Tag Archives: limits to growth

Dennis Meadows of Limits to Growth: Collapse inevitable

Posted on December 9, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. Dennis Meadows is a co-author of The Limits to Growth. In 1972, the team of 66 scientists he assembled for the original Limits to Growth study concluded the most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline … Continue reading →

Posted in Limits To Growth, Peak Oil History | Tagged aspo, dennis meadows, limits to growth, peak oil history | 18 Comments

Rees on Overshoot: Growth through contraction: conceiving an eco-economy

Posted on February 28, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. William Rees writes some of the best and most comprehensible papers of all on the overshoot crisis we are in. We should have begun a U-turn in the 60s after The Population Bomb, or the 70s when Limits to … Continue reading →

Posted in Limits To Growth, Overshoot, William Rees | Tagged contraction, ecological footprint, limits to growth, localization, overshoot, steady-state economy | Comments Off

Your life and the economy depend on biodiversity

Posted on January 1, 2022 by energyskeptic

Preface. We are trained in school, newspapers, and TV to view the world politically and economically. Not ecologically. The World Economic Forum article below is an excellent summary of why biodiversity is so important, as much as climate change, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, Limits To Growth | Tagged biodiversity, ecology, ecosystems, limits to growth | Comments Off

Why do leaders & the public deny peak oil & limits to growth?

Posted on December 26, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. It’s strange that we’re on the cusp of Peak Oil, and yet the only existential threat you ever hear about is Climate Change. The New York Times has mentioned climate change over 15,000 times the past 5 years, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 2) Collapse, Alternative Energy, An Overview, Critical Thinking, GOVERNMENT, Limits To Growth, Other Experts | Tagged climate change denial, limits to growth, optimism, peak oil, Republican, why denial | 5 Comments

Will Artificial Intelligence destroy us?

Posted on December 14, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. When it comes to artificial intelligence, most articles assume it will happen, so discussions range around when and how it will happen. Often speculation that a general AI may use its ability to find patterns in data will allow … Continue reading →

Posted in An Index of Best Energyskeptic Posts, Artificial Intelligence, Electric Grid, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse | Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, big data, electric grid, energy, limits to growth, robot, war | 3 Comments

Book Review of Richard Heinberg’s 2011 “The End of Growth”

Posted on June 4, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. This is not a book review really, it’s more a few of my kindle notes. Heinberg writes so well, so clearly, that I am sure history will remember him as the most profound and wide-ranging expert on energy and … Continue reading →

Posted in Richard Heinberg | Tagged heinberg, limits to growth, peak oil | Comments Off

Why rare and valuable metals are not recycled

Posted on February 18, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. This is a post about why rare and critical metals aren’t recycled at all or at best, just a small percent. Basically it is still cheaper to mine them from scratch than to try to separate them out from … Continue reading →

Posted in Peak Critical Elements, Peak Platinum Group Elements, Peak Precious Elements, Peak Rare Earth Elements, Recycle, Recycling, Ugo Bardi | Tagged downcycling, limits to growth, material limits, rare earth metal, recycle, recycling, solar CSP, solar PV, windmill | 5 Comments

Renewables: not enough minerals, energy or time and mining is destructive

Posted on January 22, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. Electricity generating contraptions like wind and solar can’t replace the 50% of oil used in global manufacturing, because they can’t generate the high heat needed, or run battery or catenary electric trucks as I explained in “When Trucks Top … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Battery - Utility Scale, Peak Critical Elements, Peak Platinum Group Elements, Peak Rare Earth Elements, Peak Resources, Recycle, Recycling, Solar, Wind | Tagged battery, limits to growth, lithium, metal, mineral, mining, rare earth, utility scale | 5 Comments

328 Million Americans use 3.2 million pounds of minerals, metals, and fuels in their lifetime

Posted on January 10, 2021 by energyskeptic

Preface. Even if you go off the grid, civilization is using up minerals at an exponential rate to maintain the non-negotiable American lifestyle, which in 2006, required 3.7 million pounds of minerals, metals, and fuels in each person’s lifetime, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Peak Critical Elements, Recycle, Recycling | Tagged consumption, critical elements, limits to growth, peak minerals | 6 Comments

Civilization will collapse in 20-40 years from deforestation

Posted on December 26, 2020 by energyskeptic

Preface. At current rates of deforestation, forests will be gone in 100-200 years. Long before that, in 20-40 years, the effects will be felt, with a 90% chance of civilization collapse likely. Below “deforestation in the news” are excerpts from an … Continue reading →

Posted in Deforestation, Limits To Growth | Tagged collapse, deforestation, limits to growth | 14 Comments