Svenergy
This is a moderately curated list of resources concerning energetic aspects of our predicament
Questions? Answers
Papers
- Taylor 2016 - This is a very good summary of the Population-Energy-Complexity-Nexus that defines modern society. If you can internalize the thinking that this paper is based on, you have a good understanding of the predicament and why there are no solutions within the progress narrative. If you read one paper from this list make it this one, even if it's a bit long.
- Babacan 2020 - I am a co-author on this paper. It deals with the energetic requirements of different negative emissions technologies (NET). It is another (failed?) attempt at generating one single indicator to describe and compare a variety of different systems. Today I probably wouldn't write that paper, but if you know the caveats, which are discussed to some extent, it contains a lot of valuable comparisons and clearly establishes that NET's will remain in the wishful thinking realm.
- Lambert 2013 - Similar to the Taylor paper but a bit more data heavy. Nicely shows how shit starts to hit the fan below societal EROI of 10.
- Dupont 2021, Capellán-Pérez 2019 - I link these two papers because they give a clue where we currently are in terms of societal EROI (8ish) and where we might be going if we were to try the renewable energy road-map (EROI < 3). Of course, society would have collapsed before we reach 3.
- Rees 2020 - If EROI considerations are too abstract for you, fear not, this paper is just a full frontal attack on technical aspects of green new deal scenarios. It's maybe a bit fringe, sloppy and a bit US-centric ... but I like the verve ;). The backlash this paper received is impressive. Is the paper utter rubbish or did it hit where it hurt? You decide.
Blogs,Videos and Webpages
- "There is no tomorrow" - This is a nice Youtube video covering the basics of the predicament. It's a bit dated, but that makes it more poignant, since so many aspects are now more real.
- Humanity: The Final Chapter and How to enjoy the end of the world - Two talks by Sid Smith, both good.
- Arithmetic, Population and Energy - A talk by Al Bartlett. This is a really good exploration of the exponential function and what it means for society.
- Paul Kingsnorth - Docu - I think Paul Kingsnorth makes many valuable observations. Unfortunately we can't all become recluse writers in the irish countryside.
- Post doom - The Blog by Michael Dowd. Its pretty good, so good that there is no added benefit in me making another one. He has a whole range of good videos he made himself that are worthwhile, a good set of other resources and the conversations are a who-is-who of the field. The only criticism I hold, is that he puts our collapse into a continous line with previous ones, suggesting that it will be the same story more or less. It will not.
- Our finite World - Gail Tverbergs Blog. It's always encouraging when a person that is not a scientist get's it. She get's it. The only problem perhaps is that she is too prolific. She writes so much, that it can be difficult to find the most important posts. But almost all are good.
- Climate change tracking worst-case scenario - Peter Carter is a fromer IPCC guy. I'm not a fan of IPCC's methods, systems of thought, publications etc. But if you still give them credit, Peter Carter does a good run down of where we are within that framework of thought.
Books, Reports and Secondary Literature
- Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet - This is a great textbook on the biophysics of our predicament. It's the first textbook I know, that sorts basic science around the nature of our predicament. Its great, you now get all the science you need to understand what we are facing in just one textbook instead of one on Physics, Chemistry, Thermodynamics, Biology, Ecology etc... Plus its open source!
- Food, Energy, and Society - This book focuses a bit more on the Food and Energy connection throughout human history than other stuff I have linked. It is somewhat dated and has substantial mistakes. I recommend it nevertheless because the thinking is good and the overall conclusions valid. Just don't go out and quote the numbers.
- Drilling Down - This book, written by Tainter and Patzek, explores the reasons behind the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, putting it into the context of energy and complexity. Perhaps oil platforms exploding in the gulf and covering ecosystems in million barrels of crude passes as a wednesday these days. Nevertheless the exploration of general principles of energy availability and complexity via a concrete example is an appealing aproach.
- What lies beneath - A report that goes into some of the mechanisms that lead to a culture of failure and scientific reticence within academia and connected policy. Its a long read but if you start suspecting science is the problem, here are some clues how people with the best intentions end up paving the other way.
- Overshoot - An absolute classic written by W. R. Catton back in 1982. Just in case you though we didn't know all along. I would link to the club of rome too, but I'm sure you heard of them already.
- Sustainable Energy - without hot air I have skimmed the book after having heard good things about it. Perhaps somewhat UK centric but looks solid.
- Degrowth - A Vocabulary for a New Era - This is one of those books that come out of academia with many authors that contribute chapters. Not something one should read cover to cover but perhaps a good starting point for your own research into that field.