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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
China consumes mind-boggling amounts of raw materials
September 10, 2015. China Consumes Mind-Boggling Amounts of Raw Materials. Visual Capitalist. Over the last 20 years, the world economy has relied on the Chinese economic growth engine more than it would like to admit. … Continue reading
Posted in ! PEAK EVERYTHING
Tagged aluminum, china, concrete, copper, minerals, nickel, steel
4 Comments
Most energy efficient: passenger bus, rail, or auto?
Preface. Weight reduces energy efficiency, so one way to make transportation more efficient is to light-weight rail cars, buses, trucks, and cars. For every 10% reduction in weight, up to 7.6% more fuel efficiency can be gained (Joost 2012). While … Continue reading
Posted in Automobiles, Mass Transit, Railroads
Tagged auto, bus, car, efficiency, energy, mass transit, passenger, rail
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U.S. Senate hearing on our aging water infrastructure
[ Even though conventional oil production has been on a plateau since 2005, there is no sense of alarm or urgency to try to fix infrastructure before oil is rationed and not enough exists to replace or repair it. Some … Continue reading
Posted in U.S. Congress Infrastructure, Water Infrastructure
Tagged congressional record, dams, energy, infrastructure, reservoirs, water
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Corrosion eats $552 billion of infrastructure a year (6% of GDP)
Preface. United States infrastructure was built when the EROI of oil was very high and minerals and metals were cheap due to high ore concentrations. This study was done in 2002, since then, things have gotten much worse (see ASCE … Continue reading
Posted in Bridges, Oil & Gas, Rail, Transportation Infrastructure
Tagged corrosion, infrastructure, mining, nuclear waste, pipelines, transportation, utilities
2 Comments
Coal plants are causing water shortages in China
Wong, E. March 22, 2016. Report Ties Coal Plants to Water Shortage in Northern China. New York Times. China’s consumption of coal, a major contributor to climate change and the country’s horrific air pollution, is worsening a severe water shortage … Continue reading
Posted in China, Energy Production, Peak Water
Tagged china, coal, power, water
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Alternative fuels to replace transportation oil. U.S. House hearing 2012
House 112–159. July 10, 2012. The American energy initiative part 23: A focus on Alternative Fuels and vehicles. House of Representatives. [ Excerpts from this 210 page transcript follow ] MIKE BREEN, Vice President of the Truman National Security Project. … Continue reading
Posted in Alternative Energy, Natural Gas Vehicles, Transportation, U.S. Congress Transportation
Tagged alternative fuel, FFV, Flex-fuel, transportation
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Overview of the United States freight transportation system. House hearing 2013
House 113-13. April 24, 2013. Overview of the United States Freight Transportation System. House of Representatives. [ excerpts from the 193 page transcript of the house hearing ] Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member Rahall have designated this panel to … Continue reading
Posted in Transportation, U.S. Congress Transportation
Tagged freight, rail, ship, transportation, truck
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USA rail policy: goals, objectives, and responsibilities. House hearing 2013
House 113-28. June 27, 2013. National rail policy: Examining goals, objectives, and responsibilities. House of Representatives. [ Excerpts of the 211 page transcript of the hearing follow ] Edward R. Hamberger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of American Railroads … Continue reading
Posted in Railroads, U.S. Congress Energy Policy, U.S. Congress Transportation
Tagged freight, house hearing, passenger, rail
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We’ll all be Flint Michigan someday: U.S. water infrastructure is falling apart
NRC. 2006. Drinking Water Distribution Systems: Assessing and Reducing Risks Committee on Public Water Supply Distribution Systems: Assessing and Reducing Risks. National Research Council, National Academies Press. [ According to this Free National Research Council report, most water systems and … Continue reading
Posted in Water Infrastructure, Water Pollution
Tagged contamination, disease, failure, infrastructure, water
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General Charles Wald: Dial 1-800-The-U.S.-Military to solve your oil dependency issues
Senate 110-6. January 10, 2007. Geopolitics of Oil. United States Senate Hearing. 90 pages. General Charles Wald, U.S. Air Force (retired), Former Deputy Commander, U.S. European command, and member of the Energy Security Leadership Council I recently retired from the … Continue reading
Posted in Military, Transportation
Tagged cafe standards, efficiency, military
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