'Going Green' - 'Transitioning' - 'Banning'

Are covers for 'we are running out of affordable energy'

DelusiSTANI artist’s depiction of the future:

New Zealand, when faced with collapsing gas production explained this away by ‘banning all oil and gas exploration’ as the country transitioned off of fossil fuels. The thing is… this was bullshit… it’s kinda like a fat, bald 70 year old telling you that he could bang supermodels if he wanted, but he prefers not to.

Germany banned nuclear power citing a green transition as well as safety concerns following the Fukashima incident. The thing is … France continues to operate 56 power plants with many locate on the border with Germany. The real reason for decomissioning their power plants is due to a deficit of uranium required to fuel them.

Britain proclaimed a net zero policy and promised to ban all ICE autos by 2030. The thing is…

Fast Eddy’s depiction of the near future:

Would Anyone Want To Live Sustainably?

So how do any of us live sustainably? We’d have to move to the middle of a huge old growth forest, abandon all modern conveniences (including clothes), build makeshift shelters from pieces of trees and bushes we can find in the forest, eating gathered weeds and trapped creatures, shitting in the forest and drinking dew. On top of that, we’d have to move around from time to time to avoid being seen, especially by law or council officers, since we’re almost certainly breaking national or local laws and not paying land taxes. A New Zealand father and his three children hid for nearly four years in the bush but had a fair amount of modern equipment, including a quad bike and guns, as well as robbing shops; he still got caught eventually. But that is a long way from a sustainable life.

We have well over 8 billion people on this planet. All ecosystems have been perturbed and wildlife has been hugely depleted by over 70% in just the last half century. Deforestation continues apace at almost 5 million hectares per year. So, it’s impossible for all humans to live sustainably right now. If a few chose, and succeeded, to live sustainably, it would have no measurable effect on the planet.

Modernity requires environmental degradation, it can’t be avoided if modernity is desired. So a true environmentalist would need to eschew modern living entirely.

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Beyond Stupid

We have anacquaintance who purchased a Tesla 4 years ago for around AUD70,000. She is aware that the resale value of Tesla vehicles (and EVs in general) is far lower than that of an ICE vehicle. She acknowledges that her 70k car is worth far less - as in not even half - the amount owing on her outstanding car loan of 55k+.

When I asked her if she’d buy another Tesla she giddily responded with “yes of course. I love Tesla.”

Given I know that she is stretched paying for her current Tesla, she won’t be able to afford another one anytime soon because that would mean paying two car loans. I wonder how much she’ll love Tesla as the battery degrades and she has to find a charger every 100kms… I wonder how much she’ll love her Tesla when she gets a quote for a battery replacement that is many times the resale value of the car.

You cannot make this up.

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More thermodynamic drag

Even net zero is opening up new targets for criminal gangs

In a previous article I discussed the problem of thermodynamic drag in our built environment. Put simply, this was about the energy cost of merely standing still. While we treat our built environment – and especially our critical infrastructure – as permanent, in fact it is constantly in need of maintenance and preservation… a process which, over time, requires ever more energy (both direct and embodied). In this sense it is an economic version of the Second Law of Thermodynamics – that things go from order to disorder… or, in this case, things break down.

But it is not just maintenance and restoration that apply thermodynamic drag in an economy which is increasingly failing. In a depressed economy, the impact of crime must also be factored in, Because the things we rely on most are often the things with the highest price tag. Consider something as ubiquitous as metal.

Here in Cardiff, adding to the perennial pothole problem is a big increase in the theft of drain and manhole covers, endangering pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles… a problem common in towns and cities across the UK. Indeed, metal of any kind is now a target for thieves as the prices paid by unlicenced scrap dealers are enticingly high. As the British Metals Recycling Association report: More

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The Gravity of the Situation

Why Lower Oil Prices Won’t Put Us On The Right Track

The Power-to-Weight Crisis

If you listen to the financial news, the global economy is treated like a motorcycle. It is assumed to be light, agile, and responsive. The logic follows that if the fuel price drops, we can simply drive faster.

This makes a fatal category error. It assumes the vehicle hasn’t changed.

In 1950, the global economy was indeed a motorcycle. It was lightweight and powered by high-octane conventional crude (with an Energy Return on Energy Invested, or ERoEI, of 100:1). It had a massive surplus of power relative to its weight.

By 2025, the economy has calcified. It is no longer a motorcycle; it has become a Leviathan on rails.

In 2014, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) commissioned a report on the ‘ERoEI of Global Energy Resources’ (Report 60999).

The findings were stark. The authors (led by Dr. Charles Hall) warned that as the Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) of our fuel supply drops, society is forced to divert capital from growing the economy to merely feeding the engine. The report uses the term EROI, but that’s just a matter of convention.

“Declining EROI, at the societal level, means that an increasing proportion of energy output is diverted to attaining the energy needed to run an economy, leaving less discretionary funds available for ‘non-essential’ purchases which often drive growth.” — DFID Report 60999 (2014)

They explicitly warned of “unforeseen consequences”. Ten years later, we are living in them: persistent inflation, crumbling public services, and a cost-of-living crisis. The government had the physics manual in 2014. They chose to ignore it because it contradicted their economic ideology.

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What Few Understand About Money

Understanding Deglobalization: The Role of Diesel and Jet Fuel

The age of slop

And finally, MEGA-SCHAD

Dr. Andrew Burton DeAtkine of Mountain Brook, Alabama, passed away suddenly in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday, January 31, 2026. He was 31 years old. He was in his 4th year of Otolaryngology (ENT) residency at the University of South Florida when he passed away. A man of diverse interests, Andrew loved skateboarding, drawing, all types and genres of music, and played the guitar exceptionally well. No cause of death reported.