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

UK Government: Food, energy, water & the climate. A perfect storm of global events?

John Beddington. December 12, 2012.  Food, Energy, Water and Climate change: A perfect storm of global events?  Government Office For Science. Kingsgate House. 66-74 Victoria street. London SUMMARY There is an intrinsic link between the challenge we face to ensure … Continue reading

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Why is modern concrete falling apart?

Here’s more information from Courland’s book “Concrete Planet” and other information I found on the web since I wrote Enough energy after Peak Oil to rebuild and repair concrete infrastructure? Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory has been trying to figure out … Continue reading

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How long will concrete last if it isn’t maintained?

As energy grows scarcer and is devoted to growing food and other life-support services, our infrastructure will crumble. Bob Holmes. 12 Oct 2006. Imagine Earth without people. NewScientist.com Lack of maintenance will spell an early demise for buildings, roads, bridges … Continue reading

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David Korowicz: Tipping point near-term systemic implications of a Peak in global Oil production

[ This is the most brilliant and succinct paper I’ve ever seen that explains the interdependencies of our economic, energy, infrastructure, food, and other systems.  It is so well-written that you ought to read the entire paper, my summary can’t … Continue reading

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Fungi threatens crops feeding billions of people

Preface. And the World Health Organization (2022) released a list of health threatening fungi. In California and the southwest more people are catching valley fever, oaks are dying sudden oak death (SOD) from a fungus. Some scientists expect that climate … Continue reading

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China Water issues

China is one of a few and often only place making products from computers to furniture, as well as the components of most products, so if China collapses, the ripple effects will be felt elsewhere. On the other hand, if … Continue reading

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Solar Infrastructure: Materials, Land, and Energy required

To replace just one year of world oil use (1 cubic mile) you’d need to mine, fabricate, deliver, and build 91,250,000 Solar panels every year for 50 years (Goldstein). A PV plant that could produce 5.5 TWh of power (what … Continue reading

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Oil Built Our Infrastructure Back When it was Cheap & Abundant

Most of our infrastructure was built many decades ago, when the energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) of oil was 100:1, and now it’s down to roughly 30:1 in the gulf, and much less elsewhere (at 10:1 civilization collapses). What … Continue reading

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Hurricane Vulnerable Gulf area Supplies Over Half our oil, One-third of our Natural Gas

Energy infrastructure is very vulnerable to hurricanes in the gulf region, which: Produce or imports 60% of the country’s supply of crude oil Supplies a third of U.S. natural gas supplies Generates half of the United States refined products supplies … Continue reading

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Magnetic Reversal could knock out power grids and communication systems

Peter Olson and Renaud Deguen. 1 Jul 2012. Eccentricity of the geomagnetic dipole caused by lopsided inner core growth. Nature Geoscience 5, 565–569 Lopsided growth of the Earth’s core could explain why its magnetic field reverses direction every few thousand … Continue reading

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