Electric grid operator asks Texans to stop blasting AC as unplanned outages and heat collide
Electric grid operator asks Texans to stop blasting AC as unplanned outages and heat collide The electric power grid manager for most of Texas has issued its first conservation alert of the summer, calling on users to dial back energy consumption to avert an emergency. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (CNN)The Electric Reliability Council of Texas […]
How Energy Transition Models Go Wrong
How Energy Transition Models Go Wrong I have written many posts relating to the fact that we live in a finite world. At some point, our ability to extract resources becomes constrained. At the same time, population keeps increasing. The usual outcome when population is too high for resources is “overshoot and collapse.” But this […]
It’s Too Late To Avoid A Major Oil Supply Crisis
It’s Too Late To Avoid A Major Oil Supply Crisis There are a number of observable trends in oil supplies and by extension prices, presently. I am going to discuss one of them in this article. A lack of capital investment in finding new supplies of oil and gas. A favorite analogy of mine comes […]
BC’s Axed Climate Action Fund Worries Municipalities
BC’s Axed Climate Action Fund Worries Municipalities Government promises replacement for program that helped towns and cities reduce emissions. Municipalities used funds from the climate program for everything from bike lanes to planting trees to electric vehicle charging stations. Photo by Paul Krueger, Creative Commons licensed. After abruptly cancelling a program that helped local governments fund projects […]
Government plans to reduce dependency on fossil fuels won’t work
Government plans to reduce dependency on fossil fuels won’t work Preface. Yikes! These government plans won’t help the energy crisis at all! The only items I like are getting Yucca mountain ready to take nuclear waste – it’s my top priority of “what to do”. We need to sequester nuclear wastes while there is still […]
Who pays for the care of “orphaned” oil and gas wells? You do
Who pays for the care of “orphaned” oil and gas wells? You do When oil and gas wells end their useful life, one of two things happens: 1) They are plugged and capped to prevent further flows or 2) they are simply abandoned. When they fall into the second category, they are called “orphaned” wells […]
Four Scenarios for the Future (part one)
Four Scenarios for the Future (part one) Ten years ago, David Holmgren brought out a thesis he titled ‘future scenarios,’ wherein he laid out some reasoning for two main axes along which the next few decades could be characterized and developed four main scenarios which corresponded to the four general quadrants laid out by his axes of […]
From the Notebook: Killing All the Birds With One Pile of Gold
From the Notebook: Killing All the Birds With One Pile of Gold French President Emmanuel Macron, whose poll numbers are abysmal and needs a sincere shot in the arm, just gave away the plot with his outside voice. I’ve noticed this trend within The Davos Crowd in recent months, speaking with their outside voice what they only […]
Negative energy return of solar PV in Northern Europe
Negative energy return of solar PV in Northern Europe Preface. I once yanked this paper after huge blow back, but in the past few years, I have no reason to doubt Ferroni and Hopkirks methods, boundaries, or conclusions, so I’m putting this post back. An ERoEI of less than 1 means there is a net […]
Hundreds Arrested at Line 3 ‘Treaty People Gathering.’ Water Protectors Vow To Continue Until the Pipeline is Canceled
Hundreds Arrested at Line 3 ‘Treaty People Gathering.’ Water Protectors Vow To Continue Until the Pipeline is Canceled Indigenous activists in Northern Minnesota occupied sites of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, seeking to disrupt construction. The action puts national attention on an issue that President Biden has tried to ignore. Water protectors are seeking to stop […]
The jump to pumps: how Finland found an answer to heating homes
The jump to pumps: how Finland found an answer to heating homes How to heat homes and workplaces without relying on fossil fuels is one of the more difficult challenges for moving rapidly to zero carbon economies. Within the European Union (EU), the heating sector is the most energy and carbon-intensive, accounting for nearly 50% […]
Introduction to The Web of Meaning
Introduction to The Web of Meaning Ed. note: This excerpt from the Web of Meaning is published with the permission of the author. As our civilization careens toward a precipice of climate breakdown, ecological destruction, and gaping inequality, people are losing their existential moorings. Our dominant worldview has passed its expiration date: it’s based on […]
Translating Yellen-Speak into Golden-Speak
Translating Yellen-Speak into Golden-Speak Given the increasingly politicized interplay (cancer) of central bank policy and so-called free market price discovery, it’s becoming increasingly more important to track the actions of central bankers rather than just traditional market signals alone. Like it or not, the Fed is the market. Toward this end, we’ve had some substantive fun deciphering […]
