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.

Minerals & Energy from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Posted on October 5, 2017 by

Preface. This is a small section of Ugo Bardi’s excellent book “Extracted”. His most important observation is that: “The limits to mineral extraction are not limits of quantity; they are limits of energy. Extracting minerals takes energy, and the more … Continue reading →

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House hearing on Venezuela’s collapse March 2017

Posted on October 2, 2017 by

“The economy of Venezuela is largely based on the petroleum sector and manufacturing. Revenue from petroleum exports accounts for more than 50% of the country’s GDP and roughly 95% of total exports” (wiki). Preface. Venezuela supposedly has 18.2% of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass migrations, U.S. Congress Energy Dependence, Venezuela | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

What would happen if trucks stopped running?

Posted on October 1, 2017 by

Preface. In “Why You Should Love Trucks” I showed that essential supply chains depend on trucks nearly completely.  Because of little inventory and dependence on just-in-time deliveries, our civilization would almost immediately feel the repercussions of trucks stopping. In fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Dependence on Oil, Electric & Hydrogen trucks impossible, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Oil Shocks, Transportation Infrastructure, Transportation Supply chain, Trucks, When Trucks Stop Running | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on What would happen if trucks stopped running?

Underground pumped hydro storage is the only technology capable of massive storage for renewable electricity

Posted on September 27, 2017 by

[ Picard concludes that “None of the candidate technologies for massive-scale renewable and sustainable generation of ‘‘green’’ electricity deliver it in a form suitable for high-efficiency storage. None of the prospectively-massive storage modes for transformed electricity is at present well … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Storage, Grid instability, Hydropower, Renewable Integration | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Kurt Cobb: Peak oil production has been hidden by the EIA by including condensate and other non-transportation fuels

Posted on September 20, 2017 by

[ The Energy Information Administration has done what they can to hide peak oil production by adding in everything but the kitchen sink to overall oil production numbers, such as ethanol and natural gas liquids, which are not true transportation … Continue reading →

Posted in How Much Left, Kurt Cobb, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Of course the reason the U.S. invades other countries for oil

Posted on September 11, 2017 by

  This post contains information from Nafeez Ahmed’s 2017 book “Failing States, Collapsing Systems BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence“, Springer. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer and “Crunch! Whole … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, Over Oil, Social Disorder, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Minerals and War from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Posted on September 5, 2017 by

Preface. This is an extract from Ugo Bardi’s book “Extracted”.  He makes the case that once we were able to forge metal weapons was when predatory nations began to invade one another to gain resources like coal to make more … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Peak Coal, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Oil, Peak Precious Elements, Ugo Bardi, War | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Minerals and War from Ugo Bardi’s “Extracted”

Peak soil: Industrial agriculture destroys ecosystems and civilizations: Biofuels make it worse

Posted on August 31, 2017 by

Preface. In 2018 I thought it was time to reorganize this post, as it grew more and more bloated and disorganized with new information. Eventually it turned into my 2021 book Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Biofuels, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels, Peak Topsoil, Soil | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Transportation: How long can we adapt before we fall off the Net Energy Cliff?

Posted on August 27, 2017 by

Preface. There are too many factors besides geological depletion to predict a future timeline of collapse. Plus each region will be more or less affected by each factor, sooner or later as well. This is a unique crash – there … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Infrastructure, Exponential Growth, Exports decline to ZERO, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Net Energy Cliff, Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Overfishing is driving large marine creatures extinct

Posted on August 23, 2017 by

[Overfishing is driving marine mammals extinct.  Luckily oil will soon begin a relentless decline and fishing boats won’t be able to travel to the ends of the world using spotter planes to net the remaining schools of fish.  And it … Continue reading →

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