Category Archives: Alternatives to Oil

Obstacles Facing US Wind Energy

Posted on January 4, 2012 by

In the United States, we have been working on scaling up wind energy but not getting very far. In 2010, wind energy supplied only 2.3% of electricity purchased. Such slow progress seems strange for a product that seems to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil | Tagged , , | 81 Comments

Will plug-in automobiles be a success?

Posted on September 7, 2011 by

Will plug-in cars be a success? If by success, we mean “sell lots of vehicles” the answer is probably “no” unless the price comes down a lot–say 50% from today’s prices, so that price is in line with what common … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Energy policy | Tagged , , , | 75 Comments

Natural Gas: The Squeeze at the Bottom of the Resource Triangle

Posted on August 28, 2011 by

Theoretically, we have a very large amount of resources of many kinds available–oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, gold, fresh water. There is a relatively small amount of high quality, inexpensive-to-extract resources, and we tend to extract those first. From there, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil | Tagged , | 20 Comments

Uranium supply update

Posted on July 5, 2011 by

Will uranium supply be adequate for planned nuclear electricity? This question has seen sharply differing views. The purpose of this post is to give an update, showing where we are now. The supply situation is recently looking better, partly because of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil | Tagged , , , | 30 Comments

Is loss of electricity a risk for spent nuclear fuel?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by

The usual plan for spent nuclear fuel in the United States is to transfer it to a cooling pool and then after some time to transfer it to dry cask storage.  Eventually, the plan is to move it to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, News Related Post | Tagged , , | 25 Comments

Nuclear Options Going Forward

Posted on March 21, 2011 by

This post is being published by ASPO-USA in its newsletter today. We are at a crossroads with respect to nuclear energy, having discovered a new way (or several new ways) that nuclear plants can fail. How do we deal with … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, News Related Post | Tagged , | 12 Comments

What would happen if we discontinued nuclear electricity?

Posted on March 14, 2011 by

We are very much reaching limits in the field of energy. This seems to mean that we ending up taking more and more risks, so that there is a greater risk of things going wrong. At the same time, the world’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, News Related Post | Tagged , , , | 30 Comments

Don’t count on natural gas to solve US energy problems

Posted on February 7, 2011 by

We often hear statements suggesting that by ramping up shale gas production, the US can raise total natural gas production and solve many of its energy problems, including adding quite a number of natural gas vehicles, and replacing a large … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Texas Electricity Blackouts Enabled by Feedback Loops; Reliance on Competition

Posted on February 4, 2011 by

Today, three days after the winter storm hit Texas, electrical outages are still continuing in parts of Texas. We don’t have all the answers yet, but let me tell you what I have pieced together about what has happened. One … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, News Related Post | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

How is an oil shortage like a missing cup of flour?

Posted on February 2, 2011 by

If I bake a batch of cookies and the recipe calls for two cups of flour, but I have only one, it is pretty clear that I can’t bake a full batch of cookies. All I can make is half … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Financial Implications | Tagged , | 28 Comments