Articles by Vaclav Smil
- Memories of Peak Oil Thursday, February 21, 2013
- Is it too much to hope that even some catastrophists and peak-oil cultists will find it impossible to ignore the latest numbers?
- Just How Polluted Is China Anyway? Thursday, January 31, 2013
- Decades ago, I wrote the first comprehensive books on China’s energy and environment. I have not been surprised by the country’s continuing environmental ...
- Jeremy Grantham, Starving for Facts Wednesday, December 5, 2012
- A column by legendary asset manager Jeremy Grantham is more suitable for the tabloids than for one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific weekly ...
- Far from Electrifying Monday, November 26, 2012
- Electric car hopes never die — but electric realities keep intervening.
- A Son of Europe Reflects on the EU’s Nobel Prize Monday, October 15, 2012
- The Nobel Committee should have named the U.S. and NATO as equal co-recipients for their role in transforming Europe ‘from a continent of war to a continent of ...
- Anticipating the World’s Most Expensive Natural Disaster Tuesday, May 29, 2012
- The next Tokyo earthquake will be the most expensive disaster in history.
- Placing the American Gas Boom in Perspective Thursday, May 3, 2012
- Natural gas will continue its conquest of global and national energy supplies.
- Obama's Indefensible Pipeline Punt Tuesday, November 15, 2011
- Obama’s delaying consideration of the Keystone XL pipeline is what is called a spherically perfect decision, because no matter from which angle you look at it, ...
- Why Jobs Is No Edison Friday, September 30, 2011
- It takes nothing away from Steve Jobs to say he is no Thomas Edison. You only need to understand what Edison accomplished.
- Japan’s Crisis: Context and Outlook Saturday, April 16, 2011
- Once, many observers thought Japan should be feared. Now, many fear that Japan should be pitied because natural disasters will accelerate its economic retreat. ...
- Two Decades Later: Nikkei and Lessons from the Fall Tuesday, December 29, 2009
- Twenty years ago this week, Japan’s Nikkei index reached its historic peak of 38,916. There are lessons from the fall for America and the world.
- Moore’s Curse and the Great Energy Delusion Wednesday, November 19, 2008
- Our transition away from fossil fuels will take decades—if it happens at all.