Tag Archives: cost

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

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 , , , , , | Comments Off on Enough minerals for a solar, wind, & battery transition from fossil fuels?

The cost of farming

Preface. One of the best ways to survive the coming energy crisis and reduce biodiversity loss, soil erosion and toxic chemicals is to start an organic farm. Today, that’s hard to pull off unless you have a 9 to 5 … Continue reading

Posted in Farming & Ranching | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Earthquakes in California could cost over $200 billion dollars

Preface. The figures below don’t do justice to the harm an earthquake would do.  There is $1.9 trillion dollars of property at risk from earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Area, where a catastrophic earthquake on the Hayward Fault would … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, U.S. Congress Infrastructure | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Nuclear power in the U.S. is dead, reactors shutting down – not built

Preface. This article focuses on reactors being shut down, other posts discuss why they’re not being constructed, despite the intense and well funded efforts of the nuclear lobby.  Since this article was published in 2013, 12 of the 37 at … Continue reading

Posted in Nuclear Power Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CSP Barriers and Obstacles

Location must be in the desert Southwest Unlike solar PV, CSP can’t cope with humidity or cloud cover, so it is limited to the southwest were the solar irradiation is high and there is no dust, haze, or smog.  Solar … Continue reading

Posted in CSP with thermal energy storage | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on CSP Barriers and Obstacles

Professor Tad Patzek on Oil in the Arctic

[Shell spent 10 years and $7 billion before withdrawing from exploring the arctic because the oil and gas reserves they found were too meager.  The company needed “a multi-billion barrel discovery” to “justify going ahead,” Shell chief executive Ben van … Continue reading

Posted in Arctic | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Professor Tad Patzek on Oil in the Arctic