Mining, transportation and renewable energy are all connected in a way. Some of these materials are scarce on earth and they have only patient curves so you can obtain a given trade. Even the non-rare ones like copper will have their own depletion curves and it will take more energy to get them. The late Albert Bartlett said that the greatest inability of humans was to understand the exponential function. And I think this is a quite serious concern right now.
On this episode, physicist Antonio Turiel joins me for a wide-ranging discussion from oceans and climate to energy and culture. Oceans are one of the most important factors regulating the Earth’s climate, and yet they receive relatively little attention from the climate community. There are numerous critical risk factors to unpack regarding just the oceans alone - and still so much that we don’t know. This conversation also delves into the complexity of an economic system requiring continuous growth itself embedded in an Earth system that is already hitting its limits. What are the boundaries of our energy systems and what options do we have - and not have - for the future? Is the root of the critical issue we’re facing - not a technical problem - but a cultural problem?
About Antonio Turiel:
Antonio Turiel Martínez is a scientist and activist with a degree in Physics and Mathematics and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He works as a senior scientist at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CSIC specializing in remote sensing, turbulence, sea surface salinity, water cycle, sea surface temperature, sea surface currents, and chlorophyll concentration. He has written more than 80 scientific articles, but he is better known as an online activist and editor of The Oil Crash blog, where he addresses sensitive issues about the depletion of conventional fossil fuel resources, such as the peak of oil and its possible implications on a world scale.
To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/n1fIkS4y798
Show Notes & Links to Learn More: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/65-antonio-turiel