Category Archives: ! PEAK EVERYTHING

Food, topsoil, aquifers, phosphorus, rare metals essential to microchip fabrication, windmills, solar, and other products; sand; oil; natural gas

Limits to Growth: Natural gas fertilizer that feeds 4 billion of us

Posted on March 30, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. In chapter 4 of my book “Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy“, I explain how it came to be that fertilizer is made out of natural gas, using the energy of natural gas, and why … Continue reading →

Posted in Life After Fossil Fuels, Limits To Growth, Natural Gas, Peak Food, Starvation | Tagged agriculture, food, peak food, peak natural gas, starvation | 1 Comment

Far out #7: Ammonia power & recycle wind turbines by eating them

Posted on March 27, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. This optimistic article is honest enough to say that the new process of not emitting NOx when using ammonia for energy is a long way from commercial viability, and has myriad hurdles. This is not the most promising way … Continue reading →

Posted in Far Out, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Peak Platinum Group Elements, Recycle, Recycling | Tagged ammonia, fiberglass, hydrogen, natural gas, platinum group, recycle, Ruthenium, skeptic, wind turbine | 1 Comment

Implications of Refinery closures for Homeland Security & critical infrastructure safety

Posted on March 24, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. The talk of electric vehicles saving the world from greenhouse gases is nonsense, a red herring to distract everyone from what’s really at stake, and from the material requirements to build them with rare earth and other scarce minerals, … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Infrastructure & Fast Crash, Oil & Gas, Peak Oil, U.S. Congress Infrastructure | Tagged diesel, electric vehicle, EV, gasoline, infrastructure, lubricants, peak oil, pipeline, refinery | 1 Comment

Food shortages as the energy crisis grows and supply chains break?

Posted on March 21, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. This is a long preface followed by two articles about how supply chains and complex tractors may be affected by energy shortages and consequent supply chain failures in the future.Which we’re already seeing as massive numbers of ships sit … Continue reading →

Posted in Cascading Failure, CyberAttacks, Economic Decline, Interdependencies, Liebig's Law, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Oil | Tagged collapse, EROI, interdependency, microchip, peak oil, supply chain | Comments Off

Enough minerals for a solar, wind, & battery transition from fossil fuels?

Posted on March 12, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. The transition could require as much as $173 trillion in energy supply and infrastructure investment over the next three decades. One HELL of a lot of metals needed – questionable if possible in in three decades, especially with China … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Peak Critical Elements, Recycle, Recycling | Tagged cost, inflation, mining, peak metals, solar, wind | Comments Off

Why liquefied coal (CTL) and natural gas (GTL) can’t replace oil

Posted on March 9, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. Here are just a few of the reasons why we aren’t likely to convert enough coal to diesel to matter as oil decines (see Chapter 11 Liquefied Coal: There Goes the Neighborhood, the Water, and the Air for more … Continue reading →

Posted in Coal to Liquids (CTL), GTL Gas-To-Liquids, Peak Coal, Peak Oil | Tagged coal-to-liquids, CTL, flow rate, gas-to-liquids, GTL, peak coal, peak oil | Comments Off

The Good News About Peak Oil

Posted on March 3, 2022 by energyskeptic

As oil declines, the threat of a greenhouse earth & extinction from climate change decline Carbon sequestration, wind, solar, geo-engineering, and other remedies are trivial compared to the effect declining fossil fuels will have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Natural Gas, Peak Oil, Pesticides, Planetary Boundaries, What to do | Tagged climate change, fertilizer, natural gas, peak oil, pesticide, rationing | Comments Off

Why the world can’t run on biodiesel from algae

Posted on February 19, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. This is an article I published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it’s also similar to “Chapter 25 Biodiesel from Algae” in my book Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy. And within this post is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Algae, Alternative Energy, Biomass, Energy, Peak Biofuels | Tagged algae, algae cost per barrel, algae EREOI, algae EROI, algae fuel, algae oil, fuel from algae, peak biofuels, problems with algae, skeptic, synthetic organisms | Comments Off

Climate change will damage energy infrastructure, costing trillions

Posted on January 28, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. Climate change and extreme weather will harm oil and gas exploration and production, electric power generation and increase energy demand due to sea level rise, heat, drought, floods, more storms, and blackouts. Extreme heat and drought will force electric … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackouts Electric Grid, Cascading Failure, Climate Change, Electric Grid, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, Energy Production, Hydropower, Peak Water, Ships and Barges | Tagged barge, drought, extreme storms, flood, heat, peak water, sea level rise, wildfire | Comments Off

USGS Groundwater Depletion study of aquifer decline in the U.S.

Posted on January 7, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. I summarize two major research papers on the state of the Ogallal below. It and many other aquifers are depleting rapidly, and polluted from pesticides, feedlot waste, intruding salts, and other pollution. Rainfall isn’t replenishing the Ogallala. Many won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Government study predictions, Groundwater, Peak Food, Peak Water | Tagged aquifer, california, depletion, groundwater, Ogallala, USGS | 1 Comment