Home » Posts tagged 'the honest sorcerer' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: the honest sorcerer
The Precipice: Europe on the Verge of Its Long Decline
The Precipice: Europe on the Verge of Its Long Decline Green transportation. No kidding. Photo by luana niemann on Unsplash A serious and long lasting economic downturn in Europe is now within sight. Not a mild recession, but something truly transformative… something similar to the 1930’s great depression. The energy crisis simmering on the back-burner since 2 years now seems to […]
War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds Photo by Benjamin Behre on Unsplash In parallel with – but perhaps not entirely unrelated to – the many technical aspects of the long decline of industrial civilization, my attention is increasingly captured by the massive global geopolitical shift precipitated by the war in Eastern Europe. I incline to believe that this battle is […]
The Copper Conundrum
The Copper Conundrum Photo by Denis Yosifov on Unsplash Copper is at the heart of everything electric. It is no exaggeration to say, that our entire “renewable, clean, green” future hinges upon its uninterrupted supply. In fact, according to a recently released report, we would need to mine more of it than what we did during the course of […]
Stable Electricity: A Long Slow Goodbye
Stable Electricity: A Long Slow Goodbye Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash Electricity shortages are looming for the UK and Europe, and then later for the rest of the overdeveloped world as well. Blackouts will become common, and you will get power only for a couple of hours a day — just like in countries with a less favorable economic […]
No, Nuclear Energy Won’t Save Us
No, Nuclear Energy Won’t Save Us Soon to be mementos of a lost age. Photo by Lukáš Lehotský on Unsplash Ever since the first commercial reactors have started to produce electricity for the grid in the 1950’s (um, about 70 years ago now…) we keep hearing how nuclear is the clean, green power of the future. No emissions, […]
Peak Oil Gets Admitted?
Peak Oil Gets Admitted? Denial is like a glacier. At first sight, and to everyone standing on it, it looks rock solid. Then cracks start to develop, and before you know it, a huge chunk breaks off and drifts away — never to be seen again. This is what’s happening to peak oil right in […]
The End of the Oil Age Gets Postponed Again. Really?
The End of the Oil Age Gets Postponed Again. Really? Photo by Diyar Al Maamouri on Unsplash It looks like we have to wait a little more to see the end of the oil age. Our desire to burn more and more stuff knows no limits — at least not when talking about the foreseeable future. Statements like “oil will […]
We Underappreciate How Different We Are
We Underappreciate How Different We Are Photo by Joshua Fuller on Unsplash After I started working for my current employer, I met a colleague with whom I simply could not work with. We disagreed on almost everything — not on a factual level, but rather on how we approach working with problems and identify solutions. I felt like […]
Professional Managers Are Driving Us Off the Cliff
Professional Managers Are Driving Us Off the Cliff “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” ― Antonio Gramsci We live through transitional times. Transition from an era of growth to economic contraction. From a stable climate to something utterly different and chaotic. From […]
Is There an Off-Ramp for Civilization?
Is There an Off-Ramp for Civilization? Our high-tech civilization is like an ageing man in full denial of his mortality. It is eating his children just to live a day longer, rather than admitting that its craving for immortality is founded on nothing more than magical thinking. In its firm belief that technology can save […]
It Sucks Being Stuck in a Failing Civilization
It Sucks Being Stuck in a Failing Civilization Photo by Conor Samuel on Unsplash Industrial civilization is slowly failing and it kind a sucks being stuck with it. Over the past couple of weeks and months I’ve been increasingly posting about the failure of western civilization, but let’s not forget that the West is but a part of […]
An Empire of Denial
An Empire of Denial Is there a rise from the dead? Despite claims to the contrary, we still live in an age of empires. The only difference this time is that the one dominating this planet is in full denial of this fact. No empire can avoid its fate however, and this one is of […]
Dusk of a Global Empire
Dusk of a Global Empire The slow passing of a global hegemon, the Empire of all empires, made me ponder how it will pass to the pages of history books. Apparently, its ruling elite has chosen a strategy called spite: knowingly (or unknowingly) hurting their own self interest, hoping that their enemies will be hurt […]
Europe Is Being Deindustrialized With a Purpose
Europe Is Being Deindustrialized With a Purpose Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash The sun is shining, birds are singing and natural gas demand destruction goes on unabated in the EU. One might ask here: why have TTF gas prices fallen below 70 Eur/MWh (1) actually to even lower levels than in Asia? Mainstream media tries to spin the story that […]
Renewables Are Slowly Approaching Diminishing Returns
Renewables Are Slowly Approaching Diminishing Returns Photo by Ryan Grice on Unsplash Once a source of hope for maintaining our modern lifestyle, renewables are close to hit diminishing returns (i.e.: providing less and less benefit to society with every addition of a new solar panel or wind turbine). For the record: fossil fuels have long passed the same […]
