Ugo is true to form, maintaining his long held position that eventually renewables can provide the energy necessary to maintain a technologically advanced form of civilization.  Ugo doesn't like the notion we might survive, but only living as poor peasants at about an Amish level of tech, much less aspaleolithic stone age hunter-gatherers.  He definitely stands against the notion that this will be an extinction level event, at least in the near term.

What he doesn't address, at least in this post is at what population level this renewably powered technocivilization will perpetuate, or how we will continue to acquire all the resources necessary for building renewable infrastructure as just about everything needed becomes less and less available and more difficult (energy expensive) to mine up, refine, transport and manufacture.  I mean hell, we're even running out of the sand necessary to make concrete for building dams!

Then he also isn't addressing the FOOD problem, the depleted topsoil and drought and flood prone land that has previously been used to feed the population, now at 8B useless eaters.

Now, if you knocked down the population by an order of magnitude to 8M from 8B, we probably have enough renewables right now to maintain our technoculture for quite some time.  What is less clear is how you eliminate so many Homo Saps without a whole lot of political instability & chaos, aka War or Wars.  Unlikely much of our current infrastructure will be left in good working condition after this period.

The bottom line here is that although energy is at the core of the problems our civilization faces now, it is by no means the only problem or even the most proximal one.  That one is economics and the monetary system, and it remains unclear how long the smartest guys in the room will be able to keep that patched together.  It's been holding together with spit, bubblegum and duct tape since Hank theSkank Paulson set off his Bazooka in 2008, but at the same tricks don't seem available this time.  The next few months as we slide into recession should prove interesting.  What will follow that remains to be seen.

RE