia’s future oil decline not mentioned below is how incredibly corrupt and inefficient Russia’s oil and gas companies are, as Rachel Maddow describes in her book “Blowout”. A few quotes: The Russian oil and gas … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Peak Oil | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Limits to growth: Oil & Gas Fracking sand

Posted on August 6, 2020 by

Preface.  Below is an excerpt about fracking sand from Beiser’s 2018 book “The World in a Grain. The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization”. In 2022 fracking sand has gotten so expensive it’s a factor in why production … Continue reading →

Posted in Limits To Growth, Oil & Gas Fracked, Peak Sand | Tagged , , | 1 Comment