Tag Archives: agriculture

Energy and potato crops. U.S. House Hearing 2011

Preface. We eat so many potatoes I thought it interesting how future oil shocks may reduce potato crops. Potatoes are very “oily” needing a great deal of diesel fuel over their life cycle of planting, harvest, delivery to sorting, grading, … Continue reading

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Prime movers of human evolution

Preface. The human brain and culture evolved at an astonishing rate, making scientists wonder what conditions and ecological pressures drove it, why we became homo sapiens so quickly. This is a post that will grow over time as I find … Continue reading

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Can we grow enough food postcarbon? Irrigation needs water & electricity

Preface. Irrigated agriculture over 58 million acres consumes the largest share of U.S. water. And it’s shrinking as aquifers are drained, reservoirs evaporate, and drought reduces snowpack and rainfall at the same time population and the economy are growing. My … Continue reading

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China is destroying itself

Preface. China has been destroying itself for many decades now.  In Mao’s “great leap forward” about 35 to 50 million are estimated to have died from starvation from 1958 on, as you’ll read in my book review of” Shapiro J … Continue reading

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Book review of “Agrarian Dreams”

Preface. This is a book review of Guthman’s “Agrarian Dreams.  The Paradox of Organic Farming in California”.  Since world oil production likely peaked in 2018, and renewables can’t replace fossil fuels (read my books), there’s no choice but to go … Continue reading

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How past societies avoided the Agricultural trap

Preface.  There’s a great deal of evidence that past tribes did grow food but deliberately chose not to make that the entirety of the way they lived, preferring a more seasonal styles of life with hunting and gathering, and governance … Continue reading

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Why were California & Pacific NW Native tribes so different from each other?

Preface.  Why do many societies near each other have such different values, beliefs, mythology, and governance?  In “Dawn of Everything”, the authors suggest that it’s because:

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Dawn of Everything Conclusion

Preface. Clearly for their conclusion to make sense you’ll need to read the book and see the evidence for yourself.  Since they challenge just about all of the ideas currently in fashion, you can find some pretty damning reviews of … Continue reading

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Dawn of Everything Introduction

Preface.  It is likely that all world oil, both conventional and unconventional, peaked in 2018. The good news is that this means there isn’t enough carbon left to turn the world into a hothouse extinction, though for centuries the planet … Continue reading

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Electric Swarm Tractors

Preface.  In both my books Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy & When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation, I write that since most “renewables” generate electricity (i.e. wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower, compressed … Continue reading

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