Dave Stagner
Climate/futurism writer who debunks myths about rare earths and batteries; explains LFP vs NMC/cobalt trade-offs, substitution risks, and materials economics in the energy transition.
Platforms Lock Transcripts, Creating Artificial Data Silos
YouTube makes it effectively impossible to copy or download transcripts for videos, and Apple Podcasts limits how much of a transcript can be copied. I was trying to load a transcript into Claude, getting frustrated with it, and remarked to Claude “We live in a world of artificial data silos”. Claude replied “Preaching to the choir”.
Oil Shortage Pushed Japan Toward Dutch East Indies Invasion
“…if we cut off Japanese supplies of oil…and she cannot obtain sufficient oil from other commercial sources to ensure her national security, she will probably send her fleet down to take the Dutch East Indies.” - Ambassador Joseph C. Grew, May...
Solar Feasibility Depends on Primary vs Final Energy
There’s a lot of “can’t” around renewable energy. I’m here to put some of that into perspective. Global primary energy consumption is around 190,000TWh, maybe a little less. But that’s primary energy, not final energy. What would it look like if...
AI Turns Knowledge Work Into Mass‑Produced Synthetic Labor
AI is synthetic labor. It gives us the ability to mass-produce knowledge labor itself. And accelerate it. The implications are incredible and terrifying.
Renewables as National Sovereignty: Democrats Must Embrace
I’ve been arguing for a while now that the non-petrostates will shift hard to renewable energy, in the interest of national sovereignty. I think it’s time the Democrats start making the same argument. When is the last time we were in...
Iran Shifts Oil Payments to Yuan, Undermining Dollar Dominance
Iran has stated it will allow tankers through the Strait of Hormuz - but only for shipments paid for in Chinese yuan rather than US dollars. The dollar is THE standard currency of the fossil fuel trade. Iran didn’t just announce...
Trump and Israel Inadvertently Empower Iran
Required reading. Trump and Israel, in their infinite militant wisdom, have put Iran in a stronger position now than they were when the “combat operations” (can’t say “war”) started.
Minnesota's Fuel Dollars Exit State, No Local Wells
There is not a single active oil or gas well in Minnesota. Every dime we spend on fuel is money leaving our state.
Global CO2 Levels Set to Flatten, Then Decline
I expect we will see similar results worldwide soon, country by country. A flattening of CO2, followed by a decline, as renewables replace coal and gas, and EVs displace gasoline/diesel.