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Author Archives: Gail Tverberg
How the World’s Energy Problem Has Been Hidden
We now live in a strange world filled with half-truths, not too different from the world of the 1930s. US newspapers leave out the many stories that could be written about rising food insecurity around the world, and even in the US. We see more reports of conflicts among countries and increasing gaps between the rich and the poor, but no one explains that such changes are to be expected when energy consumption per capita starts falling too low. Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications
Tagged high oil prices, low oil prices, media reporting, water scarcity
1,887 Comments
We can’t expect COVID-19 to go away; we should plan accordingly
To a significant extent, what we can and should do in the future is an energy issue. If we plan to transition to a green energy future, or if we simply plan to reduce usage of fossil fuels in future years, we probably need to scale back our plans for vaccines. In fact, any treatment that would be given in today’s emergency rooms is likely to become less and less possible as energy supplies deplete.
We will need to focus more on what our bodies can do for us, and what we can do to assist them in this effort. We also need to think about what simple changes to our environment (such as windows that open) can do for the prevention of both COVID-19 and the many other communicable diseases that we can expect to encounter in the future. The big issue will be changing expectations. Continue reading
Headed for a Collapsing Debt Bubble
The economy runs on energy, far more than it operates on growing debt. Our energy problems don’t appear to be fixable in the near term, such as six months or a year. Instead, the economy seems to be headed for a collapse of its debt bubble. Eventually, we may see a reset of the world financial system leading to fewer interchangeable currencies, far less international trade and falling production of goods and services. Some governments may collapse. Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications
3,106 Comments
Why Collapse Occurs; Why It May Not Be Far Away
Collapse doesn’t happen instantaneously; it happens many years after an economy first begins outgrowing its resource base. In fact, the resource base likely declines at the same time from multiple causes such as soil erosion, deforestation and oil depletion. Before collapse occurs, there seem to be warning signs. Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications
3,333 Comments
Where Energy Modeling Goes Wrong
There are a huge number of people doing energy modeling. In my opinion, nearly all of them are going astray in their modeling because they don’t understand how the economy really operates. The modeling that comes closest to being correct … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications
Tagged complexity, diminishing returns, EROEI, oil price, peak oil
3,331 Comments
