Category Archives: What to do

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

Posted on March 27, 2022 by

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 , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted on March 12, 2022 by

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 →

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So you don’t want to be a farmer postcarbon? City jobs of the future

Posted on March 6, 2022 by

Preface. This book summarizes the work of Henry Mayhew from 1849 to 1852. He wrote about the people and goods  being sold on the streets of London, interviewing hundreds of street vendors. He estimated there were about 30,000 of them … Continue reading →

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The Good News About Peak Oil

Posted on March 3, 2022 by

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 →

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Lithium-ion battery recycling, environmental impact, energy used

Posted on February 25, 2022 by

Preface. The future of both electric vehicles and utility-scale energy storage are depending on lithium-ion batteries because of their high energy-density, and even though lithium is limited, it’s about the only kind of battery being made for transport (because it … Continue reading →

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Why EV Batteries aren’t being recycled

Posted on February 13, 2022 by

Preface.  Talk to your typical capitalist / environmentalist and they will both agree that we will never run out of anything because we can recycle.  But we aren’t.  Especially since it’s cheaper to buy newly mined metals than to recycle … Continue reading →

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Is there a long emergency plan for peak oil?

Posted on February 8, 2022 by

  Source: A year on the midieval farm https://www.medievalists.net/2014/06/year-medieval-farm/ Ever since I learned about peak oil in 2000 after reading my grandfather Pettijohn’s memoir (Pettijohn 1984), I’ve wondered what The Plan To Cope with Oil Decline and eventual disappearance was. … Continue reading →

Posted in An Index of Best Energyskeptic Posts, Energy Policy & Politicians, Farming & Ranching, Government on what to do, Military, guns, Over Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Is there a long emergency plan for peak oil?

How to fix our inland waterway system

Posted on January 25, 2022 by

Preface.  As you can see in Table 1 below, water transport is far more energy efficient than land transport, especially once we’re back to muscle power after fossil fuels are gone. Kilojoules of energy used to carry one ton of … Continue reading →

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Richard Heinberg on what to do

Posted on January 13, 2022 by

Preface. I encourage you to read Heinberg’s entire “A simple way…” post. It is a great overview of history and how we came to this point of energy decline. And as usual, easy to read, clear, and wise as is … Continue reading →

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Methods to preserve knowledge for Wood world (Life After Fossil Fuels)

Posted on January 10, 2022 by

Preface.  My books “When Trucks Stop Running” and “Life after fossil fuels” explain why we are returning to wood as our major energy resource and for infrastructure, just like all civilizations before fossil fuels. I call it “Wood World”. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Preservation of Knowledge | Tagged , , | 2 Comments