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Recent Posts
- Fossil Fuel Imports Are Already Constrained
- Our Oil Predicament Explained: Heavy Oil and the Diesel Fuel it Provides Are Key
- The World Economy Is Becoming Unglued; Models Miss Real-World Behavior
- Models Hide the Shortcomings of Wind and Solar
- The bumpy road ahead for the world economy
- The Fed Cannot Fix Today’s Energy Inflation Problem
- When the Economy Gets Squeezed by Too Little Energy
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Academic Articles
- An analysis of China's coal supply and its impact on China's future economic growth
- An Oil Production Forecast for China Considering Economic Limits
- Analysis of resource potential for China's unconventional gas and forecast for its long-term production growth
- China's unconventional oil: A review of its resources and outlook for long-term production
- Financial Issues Affecting Energy Security
- Oil Supply Limits and the Continuing Financial Crisis
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Category Archives: Alternatives to Oil
Models Hide the Shortcomings of Wind and Solar
A major reason for the growth in the use of renewable energy is the fact that if a person looks at them narrowly enough–such as by using a model–wind and solar look to be useful. They don’t burn fossil fuels, so it appears that they might be helpful to the environment.
As I analyze the situation, I have reached the conclusion that energy modeling misses important points. I believe that profitability signals are much more important. In this post, I discuss some associated issues. Continue reading
Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Financial Implications
Tagged energy profitability, EROEI, EROI, government debt
3,344 Comments
The economy is moving from a tailwind pushing it along to a headwind holding it back
When the Crisis Stage occurs, there are fewer goods and service per capita to go around, so some members of the world economy must come out behind. Conflict of all kinds becomes more likely. Political leaders, if they happen to discover the predicament the world economy is in, have little interest in making the predicament known to voters, since doing so would likely lead them to lose the next election.
Instead, the way the physics-based self-organizing economic system works is that alternative narratives that frame the situation in a less frightening way gain popularity. Political leaders may not even be aware of how dependent today’s economy is on fossil fuels. Researchers may not be aware that their “scientific” models are misleading because they look at too small a portion of the overall system and make unwarranted assumptions. Continue reading
How Renewable Energy Models Can Produce Misleading Indications
The energy needs of the world’s economy seem to be easy to model. Energy consumption is measured in a variety of different ways including kilowatt hours, barrels of oil equivalent, British thermal units, kilocalories and joules. Two types of energy … Continue reading
Understanding Why the Green New Deal Won’t Really Work
The reasons why the Green New Deal won’t really work are fairly subtle. A person really has to look into the details to see what goes wrong. In this post, I try to explain at least a few of the … Continue reading
Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Financial Implications
Tagged battery back-up, California electricity, EROEI
1,326 Comments
Eight Pitfalls in Evaluating Green Energy Solutions
Does the recent climate accord between US and China mean that many countries will now forge ahead with renewables and other green solutions? I think that there are more pitfalls than many realize. Pitfall 1. Green solutions tend to push … Continue reading
Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Energy policy, Financial Implications
Tagged electric grid, EROEI, green energy, oil prices, renewables, solar PV, wind energy
1,278 Comments