Gail Tverberg again on the damp, fossil-hydrocarbon-dependent squib that is 'renewable' energy. Head Archived Message Posted by Rhisiart Gwilym on November 19, 2019, 9:16 am out of arse time for all realists on this topic. The overall topic of energy use turns out to be less simplistic than we've been encouraged to believe. But one thing seems ever clearer: the route to less climate-destabilising emissions looks like being - in actual practice - widespread collapses of economic activity due to the mismatch between increasing costs of energy production and chronically low prices. This is the default prospect, assuming that collectively we - hom sap - are not going to get our global act together to do an actually-effective, voluntary reduction in emissions; an assumption that would get you odds-on bet prices from me. Note too the implied zero-sum game implied by the charts Gail provides: use is climbing in the 'non-West' countries, whilst absolute supply looks determined to pause or even fall because of the price bind from which it can't escape (as overall global mean EROEI - qv! - declines irreversibly). Thus the newly-prospering countries can only continue on their - idiotic - growth path by leaching energy use away from the already over-developed countries. The Synergising Global Crises will have the last word on this conundrum: https://ourfiniteworld.com/2019/11/14/do-the-worlds-energy-policies-make-sense/ Message Thread: Gail Tverberg again on the damp, fossil-hydrocarbon-dependent squib that is 'renewable' energy. Head - Rhisiart Gwilym November 19, 2019, 9:16 am I suppose I needed a cold shower this morning - Tomski November 19, 2019, 10:29 am   Searching