A realistic ‘energy transition’ is to get better at using less of it
We must develop a realistic plan for energy descent, rather than clinging to naive fantasies of endless consumer abundance powered by alternatives to fossil fuels.
Renewable Energy
The oil security paradox: Every war becomes an oil crisis in a fossil-fuel economy
The war in Iran has made the paradox inescapable. The pursuit of energy security through fossil fuels produced the very disruption it was meant to prevent. Instead, the transition to renewables offers the genuine insulation that oil never can: from global price shocks, from the geopolitical risks embedded in that dependence, and from the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis.
The clean energy economy turns out to be the metals energy economy
The fossil fuel era led to widespread dependence on greenhouse gas producing nonrenewable energy sources. The emerging clean energy era is leading to widespread dependence on vast new supplies of nonrenewable metals
Turning a Pain in the [Coal] Ash into an Asset (2)
There are two basic ways of correctly dealing with coal combustion residuals (CCR) — whether existing or new. They are storing it in lined ponds, preferably as far from potable water supplies as possible, and finding a way to use it so it doesn’t need to be stored at all.
The Rising Chorus of Renewable Energy Skeptics
We are going to have to dramatically downsize the dream of a future in which we replace 150-year-old fossil fuel infrastructure with “clean energy” by 2050.
Renewables will be world’s top electricity source within three years, IEA data reveals
Renewables will cover almost all of global electricity demand growth out to 2025, becoming the world’s top source of electricity within three years, new figures reveal.
EROI of RE
Do renewable energy sources generate enough energy ‘profit’ to make them worth continued investment? And is any energy profit large enough to run our modern world, as renewables displace fossil fuels?
The Energy Transition Narrative
When I go in search of figures, numbers, data, about energy in relation to ecology and economy, I’m often brought to the website of the very same EPA whose lead scientist studying sewage sludge faked his science and unleashed a toxic torrent upon the world.
A climate love story
Let’s explore the disconnect between the dream scenario of all the energy we need from renewables vs. what happens to the ecosystem if we keep the party at full bore.
On “Renewables”
One thing is certain: “renewables” is not the generic solution.
Those who give it don’t know what the problem is.
Some inconvenient questions: An open letter
I am writing to you with the intention of raising a series of relevant questions regarding the current effort to undergo an Ecological Transition that must achieve the total decarbonization of Spain and Europe by 2050.
The jump to pumps: how Finland found an answer to heating homes
In chilly Scandinavia, Finland has shown the extraordinary potential of one of the less visible renewable energy technologies – heat pumps.
