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The Sower’s way: the path for the future

September 17, 2016

The Sower’s way: the path for the future Our paper on “The Sower’s Way” has been published in the IOP Environmental Research Letters journal. It is an attempt to quantify the physical limits of the energy transition from fossils to renewables. The title of the article takes inspiration from a strategy well known to ancient farmers, […]

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Peak oil by any other name is still peak oil

September 10, 2016

Peak oil by any other name is still peak oil One of the most compelling charts I have ever seen is the “Growing Gap” chart that used to appear in every ASPO Newsletter. This is the one from the last ASPO Newsletter, written by Colin Campbell and published in April 2009. Since then, more than seven years have passed, […]

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The end of the “population problem”? Another Seneca cliff in our future

The end of the “population problem”? Another Seneca cliff in our future Image from “National Geographic” If the demographic projections by the United Nations will turn out to be true, the world population should reach over 11 billion people by 2100. Some think that it will be a disaster, others see it as a good thing as it […]

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If Europe had a Sahara Desert, It Would Be a Small Africa. Does the World Really Have an “Overpopulation Problem”?

If Europe had a Sahara Desert, It Would Be a Small Africa. Does the World Really Have an “Overpopulation Problem”? It is already politically charged to deal with such issues as oil depletion and climate change but, at least, these are physical problems that we can examine using the scientific method. But overpopulation? That’s the […]

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Demand destruction and peak oil

Demand destruction and peak oil Roger Baker is a transportation and energy reform advocate based in Austin, Texas. Long time member of ASPO, we actually met at one of the first ASPO conferences, the one held in Pisa, in 2006. Here he discusses the current situation with crude oil and the global economy. We are fully under […]

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An energy miracle? But we already have it!

An energy miracle? But we already have it! Silicon is a material with properties close to the optimal for a solar cell. It is also one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust, and, finally, we know how to use it to manufacture cells with efficiency close to the theoretical maximum. Isn’t it […]

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We asked for an energy miracle and all what we are getting are lousy killer robots

We asked for an energy miracle and all what we are getting are lousy killer robots If you have four minutes, turn down the horrible background music and watch this clip up to the end, which is truly revealing. So, maybe you were hoping that science would bring to us a technological miracle that could […]

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Why we can’t understand global warming

Why we can’t understand global warming An interesting excerpt from George’s Lakoff “Don’t Think of an Elephant!” 2014. “Every language in the world has in its grammar a way to express direct causation. No language in the world has in its grammar a way to express systemic causation. What’s the difference between direct and systemic […]

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The story of the fisherman and of the farmer

The story of the fisherman and of the farmer Image from Daniel Vickers’ “Farmers and Fishermen“, 1994. As I sit on the podium with the other speakers, I have in front of me about 30 boys and girls. They are not even teenagers, most of them seem to be around 12 years old. They sit […]

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The world industrial system as bacteria in a Petri dish

The world industrial system as bacteria in a Petri dish In a previous post, I speculated that a thermodynamic system such our industrial economy is completely dependent from its “outside”. As it grows and incorporates this “outside”, it is obliged to store high entropy inside itself. Possibly, the epidemic diffusion of riots in the very heart of […]

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The cuckoo that won’t sing: sustanaibility and Japanese culture

The cuckoo that won’t sing: sustanaibility and Japanese culture This post was published for the first time on April 6, 2011. It is re-proposed here as part of a mini-series on Japanese culture that includes the previous post here as part of a mini-series on Japanese culture that includes the previous post on population control during the Edo […]

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The population problem: should the Pope tell people to stop breeding like rabbits?

The population problem: should the Pope tell people to stop breeding like rabbits? In this post, I argue that overpopulation is a complex problem that has to do with human choices at the level of single families. It is not impossible that such choices will eventually lead to a stabilization of the population at a […]

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E-Cat: the saga continues.

E-Cat: the saga continues. Maybe this device produces energy, too? Of course, you all know that if I am criticizing Rossi’s E-Cat it is because I am part of the great conspiracy to keep hidden the fact that oil is infinite and ever recreated in the depths of the earth. I am a gatekeeper; no, […]

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Donald Trump and the collapse of the Western Empire

Donald Trump and the collapse of the Western Empire In this post, I argue that the ascent of Donald Trump in the US presidential race is a symptom of the ongoing breakdown of society, in turn caused by the loss of control generated by resource depletion. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find […]

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The climate wars: trench warfare or blitzkrieg?

The climate wars: trench warfare or blitzkrieg? In a previous post, I examined more than 25 years of Gallup polls in the US and I came to the conclusion the climate debate is stuck in a trench warfare condition. Apparently, the percentage of Americans who say they are “worried” about climate change is today nearly the […]

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