Author: Ronald Stein, P.E.

The transformation to a fossil-fuel-free, all-electric economy would take the world back to living conditions in the 1800’s by ridding the world of crude oil, coal and natural gas usage and result in: * The pre-1800’s, when the world had no fuels other than wood, dung, and crop waste, and used animals for transport. * A food crisis in which billions will die. Fossil fuels are used to plant, harvest, process, refrigerate, deliver, and cook food for most of the 8 billion people living on earth. And for the plastic to keep it safe and fresh a lot longer. *…

Worldwide crude oil consumption is currently estimated at roughly 96.5 million barrels per day. According to OPEC, global demand is expected to reach 109 million barrels per day. Estimations vary slightly from other sources as well, but it is predicted that – if demand forecasts hold – we may run out of global oil from known reserves in about 50 years. To put it in layman’s terms, 100 million barrels of oil is more than 4 BILLION gallons of crude oil being sucked out of the earth EVERY DAY. How long can those withdrawals take before the wells run dry? Today’s…

World leaders continue experiencing a “dangerous delusion” of a global transition to “just electricity” that they believe will eliminate the use of the crude oil that made society achieve so much in a few centuries. Crude oil is the basis of our materialistic society, as discussed in an educational and entertaining 27-minute podcast interview between Ronald Stein and Armando Cavanha in Brazil. All the components and equipment for generating electricity by wind, solar, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydro are all made from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil! It’s shocking that the public has bought into the current…

Over the last 200 years when the world populated from 1 to 8 billion, we learned that crude oil is virtually useless, unless it’s manufactured (refineries) into oil derivatives that are the basis of the fuels to move the heavy-weight and long-range needs of more than 50,000 jets moving people and products, and more than 50,000 merchant ships for global trade flows, and the military and space programs. Today, chemical products, such as plastics, solvents, and fertilizers, are inclusive of the more than 6,000 products based on oil that are essential for supporting modern lifestyles. Recognizing that eradicating the world…

by Ronald Stein Ronald Stein is an engineer, senior policy advisor on energy literacy for Heartland, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations.” The UAW strike that began September 15th by 146,000 UAW union members seeking a 46 percent pay raise, and a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, and restoration of traditional pensions, will most likely have one of two outcomes, both of which may perpetuate the death spiral for the automobile industry. 1. Increased cost of American manufacturing which will further increase the cost of EV’s that are already unaffordable to most, and/or,…

With new EV inventories beginning to increase on dealer lots, the auto industry has many challenges such as locating the buyers that may have serious concerns about a wide range of issues related to EVs including: 1) driving range, 2) vehicle reliability, 3) price, 4) the availability of electricity for the buildout of the charging infrastructure, 5) charging time, 6) the cost and lifespan of batteries and their environmental impact, 7) the actual impact EVs will have on reducing carbon emissions, 8) the growing statistics about uncontrollable fires of lithium batteries in EV’s, 9) problems with battery recycling and end-of-life…

Global cobalt demand soared with the advent of cell phones and laptop computers. Cobalt improves battery performance, extends driving range, and reduces fire risks. Now, cobalt, lithium, and other materials are exploding with the arrival of electric vehicles in tandem with government EV mandates and subsidies. All that electrical transformation equipment will require billions of tons of cobalt, lithium, copper, nickel, graphite, iron, aluminum, rare earths, and other raw materials at scales unprecedented in human history. That will necessitate mining, ore processing, manufacturing, land disruption, and pollution at equally unprecedented levels. The Administration is laser-focused on ending the “climate crisis” by…

Wind turbines and solar panels that can generate electricity intermittently, are themselves totally dependent on fossil fuels for all their components. Renewables offer NO energy independence, as America has never imported electricity from foreign countries. Wind and solar just generate intermittent electricity. Further, the raw materials that are essential for building EV batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels, are increasingly dependent on the supply chain of exotic minerals and metals being mined in developing countries with miniscule labor or environmental regulations. For those that set written policies and regulations, they seem to just follow the personal passions of leaders like…

As ESG enthusiasts know, wind and solar manufacture nothing for the eight billion on this planet as they can only generate intermittent electricity from unreliable breezes and sunshine.

Two of the greatest inventions of all time are the incandescent light bulb and the telephone. Both the light bulb and the telephone inventions came AFTER oil as all the parts of both are made with the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil. Today the international community of the few wealthy countries is delusionally obsessed with the energy conundrum idea that electricity generated by wind turbines and solar panels can rid the world of its dependency on fossil fuels. Today, none of the ruling class recognizes that everything that needs electricity is made from oil. An exercise for the ruling…