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Tag Archives: Alice Friedemann
Book review of Jaczko’s “Confessions of a rogue nuclear regulator”
Book review of Jaczko’s “Confessions of a rogue nuclear regulator” Preface. After presenting a lot of evidence for why nuclear power plants are inherently unsafe, Jaczko concludes: “There is only one logical answer: we must stop generating nuclear waste, and that means we must stop using nuclear power. You would think that it would make […]
45 Reasons why wind power can not replace fossil fuels
45 Reasons why wind power can not replace fossil fuels Source: Leonard, T. 2012. Broken down and rusting, is this the future of Britain’s ‘wind rush’? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116877/Is-future-Britains-wind-rush.html Preface. Electricity simply doesn’t substitute for all the uses of fossil fuels, so windmills will never be able to reproduce themselves from the energy they generate — they […]
Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible
Utility scale energy storage has a long way to go to make renewables possible What follows comes from my book “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation” , which is also where you’ll find the references backing up what I’ve written below. I often get letters from people about energy breakthroughs in biofuels, solar, […]
Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth
Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth Preface. Some of the points I found most alarming or interesting: After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth. Concrete is a thirsty behemoth, sucking up almost a 10th of the world’s industrial water use. This often strains supplies for drinking and irrigation If the […]
Part 2. How long do civilizations last on average? 336 years
Part 2. How long do civilizations last on average? 336 years I stopped trying to find out why each civilization failed in Wiki because it’s not always clear and historians bicker over it, though it’s clear drought, invasions, civil wars, and famines played a role in most of them. Yet what’s seldom mentioned is that […]
Hydropower dams and the ways they destroy the environment
Hydropower dams and the ways they destroy the environment Preface. Hydropower comprises 71% of renewable energy worldwide. Nations like the U.S. and Europe have dams that have reached the end of their lifespan, so more are being torn down than built. In the U.S. 546 dams were removed between 2006 and 2014. This contains excerpts […]
Book review of Wrigley’s “Energy and the English Industrial revolution”
Book review of Wrigley’s “Energy and the English Industrial revolution” Preface. I’ve made a strong case in my book “When trucks stop running” and this energyskeptic website that we will eventually return to wood and a 14th century lifestyle after fossil fuels are depleted. So if you’re curious about what that lifestyle will be like, and […]
Book review of Heinberg’s “Afterburn: society beyond fossil fuels”
Book review of Heinberg’s “Afterburn: society beyond fossil fuels” Preface. This book has 15 essays Heinberg wrote from 2011 to 2014, many of them available for free online. These are some of my Kindle notes of parts that interested me, so to you it will be disjointed and perhaps not what you would have chosen as […]
Why and how Jellyfish are taking over the world
Why and how Jellyfish are taking over the world Preface. The more climate change kicks in, the more we over-fish, pollute, acidify and warm the ocean, create vast dead zones, and trawl ocean bottoms, the better the jellyfish do. It is quite possible that the ocean ecosystem will shift to favor jellyfish over other sea life. […]
IEA 2018 World Energy Outlook: Peak oil is here, oil crunch by 2023
IEA 2018 World Energy Outlook: Peak oil is here, oil crunch by 2023 Preface. I’ve been working on a post about the latest IEA 2018 World Energy Outlook report, but the excerpts from the cleantechnica article below states most clearly why there is likely to be a supply crunch as soon as the early 2020s […]
Pedro Prieto: many solar panels won’t last 25-30 years, EROI may be negative
Pedro Prieto: many solar panels won’t last 25-30 years, EROI may be negative Preface. Pedro Prieto and Charles Hall wrote the definitive book on the EROI of solar power, “Spain’s Photovoltaic Revolution. The Energy Return on Investment” and has built many commercial facilities himself and witnessed the failure of solar panels long before the supposed 25-30 […]
The U.S. Military on Peak Oil and Climate Change
The U.S. Military on Peak Oil and Climate Change Preface. I find that of all the government branches, the military is the most realistic about the implications of Peak Oil and Climate Change. The Department of Defense is also the largest consumer of energy in the federal government, spending about $20 billion on energy in […]
Challenges to the Integration of Renewable Resources at High System Penetration
Challenges to the Integration of Renewable Resources at High System Penetration Preface. This overview of challenges for wind and solar written in 2010 is still true today. We are far from being able to reach even a 50% renewable grid (excluding hydropower from the total) given the lack of storage, the problem that the best […]
The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks
The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks Preface. I’m fascinated by system risks, so I’ve included this, though there’s no awareness at all of peak oil or limits to growth or that energy, not money, is the basis of civilization and foundation of every single widget made and transported. But since the next economic […]
