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Ramping up wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles can’t solve our energy problem
Ramping up wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles can’t solve our energy problem Many people believe that installing more wind turbines and solar panels and manufacturing more electric vehicles can solve our energy problem, but I don’t agree with them. These devices, plus the batteries, charging stations, transmission lines and many other structures necessary […]
Save Earth Get Rich
Save Earth Get Rich Henri Matisse Flowers 1907I sometimes can’t believe I think I must revisit this theme time and again, but here we are. Joe Biden is chairing a virtual climate plan/summit/whatever, and absolutely nothing has changed since the last time I tried to explain why it is nonsense, or all the other times before that. […]
Heal the Planet for Profit – Redux
Heal the Planet for Profit – Redux Giorgione The Tempest 1508“Mankind’s only chance to not destroy its planet lies in diverging from all other species in that not all energy available to it, is used up as fast as possible. But that’s a big challenge. It would, speaking from a purely philosophical angle, truly separate us from […]
Energy vs DNA
Energy vs DNA Hmm, energy. Is it a good idea I be drawn back into the subject? We used to do so much on the topic, Nicole Foss and I, in the first years of The Automatic Earth, and before that at the brilliant Oil Drum, where we had all those equally brilliant oil professionals […]
Renewables Are Dead
Renewables Are Dead If I’ve said once that those among us who tout renewable energy should pay more attention to the 2nd law of Thermodynamics, I must have said it a hundred times. But I hardly ever get the impression that people understand why. And it seems so obvious. A quote I often use from […]
The Real New Deal
The Real New Deal While we’re on the issue of the Green New Deal, here’s an article by Dr. D. with an intro by Dr. D., one he sent me in the mail that contained the actual article, and that I think shouldn’t go to waste. I hope he agrees. Waste being the key term […]
Why The Coming Oil Crunch Will Shock The World
Anton Balazh/Shutterstock Why The Coming Oil Crunch Will Shock The World And why we need a new energy strategy — fast. My years working in corporate strategy taught me that every strategic framework, no matter how complex (some I worked on were hundreds of pages long), boils down to just two things: Where do you […]
Chaz Peling: Backup Power Solutions
Chaz Peling: Backup Power Solutions Be prepared if the lights suddenly go out Over the past month, the Americas have sustained extensive damage from 3 major Atlantic hurricanes and 2 major earthquakes in Mexico. In terms of destroyed houses and businesses, ruined cars, and lost lives, it has been an extremely costly couple of weeks. […]
The Dynamics of Depletion
The Dynamics of Depletion Paul Klee Ghost of a Genius 1922The Automatic Earth has written many articles on the topic of EROEI (Energy Return on Energy Invested) through the years, there’s a whole chapter on it in the Automatic Earth Primer Guide 2017 that Nicole assembled recently, which contains 17 different articles. Still, since EROEI […]
Heal the Planet for Profit
Heal the Planet for Profit Parisians duck down to evade German sniper fire following Nazi surrender of Paris, 1945If you ever wondered what the odds are of mankind surviving, let alone ‘defeating’, climate change, look no further than the essay the Guardian published this week, written by Michael Bloomberg and Mark Carney. It proves beyond a […]
Solar on the roof taxed as income
Solar on the roof taxed as income But the cost of a solar system can be written off over a period of years The solar panels on Mike Brigham’s roof in Toronto allow him to sell power back to the grid. He says solar provides power when Ontario most needs it — when the sun […]
Clean Energy Finance Corporation: Tony Abbott defends decision to axe wind, solar from renewables spending
Clean Energy Finance Corporation: Tony Abbott defends decision to axe wind, solar from renewables spending Prime Minister Tony Abbott says it is “no secret” he wants the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) abolished, but while it is still in place it should be as useful as possible. The Opposition and the Greens have […]
2014 biggest year ever for solar, but oil price threat looms
2014 biggest year ever for solar, but oil price threat looms In 2014, record low prices for solar panels fueled a solar boom. The U.S. alone installed 30% more solar photovoltaic capacity than in 2013, making last year the biggest ever for solar PV, according to the 2014 Year-in-Review Solar Market Insight report from GTM Research and the […]



