Simon Michaux: "The Arcadians"
Episode 49
December 14, 2022
(Conversation Recorded on October 31, 2022.)
On this episode, mining and geology expert Simon Michaux returns to give a preliminary framework for responses to the coming energy and material constraints described in the previous episode. This includes both practical thoughts for how to organize communities around resources and also a shift in mindset from short term to long-term and from competition to cooperation. How do we simultaneously lay out all of the biophysical constraints on the table so that we can begin preparing for and adapting to a changing future?
About Simon Michaux
Dr. Simon Michaux is an Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland. He has a PhD in mining engineering. Dr. Michaux’s long-term work is on societal transformation toward a circular economy.
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
00:36 - Simon Michaux info + works + TGS Episode #19 (Simon Michaux)
03:05 - Finland committing to being fossil fuel free/carbon neutral by 2035
04:03 - 80% of Finland electricity is from non-fossil fuels, all transport is from fossil fuel
04:50 - Energy Blind
06:35 - Energy density of oil
07:38 - Massive pollution stream and deteriorating environment and huge population
08:27 - Weaponization of gas in Europe
08:55 - Natural gas used to balance the power grid
09:25 - We don’t have enough minerals to deploy electric transportation in time
11:37 - Lithium 8x what it was a few years ago
11:48 - Offsetting resource declines with debt
13:03 - Peak oil potentially in November 2018
13:16 - Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI)
14:30 - Intermittence of Renewables (Wind and solar)
18:06 - Bretton Woods
21:55 - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
25:06 - Marvin Harris, 3 levels of intervention
28:22 - Steve Keen + TGS Episode #30 (Steve Keen)
31:20 - DJ White and Nate’s book “The Bottlenecks of the 21st Century”
41:41 - Balkanization
42:48 - Contact (movie)
43:09 - Overton Window
46:30 - Enormous problems and dependence on petrochemicals in the food system
48:10 - GMOs and AI in agriculture
52:20 - Drinking water scarcity worldwide
56:25 - Sewage systems using gravity, using ponds with plants and animals to treat waste water
56:30 - Gray water and black water
57:34 - Geothermal for heating, geothermal for power
1:04:53 - We need 4.3 billion tons of copper for the first generations of renewables
1:05:23 - We are running 24 million tons of copper right now
1:05:46 - Olivia Lazard, work on geopolitics of resource scarcity
1:06:00 - Wet bulb temp
1:06:27 - Copper reserves at 880 million tons (USGS)
More:
There Are Bottlenecks in the Raw Materials Supply Chain
Answers to Hot Topics Around Simon P. Michaux’s Report
What are the Raw Materials Supply Bottlenecks to the Green Transition? The Need for a New Plan
What are the Raw Materials Supply Bottlenecks to the Green Transition? Comments and Discussion