The World in 2018 – Part Four
In the modern world, our perceptions of reality are largely shaped by economic and financial considerations, and our policy conversations are largely built around intellectual categories and evaluative...
View ArticleOne Point Twenty-One Jigawatts (Episode 3 of Crazy Town)
What would we do without energy? The short answer is, “Nothing, absolutely nothing.” And sadly, most people know next to nothing about energy and its fundamental role in society and life itself.
View ArticleEnergy Basics: What is Energy?
If you have found yourself occasionally challenged to follow some of the more technical conversations we have here, or even if you just want to brush up on the fundamentals, this mini-series is for you!
View ArticleTextbook Tour: Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet
In this post, I take a bit more time to introduce new elements in the book that Do the Math readers have not seen represented in some form in earlier posts. In other words: what new insights or...
View ArticleReview: The Economic Superorganism by Carey W. King
In this aptly titled book, University of Texas research scientist Carey W. King argues that the modern-day global economy is a superorganism.
View ArticleStar Parasites: Carbon-Based Life and the Future of the Universe
Nowadays, we are obsessed with the idea that we need to “produce energy.” That is, of course, a wrong way to express the concept.
View ArticleFive energy surprises for 2015: The possible and the improbable
There is an outside chance that one or more will occur, and this would move markets and policy debates in unexpected directions.
View ArticleThe Science of Peak Oil
One of the many barbs often pointed at peak oil proponents is that they are constantly shifting the goal posts. Peak oilers are accused of changing the definition of what peak oil actually means,...
View ArticleAmazing New Energy Source: Introducing TREES
Scientists at the Climate/Energy Design and Research institute (CEDAR) have just announced the discovery of an astounding new energy source that promises to solve several of humanity’s thorniest...
View Article‘Are we there yet?’ The uncertain road to the twenty-first century.
A constellation of new technologies changed our ancestors’ lives 100 years ago, and haven’t changed fundamentally since then. Will these technologies remain possible for the next 100 years? An extended...
View ArticleThe uncertain future of industrial process heat: A mirror for our energy...
Almost everything we use is at some point processed using heat. Where that heat will come from in the future poses problems in a world depleting its fossil fuels and focusing on addressing climate change.
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