www.plenglish.com
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Congressman Bartlett discusses peak oil with President Bush
EnergyBulletin.net
"This afternoon, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett enjoyed an extensive discussion about peak oil with President George W. Bush at the White House. Congressman Bartlett declined to discuss or characterize any of his private conversation with the President, but said that he was very happy about the meeting."
OOOOOO!!! Wouldn't you have liked to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting?!
"This afternoon, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett enjoyed an extensive discussion about peak oil with President George W. Bush at the White House. Congressman Bartlett declined to discuss or characterize any of his private conversation with the President, but said that he was very happy about the meeting."
OOOOOO!!! Wouldn't you have liked to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting?!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Aiming for Zero
Home Power Magazine
I can't give you a link to the .pdf file directly because for some reason it won't work on the website. In the recent issue on the front page of Homepower.com is a picture of Todd Cory and his wife. He has an article that was published in the magazine called "Aiming for Zero" in which he illustrates how he has managed to make his home (almost/completely?) energy free. He also manages to squeak in some peak oil information in the article (that is some that I DID read). I have to admit (sorry Todd) I have only read parts of the article so far--he sent me a copy and now I've misplaced the darn thing in my files somewhere! He has contributed some great information to RunningOnEmpty2 and I feel like I know him from reading many of his postings. Great person!
So hats off to you, Mr. Cory, and I hope your article will help spread the message. I'll try to help you out here!
U.S. to open energy office in China, focus on use reduction
cnn money
quote:
"In recognition of the importance of our relationship the (Energy Department) has decided to open an office within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing," Harbert said. "It will help us to have real-time discussions."
Interjection!
U.S. to China (as U.S. holds China's wrist and smacks it's hand): "We need to sit down and have a talk about your energy consumption".
China: "But, but you use energy, too! I want some of what you have! I saved my money..."
U.S.: "Now we've been using it ALOT longer than you have and we know how to handle it more than you do, so we'll sit down and teach you how to conserve it like a responsible country first....."
Sarcasm off.
Heavens to mergatroid.
quote:
"In recognition of the importance of our relationship the (Energy Department) has decided to open an office within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing," Harbert said. "It will help us to have real-time discussions."
Interjection!
U.S. to China (as U.S. holds China's wrist and smacks it's hand): "We need to sit down and have a talk about your energy consumption".
China: "But, but you use energy, too! I want some of what you have! I saved my money..."
U.S.: "Now we've been using it ALOT longer than you have and we know how to handle it more than you do, so we'll sit down and teach you how to conserve it like a responsible country first....."
Sarcasm off.
Heavens to mergatroid.
Exponential Enrons Ahead
AlterNet: EnviroHealth
by Kelpie Wilson, Truthout.org
Just a quick note: my 96-year-old grandpa tells me that if it weren't for government regulation of the utilities back in the first-half of the last century, rural areas would not have power to this day. He remembers personally. Good thing or bad thing? I'll let you make that judgement.
Sorry to be off the peak oil subject--it's still energy related so I let it pass!
by Kelpie Wilson, Truthout.org
Just a quick note: my 96-year-old grandpa tells me that if it weren't for government regulation of the utilities back in the first-half of the last century, rural areas would not have power to this day. He remembers personally. Good thing or bad thing? I'll let you make that judgement.
Sorry to be off the peak oil subject--it's still energy related so I let it pass!
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
What happens if oil output 'peaks'?
Answer Desk - MSNBC.com
....."But even if
Congress continues to lavish ethanol subsidies on the agriculture
industry, farmers could plant every inch of the U.S. with corn and
still wouldn't come close to replacing the gasoline consumed by
American drivers. And even if every SUV owner in the U.S. decided to trade in for a gas-electric hybrid tomorrow, there wouldn't be enough to go around."......
....."Unfortunately, our elected representatives in Congress have done little to encourage conservation -– in large part because it’s not a politically popular thing to do. Every politician alive today remembers watching one-term President Jimmy Carter addressing the nation in a sweater telling Americans to turn down their thermostats. In a world of sprawling McMansions compete with central air, home entertainment suites and multiple SUVs in the garage, telling voters to consume less isn’t a great way to get elected.
“Conservation,” in fact, has become a dirty word on Capitol Hill because it denotes sacrifice; these days “increased efficiency” is the preferred way to talk about cutting demand. As a result, after four years of debate and two failed attempts, Congress is still promoting a comprehensive energy bill that (at this writing) makes little, if any, serious provision for encouraging conservation and cutting demand. Requiring government workers to turn the lights out when they go home just isn’t going to get the job done.
If oil prices continue to rise (as we believe they will), all that could change. But American consumer/voters first need to stop blaming “greedy” oil companies, OPEC, environmentalists, China, gasoline retailers, fanciful conspiracy theories about suppressed oil production, etc. (Our email Inbox is full of these.) If you really want to fix the problem, find out who is running for Congress in your district, Google their Web site, find out where they stand on energy policy. Write or email them and let them know what you think.
If the era of “cheap oil” is indeed over, we all have a lot of work to do. But here at the Answer Desk, we don’t believe that the game is over. There are a lot of very smart people out there working on solutions. As oil consumers, we all created this problem. The good news is that that means we all have the power to solve it."......
I thought this was pretty good coming from msnbc.
Utility urging users to cut back (water conservation)
Indianapolis Star
Who would've ever thought there would be a water conservation request in June in Indiana? Luckily, I live in a small city between 2 rivers. I don't live near Indianapolis, either.
I'm sure as the population keeps growing, these measures will become more commonplace.....There'll probably be more fires, too! Then we'll just have to use all that water that's been saved to keep up that pressure in the system explicitly for....fires! Sigh.
Who would've ever thought there would be a water conservation request in June in Indiana? Luckily, I live in a small city between 2 rivers. I don't live near Indianapolis, either.
I'm sure as the population keeps growing, these measures will become more commonplace.....There'll probably be more fires, too! Then we'll just have to use all that water that's been saved to keep up that pressure in the system explicitly for....fires! Sigh.
Senate passes energy bill, House talks loom
cnn money
Someone else may be able to direct me to another, more detailed look at this energy bill but do any of you see anywhere where there are any incentives for the "consumer"??? I sure would like to see some big tax break for me to build solar panels or wind generation or for buying a bicycle or a soy diesel-run or hybrid vehicle!!!! Of course we won't see incentives for getting off the grid, though, because then the power companies wouldn't make any money!
Or what about mass conservation!? Where is it for the love of God!
Let's face it. We are never going to see any incentives that will benefit us. We are definitely on our own. Well, I didn't expect any surprises, I guess...
A family member just told me to quit "looking under the rock" for everything! LOL
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Reading Books--(taking a temporary slowdown)
I just wanted to let my regular visitors know that posting may be sporadic for the next couple of days for a few reasons....
-I just bought Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" and Jared Diamond's "Collapse". I would like to read them and then give MY book "report" on them.
-I have a family birthday party to go to tonight and have to work tomorrow night.
-My laptop is down and may need a new part. This means I'll have to share with other family members on the main desktop. Grrr...
It may take awhile to get through Collapse. TLE looks like easier reading so I'll probably dive into that one and get through it faster. If something is interesting enough, I've been known to get through a huge book in one 24-hour period.
Anyway, I thought I'd let everyone know what's going on for the next few days.
-I just bought Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" and Jared Diamond's "Collapse". I would like to read them and then give MY book "report" on them.
-I have a family birthday party to go to tonight and have to work tomorrow night.
-My laptop is down and may need a new part. This means I'll have to share with other family members on the main desktop. Grrr...
It may take awhile to get through Collapse. TLE looks like easier reading so I'll probably dive into that one and get through it faster. If something is interesting enough, I've been known to get through a huge book in one 24-hour period.
Anyway, I thought I'd let everyone know what's going on for the next few days.
Fossil fuels' demise oversold
HoustonChronicle.com
Well. This author sure makes things look rosy. I guess we'll have to wait and see how rosy it will be.
Well. This author sure makes things look rosy. I guess we'll have to wait and see how rosy it will be.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Friday, June 24, 2005
Court OKs land seizure for private projects
The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Court OKs land seizure for private projects
This is disturbing. What's even more disturbing, and I hate to point it out, is that the justices that voted for it were some of the more liberal ones. This is more of my libertarian side coming out. I'd really like to hear their reasoning on this ruling. Sometimes I feel both sides of the political spectrum have a mutual agenda. It seems states' and individual rights are being wiped out in favor of a more totalitarian state....and both sides seem the culprits only in different situations! What the heck is going on? What can we do!? Why must everything APPEAR to be so polarized politically yet both sides develop the same outcome...which is an erosion of the rights of the people in favor of government and businesses?
Imagine this. (It's already happening in southern Indiana for highway development, here in my city where they want to expand a runway to our small airport, and probably elsewhere for a long time) Imagine that you have a large farm and are involved in a CSA but you just happen to be in the path of where the state or federal government is proposing a new highway. Or imagine a large corporation wanting to locate in or near your ailing, low-employment city. You can now be evicted from your land in order for the highway or the large corporation to build on it. I realize this is done quite a bit already but to hear of the supreme court approving something like this is really unnerving.
I don't know what to think anymore.
Related links:
family fights to keep farm that county wants to transform into park
eminent domain: a big-box bonanza? (cnn money)
This is disturbing. What's even more disturbing, and I hate to point it out, is that the justices that voted for it were some of the more liberal ones. This is more of my libertarian side coming out. I'd really like to hear their reasoning on this ruling. Sometimes I feel both sides of the political spectrum have a mutual agenda. It seems states' and individual rights are being wiped out in favor of a more totalitarian state....and both sides seem the culprits only in different situations! What the heck is going on? What can we do!? Why must everything APPEAR to be so polarized politically yet both sides develop the same outcome...which is an erosion of the rights of the people in favor of government and businesses?
Imagine this. (It's already happening in southern Indiana for highway development, here in my city where they want to expand a runway to our small airport, and probably elsewhere for a long time) Imagine that you have a large farm and are involved in a CSA but you just happen to be in the path of where the state or federal government is proposing a new highway. Or imagine a large corporation wanting to locate in or near your ailing, low-employment city. You can now be evicted from your land in order for the highway or the large corporation to build on it. I realize this is done quite a bit already but to hear of the supreme court approving something like this is really unnerving.
Related links:
family fights to keep farm that county wants to transform into park
eminent domain: a big-box bonanza? (cnn money)
2nd Annual Conference on "Peak Oil" & Community Solutions
communitysolution.org
Hope I can go. I think I will try and see if there is a community leader who will go with me. We just hired a new city planner and a new chamber of commerce director that may benefit from the conference. I also know the deputy-mayor and she might like to go. I'm going to see what I can do. I'll be so disappointed if I can't go.
Hope some of you can go, too!
Hope I can go. I think I will try and see if there is a community leader who will go with me. We just hired a new city planner and a new chamber of commerce director that may benefit from the conference. I also know the deputy-mayor and she might like to go. I'm going to see what I can do. I'll be so disappointed if I can't go.
Hope some of you can go, too!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
politics or financial gain irrelevant to facts of fossil fuel depletion
I had my weekly lunch with my 96-year-old grandfather today. He is about the only face-to-face person I can speak with on a regular basis about peak oil who understands it the way we peakniks do. While we were ranting to each other today about the woes of the world, he brought up a somewhat rhetorical question that he doesn't really trust the oil czars and wondered if they wouldn't deliberately try to create an atmosphere where there aren't enough refineries in order to drive up the oil prices and, in turn, make more money. I thought it was a good question and I told him it was a very likely possibility. I answered him, however, and told him the point is moot. My argument, and probably many other peakniks' as well, is the fact that fossil fuels are finite, and the world is relying on a resource that won't always be around for future generations, especially at the rate we are consuming it. This is the crux of a peaknik's argument.
My grandpa is wise enough to know this but I had to redirect his thoughts to the underlying dilemma. It is annoying me that those who may understand oil depletion on the surface but don't absorb the depth of the problem (not meaning my grandpa, by any means) will be led astray by variables like politics and those who are out for financial gain.
As devout peakniks, we must vigilantly reemphasize the underlying dilemma about fossil fuel depletion in the face of all of these variables. People will continue to get lost in them thanks to the media. During the 70s oil crisis, the underlying dilemma was lost in political revelations. We must help keep the course straight this time as if our life depends on it. It will be our job in the near future, I'm afraid.
My grandpa is wise enough to know this but I had to redirect his thoughts to the underlying dilemma. It is annoying me that those who may understand oil depletion on the surface but don't absorb the depth of the problem (not meaning my grandpa, by any means) will be led astray by variables like politics and those who are out for financial gain.
As devout peakniks, we must vigilantly reemphasize the underlying dilemma about fossil fuel depletion in the face of all of these variables. People will continue to get lost in them thanks to the media. During the 70s oil crisis, the underlying dilemma was lost in political revelations. We must help keep the course straight this time as if our life depends on it. It will be our job in the near future, I'm afraid.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
The Oil Drum: Sadly, It Truly Isn't Just a River in Egypt
Code Three's blogpost just directed me to a good post from The Oil Drum. There's been a good conversation going on in the comments section. Go take a look. Prof Goose is talking about the 5 stages of grief that people who find out about peak oil go through similarly to losing a loved one. I'd say today I'm in the bargaining stage. I tend to spend more time in this stage than most of the others, although I fluctuate between depression, bargaining, and acceptance quite a bit.
Boone Pickens Sees Oil Prices Going Higher
Yahoo! News
Like Oil Drum has said, what's going on with all the Pollyannas this week? The peakniks must be making a dent in the press about oil depletion so the position is being counter-attacked. That's fair. I was wondering when the opposition was going to rear it's ugly head!
Being a peaknik, I definitely believe we're going to see higher prices for awhile. I also think oil will drop after demand sinks due to either economic woes or just plain high prices and switching to alternatives. I think all of us peakniks understand this scenario. It's just trying to communicate this to the public that will be the difficult part. The pollyannas just don't tell the whole story, do they?
peak oil
Like Oil Drum has said, what's going on with all the Pollyannas this week? The peakniks must be making a dent in the press about oil depletion so the position is being counter-attacked. That's fair. I was wondering when the opposition was going to rear it's ugly head!
Being a peaknik, I definitely believe we're going to see higher prices for awhile. I also think oil will drop after demand sinks due to either economic woes or just plain high prices and switching to alternatives. I think all of us peakniks understand this scenario. It's just trying to communicate this to the public that will be the difficult part. The pollyannas just don't tell the whole story, do they?
peak oil
Monday, June 20, 2005
Real Case Study on Energy Usage
With the recent talk of energy saving measures on baloghblog's blog and peak energy and some others I've forgotten to mention, I asked if I could post another ROE2 member's comments on the subject. This member, Dave, has taken the time to record his own family's energy usage per kilowatt hours and the measures they've taken to study which electrical appliances and devices have saved them more by non-usage or decreased usage. To get you "up to par" on the conversation, we were talking about tips on buying a killowatt meter. Here it is:
"I agree that if you're using more than 100kWH per
month, you DO have a lot of conservation to do before
you can consider renewable energy. (That's a $70 to
$80 monthly bill, in most of the country).
I would like to respectfully disagree that one needs
to spend money on test equipment. Call me skeptical
on this one. When I see someone trying to get me to
"spend money to save money", I see if there isn't a
better way.
Guess what? You already have a kill-a-watt meter.
Its the electric meter.
Here's what our family did. First, we looked at the
last electric bill, and found the kWH used in the last
one-month cycle. Divide that by 30 to get the daily
usage (within a few percent). For this exercise,
round it to the nearest integer. If you calculate
3.23, then call it "3".
Then we posted a paper pad in a place where we would
see it in the morning every day. In one of our houses
this was on the fridge, as this was right next to the
door which we went out to the car, and conveniently
next to the electric meter.
First thing in the morning, before using any appliance
that was a large energy consumer (light bulbs OK, but
before starting that first pot of coffee), outside
we'd go and read the electric meter.
Two columns on the pad: first one for actual reading,
second one for "daily usage". In that second column,
we wrote the difference between the present reading
and the morning before. Ignore partial kWH - they end
up being counted in the running total.
Any day that the "daily usage" from the day prior was
above our previously-calculated average, we then wrote
down (to the right of the first two columns) what we
did that day. If we were in the midst of a major
house project, we might write down "roofed shed, using
borrowed compressor to operate air hammer" or "belt
sanded doors", otherwise it would be routine stuff
like "made dinner for five guests", "did three loads
of laundry", etc. Any time we could remember touching
an appliance, we wrote it down.
After a bit of this, we started writing things down
every day, anything that we did not do every day. For
instance, we started realizing that we did not go
grocery shopping every day - only once every two
weeks. We started taking note of that, too.
After a month you'll start to see patterns, activities
which correlate to the higher usage. Those will be
things to key in on, and do less of. When you've
successfully reduced your energy usage by half (if you
have never tried this, you might be surprised how
quickly you can cut things in half), calculate your
new "average" and do it again.
We actually quit paying attention to the days when we
went over the "average" and actually started noting
when we used any more than ONE kWH, because there were
lots of days when we only used one - and sometimes
less. We began to focus on "what did we do on those
days when we only used ONE kWH?" We actually did this
an entire year, and kept learning. Now, we do it
about one month out of three.
Now, the results you get will vary depending on your
climate, and what kind of appliances and entertainment
devices you use. Here's the list of things we
learned, based on the specific devices we own/owned...
Our largest offender at first was the electric dryer.
No doubt about it. We could simply not go over 5 kWH
in one day unless we used the dryer. That's when we
hung laundry lines in the garage (we had birds
outside...). On a hot day, clothes on the line dried
in an hour. In the middle of a rainy Northern
California winter (3 inches per day!) it would be more
like 90% dry in six hours, then just five minutes in
that dryer finished the job, with no noticable energy
usage on the meter.
The electric stove turned out to be negligible. But
bear in mind that will be largely based on your
cooking style. We never use an oven, as our meals are
largely based on boiled potatoes or rice with veggies
mixed in. Ten to twenty minutes of using only one
burner on a stove simply wasn't noticable.
Turning off lights was a bigger deal than we expected.
I think mainly because once we left the room with the
light on, we might not return for the rest of the day,
so that light was on all day. We replaced the bulbs
with dimmer bulbs. During the day, they were so dim
that we might turn them on, then the fact that they
did not add much light made us realize we didn't
really need them, and turned them off right away.
Then, at night time, when we turned them on, they were
not so bright as to wake up other occupants in the
house in adjacent rooms. After quite some time, we
more or less ceased reading in the evenings, using the
now dimmer lights for things like playing musical
instruments (in our case, they are all acoustic),
playing fetch with the dogs, sharing wine with guests,
etc.
The TV (20" Japanese) and DVD player turned out to be
negligible. The incident that showed us fairly firmly
that this was the case was the weekend that we had
Bill and Jean and their 7 year old quadruplets (you
read that right) over and the kids spent the entire
two days watching movies. They brought over 10
movies, watched them all and then some of them a
second time, while we adults did adult chatter. That
weekend's usage of energy was actually on the low
side, as it was a warm enough weekend that we only ate
cold food.
The grocery shopping trips at first were noticable on
the bill. We realized fairly quickly that there is a
great deal of energy used in cooling down groceries
that are left out too long or if they're not put in
the fridge in an organized fashion. We developed a
technique of studying what we purchased, and arranging
it per the proper shelf in the fridge. Then, with
only one door opening, we would move aside the
contents of the fridge if needed, then put the
pre-arranged stuff in it. And, at the store, we made
darned sure that each bag contained only refrigerated
food, or frozen food, or non-cooled. We made sure to
get that stuff into the fridge as soon as we got home.
The days that one or the other of us was using the
computer for lengthy periods was noticable. I took to
using a borrowed laptop computer from work if I was to
be on a computer for a lengthy period, such as when
building a web page, or doing the monthly bank
accounts, etc. Some years later, our CRT-based
monitors died and we replaced them with LCDs, and the
energy usage of the computers is now invisible to us.
Air conditioners are flat-out evil, with respect to
using electricity (reminder: this is not to judge
anybody - this is what we learned about our own
situation). We do everything we can to not need them.
The best thing you can do to reduce this energy hog
is to get comfortable being warmer. The difference
between having the thermostat set at 85 versus 80
(when we lived in Austin) was incredible. We
discovered that our indoor house plants lived quite
fine on the north side of the house in their pots, so
that's where they went in the summer. Then, we
"boarded up" the windows - put solid shutters on
hinges on the south, west and east side windows.
Heavy curtains on the north side. At no time did we
allow the shutters to be opened when the sun hit that
side of the house. When we went to bed, we left the
east side shutters open so that the sun would wake us
up, then we closed those, opening the west side -
never the south side during the summer.
This was another place where we made measurements.
Some of these get uncomfortable. We shut off the
circuit to the A/C completely, left all the shutters
open and tried to block out the sun only with heavy
curtains. The house sometimes reached 110 degrees
inside. Then, we started using the shutters, and the
hosue never exceeded 90 degrees. That's 20 full
degrees cooler, without using any energy at all. We
then installed extra vents in the roof (it had some
already), both along the ridge and on the end eaves,
and got the house temp down to 85. We added an active
attic fan, and it only dropped a few more degrees, so
we quit using the fan, since it did have a visible
effect on the energy bill.
In the cases when we've had electric hot water, we
have notice no change in the monthly bill by changing
the hot water heater thermostat setting. If the water
is cooler, you use more of it when you shower, so you
end up putting the same number of calories into the
water you use. We saw no difference, either, when we
put an insulating blanket around a water heater of
modern construction that already had good insulation.
We DID notice a small difference by adding insulation
to the hot water pipes under the house.
We have, likewise, not noticed any difference when we
change the temperature settings for our fridge. It's
an older fridge, built before current energy-saving
refrigerators were developed.
One time, we put everything on switchable power
strips, so that we could turn things off FULLY when
not in use. You know, things like the VCR that hold a
clock going even when "off", that old "standby power
for all those little things adds up" theory? Well,
we never saw a measurable difference.
Actually, after a while, you get an idea what your
"baseline" usage is. That is, when the only things
you're running are the things you would run even if
you weren't home. For us, that's only the
refrigerator. Went on vacation for two weeks,
unplugging everything but the fridge, and then read
the meter. Turns out ours consumes about 1/8 kWH per
day, based on that experiment. Of course, that's
without us opening the door, too.
Our best decision was to never again live in a place
that got so hot that we needed A/C. There are lots of
options for heat, but very few for cooling.
The first house in which we did this was in Northern
California - old house, no insulation, no A/C, gas
heat and water, electric stove and dryer. We
successfully reduced our consumption (in only three
months) from 120kWH per month to 30kWH per month, and
the only noticeable difference in lifestyle was the
clotheslines. Then, with some lifestyle adjustments,
we got it down to 20kWH per month. Nothing painful at
that.
As I "disclaimed" at the top, this varies with your
locale. We also did this while living in Denver, in a
house with electric heat. That was a larger house,
150 years old, with walls made of brick, nothing but
plaster slathered on the interiors for walls. In the
coldest months (typically Feb, when it would always
get down to 20 below for at least a week, and never
exceed 20 above), we were able to keep total usage
down to 60kWH in a month. Besides learning to
tolerate 55 to 60 degree indoor temps, probably the
best thing we did in that house was to install some
wall-mounted heaters in the few rooms that we felt
were essential to heat. The main thermostats for the
house were then set to 40 degrees. Our "main rooms"
were the bedrooms and the bathroom. The kitchen was
not a "main room" for heat purposes because we could
always bundle up to go in there, and if we started
cooking, it got warm pretty quickly. We had the
electric bills for the previous owners, and they (only
a couple, no children or dogs) ran bills that were in
excess of 800kWH per month. Denver is also one of
those places where, with only a very little bit of
thought, you simply do not need A/C.
I used to live near Allenspark, Colorado, up in the
hills, but before I was quite so obsessive about
energy usage. No snow plows anywhere to be seen. My
heat source was a wood stove. I had a well and pump,
and I am not sure what I would do then - to reduce the
electric usage by that pump would mean reducing water
usage. Probably I'd see how much benefit I get from
greywater for irrigation and/or above-ground
cisterning, but first I'd see just how much energy I
had to use for the pump in the first place.
We've now undergone a family move, not even sure where
we're going to settle in the next year. Presently
we're renting, and don't even have access to the
utility meters. I would hope that the presence of
residents above and below us should provide enough
heat AND cool so that we need no supplementation at
all from the heating system (I don't think this place
has A/C but not at all sure).
Pardon the length, but I figured giving the nuts and
bolts, and showing the variety of what we learned
about our usage, our lifestyle and how we were able to
cut back, might spur others on to do some of their own
measurement.
Despite how evil Big Business can sometimes be, much
of the guidance they use to run internal processes is
simply good Human Common Sense applied to business.
With that said, here's a rule from business that I
think we should all apply to our lives:
If you are not measuring it, you are not managing it.
Figure out a way to numerically measure your usage of
energy and only after that will you be able to know
how much you have been able to reduce."
...............{Note to self: buy a clothesline, turn off the lights, only use A/C when absolutely necessary!}
"I agree that if you're using more than 100kWH per
month, you DO have a lot of conservation to do before
you can consider renewable energy. (That's a $70 to
$80 monthly bill, in most of the country).
I would like to respectfully disagree that one needs
to spend money on test equipment. Call me skeptical
on this one. When I see someone trying to get me to
"spend money to save money", I see if there isn't a
better way.
Guess what? You already have a kill-a-watt meter.
Its the electric meter.
Here's what our family did. First, we looked at the
last electric bill, and found the kWH used in the last
one-month cycle. Divide that by 30 to get the daily
usage (within a few percent). For this exercise,
round it to the nearest integer. If you calculate
3.23, then call it "3".
Then we posted a paper pad in a place where we would
see it in the morning every day. In one of our houses
this was on the fridge, as this was right next to the
door which we went out to the car, and conveniently
next to the electric meter.
First thing in the morning, before using any appliance
that was a large energy consumer (light bulbs OK, but
before starting that first pot of coffee), outside
we'd go and read the electric meter.
Two columns on the pad: first one for actual reading,
second one for "daily usage". In that second column,
we wrote the difference between the present reading
and the morning before. Ignore partial kWH - they end
up being counted in the running total.
Any day that the "daily usage" from the day prior was
above our previously-calculated average, we then wrote
down (to the right of the first two columns) what we
did that day. If we were in the midst of a major
house project, we might write down "roofed shed, using
borrowed compressor to operate air hammer" or "belt
sanded doors", otherwise it would be routine stuff
like "made dinner for five guests", "did three loads
of laundry", etc. Any time we could remember touching
an appliance, we wrote it down.
After a bit of this, we started writing things down
every day, anything that we did not do every day. For
instance, we started realizing that we did not go
grocery shopping every day - only once every two
weeks. We started taking note of that, too.
After a month you'll start to see patterns, activities
which correlate to the higher usage. Those will be
things to key in on, and do less of. When you've
successfully reduced your energy usage by half (if you
have never tried this, you might be surprised how
quickly you can cut things in half), calculate your
new "average" and do it again.
We actually quit paying attention to the days when we
went over the "average" and actually started noting
when we used any more than ONE kWH, because there were
lots of days when we only used one - and sometimes
less. We began to focus on "what did we do on those
days when we only used ONE kWH?" We actually did this
an entire year, and kept learning. Now, we do it
about one month out of three.
Now, the results you get will vary depending on your
climate, and what kind of appliances and entertainment
devices you use. Here's the list of things we
learned, based on the specific devices we own/owned...
Our largest offender at first was the electric dryer.
No doubt about it. We could simply not go over 5 kWH
in one day unless we used the dryer. That's when we
hung laundry lines in the garage (we had birds
outside...). On a hot day, clothes on the line dried
in an hour. In the middle of a rainy Northern
California winter (3 inches per day!) it would be more
like 90% dry in six hours, then just five minutes in
that dryer finished the job, with no noticable energy
usage on the meter.
The electric stove turned out to be negligible. But
bear in mind that will be largely based on your
cooking style. We never use an oven, as our meals are
largely based on boiled potatoes or rice with veggies
mixed in. Ten to twenty minutes of using only one
burner on a stove simply wasn't noticable.
Turning off lights was a bigger deal than we expected.
I think mainly because once we left the room with the
light on, we might not return for the rest of the day,
so that light was on all day. We replaced the bulbs
with dimmer bulbs. During the day, they were so dim
that we might turn them on, then the fact that they
did not add much light made us realize we didn't
really need them, and turned them off right away.
Then, at night time, when we turned them on, they were
not so bright as to wake up other occupants in the
house in adjacent rooms. After quite some time, we
more or less ceased reading in the evenings, using the
now dimmer lights for things like playing musical
instruments (in our case, they are all acoustic),
playing fetch with the dogs, sharing wine with guests,
etc.
The TV (20" Japanese) and DVD player turned out to be
negligible. The incident that showed us fairly firmly
that this was the case was the weekend that we had
Bill and Jean and their 7 year old quadruplets (you
read that right) over and the kids spent the entire
two days watching movies. They brought over 10
movies, watched them all and then some of them a
second time, while we adults did adult chatter. That
weekend's usage of energy was actually on the low
side, as it was a warm enough weekend that we only ate
cold food.
The grocery shopping trips at first were noticable on
the bill. We realized fairly quickly that there is a
great deal of energy used in cooling down groceries
that are left out too long or if they're not put in
the fridge in an organized fashion. We developed a
technique of studying what we purchased, and arranging
it per the proper shelf in the fridge. Then, with
only one door opening, we would move aside the
contents of the fridge if needed, then put the
pre-arranged stuff in it. And, at the store, we made
darned sure that each bag contained only refrigerated
food, or frozen food, or non-cooled. We made sure to
get that stuff into the fridge as soon as we got home.
The days that one or the other of us was using the
computer for lengthy periods was noticable. I took to
using a borrowed laptop computer from work if I was to
be on a computer for a lengthy period, such as when
building a web page, or doing the monthly bank
accounts, etc. Some years later, our CRT-based
monitors died and we replaced them with LCDs, and the
energy usage of the computers is now invisible to us.
Air conditioners are flat-out evil, with respect to
using electricity (reminder: this is not to judge
anybody - this is what we learned about our own
situation). We do everything we can to not need them.
The best thing you can do to reduce this energy hog
is to get comfortable being warmer. The difference
between having the thermostat set at 85 versus 80
(when we lived in Austin) was incredible. We
discovered that our indoor house plants lived quite
fine on the north side of the house in their pots, so
that's where they went in the summer. Then, we
"boarded up" the windows - put solid shutters on
hinges on the south, west and east side windows.
Heavy curtains on the north side. At no time did we
allow the shutters to be opened when the sun hit that
side of the house. When we went to bed, we left the
east side shutters open so that the sun would wake us
up, then we closed those, opening the west side -
never the south side during the summer.
This was another place where we made measurements.
Some of these get uncomfortable. We shut off the
circuit to the A/C completely, left all the shutters
open and tried to block out the sun only with heavy
curtains. The house sometimes reached 110 degrees
inside. Then, we started using the shutters, and the
hosue never exceeded 90 degrees. That's 20 full
degrees cooler, without using any energy at all. We
then installed extra vents in the roof (it had some
already), both along the ridge and on the end eaves,
and got the house temp down to 85. We added an active
attic fan, and it only dropped a few more degrees, so
we quit using the fan, since it did have a visible
effect on the energy bill.
In the cases when we've had electric hot water, we
have notice no change in the monthly bill by changing
the hot water heater thermostat setting. If the water
is cooler, you use more of it when you shower, so you
end up putting the same number of calories into the
water you use. We saw no difference, either, when we
put an insulating blanket around a water heater of
modern construction that already had good insulation.
We DID notice a small difference by adding insulation
to the hot water pipes under the house.
We have, likewise, not noticed any difference when we
change the temperature settings for our fridge. It's
an older fridge, built before current energy-saving
refrigerators were developed.
One time, we put everything on switchable power
strips, so that we could turn things off FULLY when
not in use. You know, things like the VCR that hold a
clock going even when "off", that old "standby power
for all those little things adds up" theory? Well,
we never saw a measurable difference.
Actually, after a while, you get an idea what your
"baseline" usage is. That is, when the only things
you're running are the things you would run even if
you weren't home. For us, that's only the
refrigerator. Went on vacation for two weeks,
unplugging everything but the fridge, and then read
the meter. Turns out ours consumes about 1/8 kWH per
day, based on that experiment. Of course, that's
without us opening the door, too.
Our best decision was to never again live in a place
that got so hot that we needed A/C. There are lots of
options for heat, but very few for cooling.
The first house in which we did this was in Northern
California - old house, no insulation, no A/C, gas
heat and water, electric stove and dryer. We
successfully reduced our consumption (in only three
months) from 120kWH per month to 30kWH per month, and
the only noticeable difference in lifestyle was the
clotheslines. Then, with some lifestyle adjustments,
we got it down to 20kWH per month. Nothing painful at
that.
As I "disclaimed" at the top, this varies with your
locale. We also did this while living in Denver, in a
house with electric heat. That was a larger house,
150 years old, with walls made of brick, nothing but
plaster slathered on the interiors for walls. In the
coldest months (typically Feb, when it would always
get down to 20 below for at least a week, and never
exceed 20 above), we were able to keep total usage
down to 60kWH in a month. Besides learning to
tolerate 55 to 60 degree indoor temps, probably the
best thing we did in that house was to install some
wall-mounted heaters in the few rooms that we felt
were essential to heat. The main thermostats for the
house were then set to 40 degrees. Our "main rooms"
were the bedrooms and the bathroom. The kitchen was
not a "main room" for heat purposes because we could
always bundle up to go in there, and if we started
cooking, it got warm pretty quickly. We had the
electric bills for the previous owners, and they (only
a couple, no children or dogs) ran bills that were in
excess of 800kWH per month. Denver is also one of
those places where, with only a very little bit of
thought, you simply do not need A/C.
I used to live near Allenspark, Colorado, up in the
hills, but before I was quite so obsessive about
energy usage. No snow plows anywhere to be seen. My
heat source was a wood stove. I had a well and pump,
and I am not sure what I would do then - to reduce the
electric usage by that pump would mean reducing water
usage. Probably I'd see how much benefit I get from
greywater for irrigation and/or above-ground
cisterning, but first I'd see just how much energy I
had to use for the pump in the first place.
We've now undergone a family move, not even sure where
we're going to settle in the next year. Presently
we're renting, and don't even have access to the
utility meters. I would hope that the presence of
residents above and below us should provide enough
heat AND cool so that we need no supplementation at
all from the heating system (I don't think this place
has A/C but not at all sure).
Pardon the length, but I figured giving the nuts and
bolts, and showing the variety of what we learned
about our usage, our lifestyle and how we were able to
cut back, might spur others on to do some of their own
measurement.
Despite how evil Big Business can sometimes be, much
of the guidance they use to run internal processes is
simply good Human Common Sense applied to business.
With that said, here's a rule from business that I
think we should all apply to our lives:
If you are not measuring it, you are not managing it.
Figure out a way to numerically measure your usage of
energy and only after that will you be able to know
how much you have been able to reduce."
...............{Note to self: buy a clothesline, turn off the lights, only use A/C when absolutely necessary!}
Wall Street isn't worrying about high gas prices, so you shouldn't either
www.newshounds.us
Some of the comments left on this board are really scary. (This, coming from a peaknik viewpoint anyway!)
peak oil
Some of the comments left on this board are really scary. (This, coming from a peaknik viewpoint anyway!)
peak oil
Another peaknik's LTTE
Centre Daily Times | 06/20/2005 | Your Letters
It's nice to see other peakniks in action trying to alert the masses via the newspaper!
It's nice to see other peakniks in action trying to alert the masses via the newspaper!
How Long Will It Last? (editorial)
The Patriot News
The news is coming in quick tonight! I have a feeling it will be a hot day on Wallstreet in the AM!
peak oil
The news is coming in quick tonight! I have a feeling it will be a hot day on Wallstreet in the AM!
peak oil
A look at the week ahead for stocks - Jun. 19, 2005 "Oil on the brain"
cnn money
Who'd of ever thought 20 years ago that today I'd be sitting in my kitchen on a Sunday evening on my laptop reading about the oil market while listening to balohgblog's link to streaming Grateful Dead.......and I'm not a deadhead!
Who'd of ever thought 20 years ago that today I'd be sitting in my kitchen on a Sunday evening on my laptop reading about the oil market while listening to balohgblog's link to streaming Grateful Dead.......and I'm not a deadhead!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Baloghblog's challenge
baloghblog has a neat upbeat blog you all ought to put on your favorites.
And yes, I have been replacing with CFLs one-by-one as the old ones go out! Next on the agenda is cleaning out my #2 refrigerator that I hardly ever use (in my garage) and turning it OFF. I may store my grains and flour in it so the bugs won't get in them. Also, yes, I admit it. I was using 2 refridgerators. Shhh!
And yes, I have been replacing with CFLs one-by-one as the old ones go out! Next on the agenda is cleaning out my #2 refrigerator that I hardly ever use (in my garage) and turning it OFF. I may store my grains and flour in it so the bugs won't get in them. Also, yes, I admit it. I was using 2 refridgerators. Shhh!
Please Read....This is a must read from Common Dreams
Maybe I'm just feeling a little emotional tonight but this article touched me on the important need for us to do something about our lifestyles....and SOON. As soon as we can people! I realize that more and more people are waking up but it just doesn't seem fast enough. I don't know what else I can do. I feel like a tortoise and the world is spinning frantically around me going nowhere as I try to walk against the wind. I see small steps of which is encouraging. At the same time, however, I look all around me and see such waste. Waste of time. Waste of mindless drivel coming from media. Just waste. Incognizant people centered around nothing but their own little microcosmic world. Pure blindness. More than apathy. Sometimes even a deliberate shutout of the finiteness of life. There may be notable appreciation of life but no value or respect for the responsibility of the role we play in for future generations on this earth. I'm not against enjoying the day but I can only enjoy the day if I'm doing something worthwhile for tomorrow's recipients. I wish others could feel this feeling I feel. I'm sure many others (especially you who are reading this) do feel this way but evidently there aren't enough of us. Go ahead and read on.......
Oil, CO2,Environment,Climate, War
Oil, CO2,Environment,Climate, War
Iraqis struggle to make ends meet as food rations shrink
FT.com
Is this what could happen to us if we encountered a fast crash or if our oil supply would become unattainable for a long period. Let this be a reminder to us to make the proper storage preparations, just in case!
Is this what could happen to us if we encountered a fast crash or if our oil supply would become unattainable for a long period. Let this be a reminder to us to make the proper storage preparations, just in case!
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Fast track for new ethanol plant
Pharos Tribune
HeY, hEy! My ideas are spreading! Check out the above link! The Dave Oresik named in the paper is a member of my local Democratic party and he helped campaign for the 2004 elections with me. I posted on the local Dem party blog about the city needing to convert to using biodiesel for city and county vehicles like Bloomington was doing. Well, he actually went to the city meeting and suggested the idea to the council! Don't know how far it will get but at least it was brought up!
Looks like there will be a meeting July 1st about the ethanol plant. If I don't have to work, I will be there. I am really excited!
HeY, hEy! My ideas are spreading! Check out the above link! The Dave Oresik named in the paper is a member of my local Democratic party and he helped campaign for the 2004 elections with me. I posted on the local Dem party blog about the city needing to convert to using biodiesel for city and county vehicles like Bloomington was doing. Well, he actually went to the city meeting and suggested the idea to the council! Don't know how far it will get but at least it was brought up!
Looks like there will be a meeting July 1st about the ethanol plant. If I don't have to work, I will be there. I am really excited!
Friday, June 17, 2005
Peak Oil Crisis: Part 7
Falls Church News-Press
I know. Where are Parts 1-6? I just keep getting these peak oil alerts through yahoo that send them to me. I'm just trying to post some things that might not be posted anywhere else so we can keep up on all the coverage around the country and the world. Looks like America is getting bits and pieces of the message everywhere....drip, drip, drip.
I know. Where are Parts 1-6? I just keep getting these peak oil alerts through yahoo that send them to me. I'm just trying to post some things that might not be posted anywhere else so we can keep up on all the coverage around the country and the world. Looks like America is getting bits and pieces of the message everywhere....drip, drip, drip.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Garden picture from May
Here's at least one better picture from May. The garden is much more plush now! More pictures will come as I get them!
This is my first trial garden this year. Here is a list of the things I've planted: asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, rasberries, blueberries, jerusalem artichokes; chives, cilantro, rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme, lavender, dill, cammomile; green, red, orange, hot banana, cayenne peppers; Glacier tomatoes, peacevine cherry tomatoes, brandywine tomatoes; squash; Miss Pickler, straight 8, & DIVA cucumbers; benchmark green beans, sweet corn, nasturtium, marigolds, music box sunflowers; Ali Baba watermelon; Rock Star pumpkin; broccoli, radishes, Danvers 1/2 long carrots, celery....I think that's it! I'm seeing what grows well and what doesn't--small amounts of each. I'll probably expand the raised beds next year. I think my radishes "bolted" before they got very big. I probably planted them too late. Everything else is good so far except for the deer and rabbit problem.
There's no way my family could survive on this but it's a start. I still need to learn how to prepare and store these things, and I'm working on it as I go along. I hope to learn canning some things and some dehydrating techniques this year. It's just a miracle that everything is actually growing! The last time I had experience growing anything from seed was with the 2nd grade flower-in-the-egg-carton deal so this is a MAJOR feat accomplished!
Genesis
In the beginning, there was seed......
Sorry but this is the best I could do as I have not the slightest idea of what I'm doing. Just trial and error. This is supposed to be a collage of all of my first gardening efforts. However, some of the pictures are sideways and everything else! I'll try and work on it later. Postings might be slim from tonight until Friday as I go on my 48-hour work binge. Hope the weather will be good to you and happy gardening!
Tell 'em it has morphed into "envirolibertarianism" instead of "enviroliberalism"
Sustainablog hit the nail on the head in the blog entry on Jeremy Carl's"Death of Enviroliberalism". If they only realized what these new environmental concepts entailed, if they would just stop and read, and listen to what is being said, I think they would find a sense of logic that is leaving both parties in favor of corporate globalism. It sad. It's really, really sad.
On the RunningOnEmpty yahoogroups, there happen to be both liberals and conservatives who acknowledge our coming enviromental predicament and see the things that need to happen in order to preserve our species. Ohhh how I wish it were so in the mainstream of life.
Good observation and commentary, sustainablog!
peak oil
On the RunningOnEmpty yahoogroups, there happen to be both liberals and conservatives who acknowledge our coming enviromental predicament and see the things that need to happen in order to preserve our species. Ohhh how I wish it were so in the mainstream of life.
Good observation and commentary, sustainablog!
peak oil
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Promising Renewable: GE biomass-based ethanol??
cleanedge.com
Sounds promising....and expensive. We'll have to wait and see. Biomass looks like the most promising to me after reading what I've read. I don't know about genetically engineered biomass. What kind of technology do we have to keep up in order to do this? Will it be petroleum-based technology? How much energy does it require to make?
peak oil
Sounds promising....and expensive. We'll have to wait and see. Biomass looks like the most promising to me after reading what I've read. I don't know about genetically engineered biomass. What kind of technology do we have to keep up in order to do this? Will it be petroleum-based technology? How much energy does it require to make?
peak oil
Local Consumers Still Don't See It Coming....Yet
Pharos Tribune
I thought I'd share with you an article from my local paper concerning vehicles sales in my city. Looks like the average joe still isn't making the connections...yet. Also, the fact that it costs an average of $8000 more for a hybrid isn't helping.
On a positive note: Hopefully I'll be putting up a link from my local paper telling about how our city is going to be getting a new ethanol plant (it's not up on the website yet). Since we are surrounded by corn, it makes perfect sense. I realize in the big scheme of things, this isn't the total solution for all of our problems but I am happy that we might have some local resource facility that is independent of oil. I am really happy about this! This will be an $86 million dollar ethanol plant. They say construction could be completed by the end of next year and it will add 33 + 46 possible jobs in the area with an average salary of $45,000. Not bad, huh? This is better than a multi-national corporation coming in, in my opinion.
peak oil
I thought I'd share with you an article from my local paper concerning vehicles sales in my city. Looks like the average joe still isn't making the connections...yet. Also, the fact that it costs an average of $8000 more for a hybrid isn't helping.
On a positive note: Hopefully I'll be putting up a link from my local paper telling about how our city is going to be getting a new ethanol plant (it's not up on the website yet). Since we are surrounded by corn, it makes perfect sense. I realize in the big scheme of things, this isn't the total solution for all of our problems but I am happy that we might have some local resource facility that is independent of oil. I am really happy about this! This will be an $86 million dollar ethanol plant. They say construction could be completed by the end of next year and it will add 33 + 46 possible jobs in the area with an average salary of $45,000. Not bad, huh? This is better than a multi-national corporation coming in, in my opinion.
peak oil
HIGH SPEED INTERURBAN TROLLEYS
HIGH SPEED INTERURBAN TROLLEYS
I just found a peak oil yahoo group for Indiana thanks to Robert Waldrop, moderator of ROE2! I didn't even know it existed. I was contemplating making one and now I don't have to!
The moderator for this new group I just joined posted this link about interurban trolleys. They were used widely a long time ago here in Indiana. When I wrote up a column about peak oil in my local newspaper, I mentioned bringing back some form of the interurban or trolleys fueled by biodiesel. I think it would be forward-thinking and a great historical tourism spectacle on first investment! A lot of people probably aren't even aware that Logansport had an interurban and a trolley system. You can still see the old track lines through the pavement down our main street. The only way I know of these old transportation systems is through my 96-year-old grandfather who is still alert and cognitive enough to tell me all kinds of stories about the old days.
On this website, it shows this postcard picture of a terminal that was located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wow! We were booming back then weren't we?!
interurban terminal, Indianapolis, Indiana 1904
I just found a peak oil yahoo group for Indiana thanks to Robert Waldrop, moderator of ROE2! I didn't even know it existed. I was contemplating making one and now I don't have to!
The moderator for this new group I just joined posted this link about interurban trolleys. They were used widely a long time ago here in Indiana. When I wrote up a column about peak oil in my local newspaper, I mentioned bringing back some form of the interurban or trolleys fueled by biodiesel. I think it would be forward-thinking and a great historical tourism spectacle on first investment! A lot of people probably aren't even aware that Logansport had an interurban and a trolley system. You can still see the old track lines through the pavement down our main street. The only way I know of these old transportation systems is through my 96-year-old grandfather who is still alert and cognitive enough to tell me all kinds of stories about the old days.
On this website, it shows this postcard picture of a terminal that was located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Wow! We were booming back then weren't we?!
interurban terminal, Indianapolis, Indiana 1904
Monday, June 13, 2005
Take the Political Compass Test
(reminds me of the pentagram, oh well, the Christian fish symbol is a pagan symbol, too! I'm not really affected too much by symbolism because they mean different things to different people. I think capitalism has adopted the pyramid symbol and the eye of Isis or Osirus??--check out all the multi-national companies with those symbols sometime)
Recently, there seems to be alot of chatter from the peak oil world about the different forms of anarchism. On ROE3, a member posted this link to a political compass test after a very civil discussion on post-peak culture. I tested left libertarian. I'm sure many other peakniks would probably test this way as well. It's funny how the peak oil concept can change your whole worldview.
Other bloggers have also been talking about it. Read Big Gav's latest entry or peak energy's blog.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
Military looking for a few good medics - Terrorism & Security
MSNBC.com
Off topic.
I'm a nurse so I just had to post this here. I hope I don't smell a medical draft! This would be just the beginning. I remember reading last year around the elections that the Selective Service Board's goal was to reduce the drafting process down to 75 days by April or May of 2005. This article seems right on cue from the information I was reading. They're starting to clamour for the medical personnel. They must be set. I wonder if this is an attempt to pre-condition the public by dispersing more articles of this nature. I have a bad, bad feeling right now.
Off topic.
I'm a nurse so I just had to post this here. I hope I don't smell a medical draft! This would be just the beginning. I remember reading last year around the elections that the Selective Service Board's goal was to reduce the drafting process down to 75 days by April or May of 2005. This article seems right on cue from the information I was reading. They're starting to clamour for the medical personnel. They must be set. I wonder if this is an attempt to pre-condition the public by dispersing more articles of this nature. I have a bad, bad feeling right now.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Post-industrial Political Structure Possibilities
Sometimes I feel like I'm getting bits and pieces of everyone's college education on these peak oil sites! There appear to be many intelligent people in these groups. Paul sounds like one of them. Recently, on ROE3 (PO newbie forum), there has been a thread on economics, and everyone has been discussing how it seems that capitalism, socialism, and the idea of networking in business cannot work because all systems are based on infinite resources and exponential growth. That's been the conclusion from most posters so far.
In the exerpt Paul has written, he was responding to a comment made about different specific systems and why they don't work. I post his response not because I know and agree with all that he says, but because I thought it was very informative and it piqued my interest. My political and economic views have changed quite a bit in the last year since learning about peak oil. My thoughts often lead, as do with others, to what kind of system would work best in a post-industrial, decentralized world. Here is his reply:
"Interestingly, the critique of networking based on finite resources
applies equally to capitalism and socialism (at least, as practised
in Europe).
The underlying principles are nineteenth century positivism, especially
in the sciences - so our problems will be solved by a technical fix
'just in time', which is of course an invocation of magic and avoids
the issue of responsibility for actions. Both the major left and right
strands of thought (in European terms) favor industrialism and economic
growth. Marx's economics use the standard 'continuum' approach used
in right economics - it supposes, mathematically speaking, an infinite
continuum of producers / retailers / consumers, and works out the
inter-relations of each group in this experimental mental lab. This
simplifies things enough to produce results, but not results that reflect
the real world. The difference, of course, between the left and right
analysis of growth economics and industrialism is that the former
shares the proceeds equably and the latter does not.
The world in fact is a sphere floating in space, with accessible and
usable minerals, etc, existing in a thin onion skin on it's surface.
The resource are, therefore, by definition, finite. All growth models
lead to man overflowing and filling all the space with economic
parameters that exclude the fact that resources will run out - they
are thus fundamentally unsustainable. In medical terms, our behavior
is like that of a metastasizing cancer, and will inevitable kill the
host - our planet.
The Europeans have a strand of political thought called Anarchism. It
is rather different from our take on anarchy - it is less individualist
and instead incorporates not only respect for the individual but also
the community. This aids it in squaring the circle and resolving the
contradictions between capitalism and communism.
Since it's nineteenth century inception, European anarchism has also
had strands that reflect the real world ecologically speaking. These
are represented by, for example, Petr Kropotkin, who wrote the book
Mutual Aid, that posited a non-social Darwinist take on evolution -
one that emphasized co-operation as a factor in evolution, especially
human social evolution, over competition.
The rise of cybernetics in the early years of the twentieth century,
and ecology, in the sixties and seventies, has allowed this positive
aspect of anarchism (in the European mode) to evolve such that it is
now the political heart of the non-party political green movement.
Thus, groups such as Earth First!, in their European incarnations,
have a much more positive and humanistic approach than the US
variant has had (or has been perceived as having had, especially
during the dispute over comments by Dave Foreman).
However, in the US, there are also some seeds of anarchist philosophy
of the type that has positive contributions to make to our future
modes of living (ie; that make the balance between individualism
and rampant control). One of these strands is represented by Murray
Bookchin's social ecology movement, whose institute in Vermont runs
a very interesting looking summer school. Bookchin is an example of
someone who has been sufficiently embarassed by the associations the
word 'anarchy' has for most lay people to have rebadged it, and
'social ecology' is his alternative. This has also allowed him to
properly update the content of the political philosophy and to
make it relevant to today, as both the traditional left and the
traditional right have failed to do. He has also avoided the trap
of egoist libertarianism.
So, in my view, a sustainable future would adopt neither left nor
right, but social ecology as a political, social and economic
route through the time of fire to come. Concepts such as ecology;
libertarian municipalism; biomes; and many of the traditionally
'christian' values such as 'do unto others' help show the way
for us to live sustainably. Neither the traditional left or
right are far along this road, as they value too highly outmoded
and negative core beliefs that they have not found a way to dump.
Paul"
Pretty good, huh? Thank you Paul.
peak oil
In the exerpt Paul has written, he was responding to a comment made about different specific systems and why they don't work. I post his response not because I know and agree with all that he says, but because I thought it was very informative and it piqued my interest. My political and economic views have changed quite a bit in the last year since learning about peak oil. My thoughts often lead, as do with others, to what kind of system would work best in a post-industrial, decentralized world. Here is his reply:
"Interestingly, the critique of networking based on finite resources
applies equally to capitalism and socialism (at least, as practised
in Europe).
The underlying principles are nineteenth century positivism, especially
in the sciences - so our problems will be solved by a technical fix
'just in time', which is of course an invocation of magic and avoids
the issue of responsibility for actions. Both the major left and right
strands of thought (in European terms) favor industrialism and economic
growth. Marx's economics use the standard 'continuum' approach used
in right economics - it supposes, mathematically speaking, an infinite
continuum of producers / retailers / consumers, and works out the
inter-relations of each group in this experimental mental lab. This
simplifies things enough to produce results, but not results that reflect
the real world. The difference, of course, between the left and right
analysis of growth economics and industrialism is that the former
shares the proceeds equably and the latter does not.
The world in fact is a sphere floating in space, with accessible and
usable minerals, etc, existing in a thin onion skin on it's surface.
The resource are, therefore, by definition, finite. All growth models
lead to man overflowing and filling all the space with economic
parameters that exclude the fact that resources will run out - they
are thus fundamentally unsustainable. In medical terms, our behavior
is like that of a metastasizing cancer, and will inevitable kill the
host - our planet.
The Europeans have a strand of political thought called Anarchism. It
is rather different from our take on anarchy - it is less individualist
and instead incorporates not only respect for the individual but also
the community. This aids it in squaring the circle and resolving the
contradictions between capitalism and communism.
Since it's nineteenth century inception, European anarchism has also
had strands that reflect the real world ecologically speaking. These
are represented by, for example, Petr Kropotkin, who wrote the book
Mutual Aid, that posited a non-social Darwinist take on evolution -
one that emphasized co-operation as a factor in evolution, especially
human social evolution, over competition.
The rise of cybernetics in the early years of the twentieth century,
and ecology, in the sixties and seventies, has allowed this positive
aspect of anarchism (in the European mode) to evolve such that it is
now the political heart of the non-party political green movement.
Thus, groups such as Earth First!, in their European incarnations,
have a much more positive and humanistic approach than the US
variant has had (or has been perceived as having had, especially
during the dispute over comments by Dave Foreman).
However, in the US, there are also some seeds of anarchist philosophy
of the type that has positive contributions to make to our future
modes of living (ie; that make the balance between individualism
and rampant control). One of these strands is represented by Murray
Bookchin's social ecology movement, whose institute in Vermont runs
a very interesting looking summer school. Bookchin is an example of
someone who has been sufficiently embarassed by the associations the
word 'anarchy' has for most lay people to have rebadged it, and
'social ecology' is his alternative. This has also allowed him to
properly update the content of the political philosophy and to
make it relevant to today, as both the traditional left and the
traditional right have failed to do. He has also avoided the trap
of egoist libertarianism.
So, in my view, a sustainable future would adopt neither left nor
right, but social ecology as a political, social and economic
route through the time of fire to come. Concepts such as ecology;
libertarian municipalism; biomes; and many of the traditionally
'christian' values such as 'do unto others' help show the way
for us to live sustainably. Neither the traditional left or
right are far along this road, as they value too highly outmoded
and negative core beliefs that they have not found a way to dump.
Paul"
Pretty good, huh? Thank you Paul.
peak oil
What is the Solution for Peak Oil?
What is the solution for peak oil? This was a question brought up recently by an ROE2 member. As you can imagine, there were many varying responses. However, there was one response that stood out to me because of facts that tended to "bring it home" if one was to thoroughly read it. I asked a poster, Ron, who has been studying the numbers for quite awhile, for permission to reprint his answer, and he abided (special thanks). I just have to share because he says it better than I can:
"....As far as your statement "I believe we will find out if this is all true
sometime in the next 5 years" I will post the following:
Believe who you choose but for your families sake plan for the closest
date. Those of us on these boards, of all people, should have a better
understanding of the numbers behind the claims. We "Peakniks" cannot
afford, like the rest of humanity, to hope for the "optimistic" (i.e.
disinformation) timeline presented within the mainstream media. The
media is owned by the same elites who are dictating our government's
actions. Here is some background information and numbers to help
clarify any misconceptions:
Definitions:
Mega projects - reserves of 500m/bl or more and the potential to produce
over 100,000 bl
New production - from the first discovery to the first production
generally it takes about 6 years. Less (around 4 years) if the new
project can make use of existing infrastructure.
The following data is from 2004 - Oil Field Mega Projects, 2004,
Shrebowski, Chris, Petroleum Review, Jan 2004 -
http://www.odac-info.org/bulletin/documents/MEGAPROJECTSREPORT.pdf
Discovery rates: 16 new mega project discoveries in 2000, 8 discoveries
in 2001, 3 discoveries in 2002, no new mega project discoveries in
2003/2004/2005
New projects brought on stream: 7 new mega projects in 2003, 11 in 2004,
18 in 2005, 11 in 2006, 3 in 2007, 3 in 2008, no new mega projects on
track for 2009/2010
When trying to determine the Peak four variables need to be considered -
decline rate / new capacity / spare capacity / global demand.
As of 2004 1/3 of the world's production came from declining fields @
about a 4% decline rate (75m bl/d divided by 3 = 25m bl/d x .04 = 1m
bl/d decline rate). By 2007 production capacity was estimated to
decline by 3-4m bl/d
New capacity, the new mega projects being brought on-line, was estimate
at 8m bl/d. New capacity minus the 4m bl/d declining production
capacity brings a 4m bl/d spare capacity
Now for the fun part. In 2004 global demand was projected to grow by 1m
bl/d so in 2007 spare capacity was projected to be about 1m bl/d. At
the same rate of growth there would be no spare capacity beyond 2008.
Here's the rub. Worldwide demand growth has actually been close to
double the 1m bl/d projection over the past year at around 8%. We are
currently at around 81m to 82m bl/d compared to the 75m bl/d in 2004
with the government projecting, as of May, the world reaching 85m bl/d
by the end of 2005. There are currently no new mega projects being
discovered and even if there were it would take 4-6 years to bring that
oil on-line as stated above. Oil prices are already straining to stay
within the $50/bl range this year with 2005 having the most mega
projects scheduled to come on-line. Starting in 2006 each year brings
less new projects (i.e. oil to market) on-line through 2009 when no new
projects are scheduled. If any mega projects where discovered this year
they will not come on-line in time to prevent the Peak from occurring.
This is also why Goldman Sachs stated a few months ago they expect oil
to reach above $100/bl within the next 1-2 years and possibly even
$200/bl. Now you can understand why 2008 is the target date for Peak
Oil...and that is the optimistic projection.
None of the above analysis even considers into the equation the lack of
transparency in OPEC or specifically whether Gwahar is now in decline.
Do not forget that OPEC members miraculously "revised" their reserve
figures upwards throughout the 1980's. OPEC changed production quota's
by pegging them to a member's reserves. The higher the reserves the
more they would be allowed to produce (and sell) making more income.
Kuwait started it when it scrubbed its previous figures in 1985.
Overnight, its reserves went from 64bn/bl to 92bn/bl. Two years later
the UAE went from 31bn/bl to 92bn/bl, Iran's reserves increased from
47bn/bl to 93bn/bl, Iraq escalated its reserves from 47bn/bl to
100bn/bl, and let's not forget the mother lode in Saudi Arabia which
went from 170bn/bl to 258bn/bl in 1988. Now in 2005 these numbers
remain unchanged despite they have all been pumping millions of barrels
every day since they changed these numbers. At last weeks annual ASPO
meeting in Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Colin Campbell asserted that
OPEC members, and others such as Russia, were stating the total amount
of reserves ever found, not the amount left for us to use. He said "it
is incredible that this 'flawed data' is still being used today".
Governments of the world are more worried than they want us to believe.
The International Energy Agency, The International Monetary Fund and G7
members all demanded that OPEC, and other producing nations, open their
fields to audit. "Without knowing how much oil is left to pump,
decisions about any energy transitions - the move away from oil as a
predominant fuel - remain impossible." But don't hold your breadth.
Even if there ends up being more transparency the masses will not be
told until it's too late. The elites will not help us find solutions;
we will have to determine them for ourselves.
(referenced Guardian article)
Believe what you want to believe, believe what they want you to believe
or believe the data. It's your choice and your survival may depend on
it........"
Thanks again, Ron. You needed to be heard, IMO.
OUCH! And I heard Greenspan saying today that the recent rises in oil prices were political because of countries like Mexico who won't allow companies to come in and drill. So THAT will be what makes the prices come down? Maybe temporarily, I agree. Will this be a scapegoat in the future? That's scary. Why is it nobody can fathom finiteness and look down the road any longer than 10-20 years to make a decent sustainable plan? I know, it's politics and the economic theory of infinity that get in the way. Anything to carry the illusion on a little longer. I'll have another post in a little while from another ROE contributor regarding economic and political systems that I thought was pretty thought provoking, too. I'll be right back.
peak oil
"....As far as your statement "I believe we will find out if this is all true
sometime in the next 5 years" I will post the following:
Believe who you choose but for your families sake plan for the closest
date. Those of us on these boards, of all people, should have a better
understanding of the numbers behind the claims. We "Peakniks" cannot
afford, like the rest of humanity, to hope for the "optimistic" (i.e.
disinformation) timeline presented within the mainstream media. The
media is owned by the same elites who are dictating our government's
actions. Here is some background information and numbers to help
clarify any misconceptions:
Definitions:
Mega projects - reserves of 500m/bl or more and the potential to produce
over 100,000 bl
New production - from the first discovery to the first production
generally it takes about 6 years. Less (around 4 years) if the new
project can make use of existing infrastructure.
The following data is from 2004 - Oil Field Mega Projects, 2004,
Shrebowski, Chris, Petroleum Review, Jan 2004 -
http://www.odac-info.org/bulletin/documents/MEGAPROJECTSREPORT.pdf
Discovery rates: 16 new mega project discoveries in 2000, 8 discoveries
in 2001, 3 discoveries in 2002, no new mega project discoveries in
2003/2004/2005
New projects brought on stream: 7 new mega projects in 2003, 11 in 2004,
18 in 2005, 11 in 2006, 3 in 2007, 3 in 2008, no new mega projects on
track for 2009/2010
When trying to determine the Peak four variables need to be considered -
decline rate / new capacity / spare capacity / global demand.
As of 2004 1/3 of the world's production came from declining fields @
about a 4% decline rate (75m bl/d divided by 3 = 25m bl/d x .04 = 1m
bl/d decline rate). By 2007 production capacity was estimated to
decline by 3-4m bl/d
New capacity, the new mega projects being brought on-line, was estimate
at 8m bl/d. New capacity minus the 4m bl/d declining production
capacity brings a 4m bl/d spare capacity
Now for the fun part. In 2004 global demand was projected to grow by 1m
bl/d so in 2007 spare capacity was projected to be about 1m bl/d. At
the same rate of growth there would be no spare capacity beyond 2008.
Here's the rub. Worldwide demand growth has actually been close to
double the 1m bl/d projection over the past year at around 8%. We are
currently at around 81m to 82m bl/d compared to the 75m bl/d in 2004
with the government projecting, as of May, the world reaching 85m bl/d
by the end of 2005. There are currently no new mega projects being
discovered and even if there were it would take 4-6 years to bring that
oil on-line as stated above. Oil prices are already straining to stay
within the $50/bl range this year with 2005 having the most mega
projects scheduled to come on-line. Starting in 2006 each year brings
less new projects (i.e. oil to market) on-line through 2009 when no new
projects are scheduled. If any mega projects where discovered this year
they will not come on-line in time to prevent the Peak from occurring.
This is also why Goldman Sachs stated a few months ago they expect oil
to reach above $100/bl within the next 1-2 years and possibly even
$200/bl. Now you can understand why 2008 is the target date for Peak
Oil...and that is the optimistic projection.
None of the above analysis even considers into the equation the lack of
transparency in OPEC or specifically whether Gwahar is now in decline.
Do not forget that OPEC members miraculously "revised" their reserve
figures upwards throughout the 1980's. OPEC changed production quota's
by pegging them to a member's reserves. The higher the reserves the
more they would be allowed to produce (and sell) making more income.
Kuwait started it when it scrubbed its previous figures in 1985.
Overnight, its reserves went from 64bn/bl to 92bn/bl. Two years later
the UAE went from 31bn/bl to 92bn/bl, Iran's reserves increased from
47bn/bl to 93bn/bl, Iraq escalated its reserves from 47bn/bl to
100bn/bl, and let's not forget the mother lode in Saudi Arabia which
went from 170bn/bl to 258bn/bl in 1988. Now in 2005 these numbers
remain unchanged despite they have all been pumping millions of barrels
every day since they changed these numbers. At last weeks annual ASPO
meeting in Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Colin Campbell asserted that
OPEC members, and others such as Russia, were stating the total amount
of reserves ever found, not the amount left for us to use. He said "it
is incredible that this 'flawed data' is still being used today".
Governments of the world are more worried than they want us to believe.
The International Energy Agency, The International Monetary Fund and G7
members all demanded that OPEC, and other producing nations, open their
fields to audit. "Without knowing how much oil is left to pump,
decisions about any energy transitions - the move away from oil as a
predominant fuel - remain impossible." But don't hold your breadth.
Even if there ends up being more transparency the masses will not be
told until it's too late. The elites will not help us find solutions;
we will have to determine them for ourselves.
(referenced Guardian article)
Believe what you want to believe, believe what they want you to believe
or believe the data. It's your choice and your survival may depend on
it........"
Thanks again, Ron. You needed to be heard, IMO.
OUCH! And I heard Greenspan saying today that the recent rises in oil prices were political because of countries like Mexico who won't allow companies to come in and drill. So THAT will be what makes the prices come down? Maybe temporarily, I agree. Will this be a scapegoat in the future? That's scary. Why is it nobody can fathom finiteness and look down the road any longer than 10-20 years to make a decent sustainable plan? I know, it's politics and the economic theory of infinity that get in the way. Anything to carry the illusion on a little longer. I'll have another post in a little while from another ROE contributor regarding economic and political systems that I thought was pretty thought provoking, too. I'll be right back.
peak oil
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Life After the Oil Peak
The California Aggie
This is the 3rd part in a three-part series. Good article. And Matt, they called you a peak-oil expert! I bet you're laughing at that one, aren't you! You did it again! They mentioned you! Is your head swelling yet? LOL
This is the 3rd part in a three-part series. Good article. And Matt, they called you a peak-oil expert! I bet you're laughing at that one, aren't you! You did it again! They mentioned you! Is your head swelling yet? LOL
Grassolean.com :: Home of the Biodiesel Station
Grassolean.com :: Home of the Biodiesel Station
I thought this site looked interesting to share if you're interested in biodiesel.
biodiesel
I thought this site looked interesting to share if you're interested in biodiesel.
biodiesel
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The end of the oil age
Notes From America
This is quite and interesting page I found! The author's name is Johnny America and is supposedly associated with the Green Dragon Texas Tea Party, some anti-corporation theatrical group.
This is quite and interesting page I found! The author's name is Johnny America and is supposedly associated with the Green Dragon Texas Tea Party, some anti-corporation theatrical group.
Our oil-laden food chain-a Discussion of Peak Oil, Oil Prices, Hubbert's Peak, and Oh So Many Other Things...
The Oil Drum produced a pretty good article today about the relationship between our food production and oil. Check it out.
Developing my own local CSA
Sorry folks. I haven't been on the hunt for many articles today because ever since Big Gav posted Community Supported Agriculture, I've been searching for local farms in order to create my own local CSA. I feel that time is getting short and I need to begin to do something now for my community. We do have a farmer's market and I am probably going to go there sometime soon to approach them about the idea. I don't know anybody in agriculture so I have to start somewhere.
Actually, I found some name and addresses of people to contact near me. I called a CSA up north by Chicago and spoke with a CSA owner and tried to get some good information about how to start one. I think she was hopeful that I would set something up for her business/farm and meet them half-way (3-hour drive) to make pick-ups! I think my community needs something closer than this. It looked like a wonderful place! She was going to have her sales manager send me some info but I have a feeling it'll be for her business rather than info on how to start your own. I only wish it was nearer to me. I called 2 other closer locations and they were out of business.
So, I think it's going to be up to me. Me with no money, no established contacts, and no know-how. It's just going to have to be for now.
Actually, I found some name and addresses of people to contact near me. I called a CSA up north by Chicago and spoke with a CSA owner and tried to get some good information about how to start one. I think she was hopeful that I would set something up for her business/farm and meet them half-way (3-hour drive) to make pick-ups! I think my community needs something closer than this. It looked like a wonderful place! She was going to have her sales manager send me some info but I have a feeling it'll be for her business rather than info on how to start your own. I only wish it was nearer to me. I called 2 other closer locations and they were out of business.
So, I think it's going to be up to me. Me with no money, no established contacts, and no know-how. It's just going to have to be for now.
Find Your Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food
Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food
This is great! I've jotted down a few numbers and I'm going to find out how to go about creating a CSA or a coop. There are none in my area. The closest one is in the next town of Peru 15 minutes away. Looks like there's a real nicely established one north of me about 45 minutes away. These are too far away for my city dwellers to travel to all the time, though. We need something even closer for when the real hard times hit.
I had a vision of a certain place in town where I'd make a coop store with the farmer's market coming to my parking lot every weekend, etc. Guess what? The farmer's market has now moved and will be located in the exact spot I envisioned...right in the parking lot next the building I wanted to buy if I had the money!!!! The building is still up for sale, though. I'll have to get a picture of it and post it here for you to see sometime soon.
Since I can't buy the building and realize that dream, maybe I could try to organize a CSA!?!?! I'm going to look into it.
With this link, I hope you can find one near you if you don't already know where one is!
sustainability
This is great! I've jotted down a few numbers and I'm going to find out how to go about creating a CSA or a coop. There are none in my area. The closest one is in the next town of Peru 15 minutes away. Looks like there's a real nicely established one north of me about 45 minutes away. These are too far away for my city dwellers to travel to all the time, though. We need something even closer for when the real hard times hit.
I had a vision of a certain place in town where I'd make a coop store with the farmer's market coming to my parking lot every weekend, etc. Guess what? The farmer's market has now moved and will be located in the exact spot I envisioned...right in the parking lot next the building I wanted to buy if I had the money!!!! The building is still up for sale, though. I'll have to get a picture of it and post it here for you to see sometime soon.
Since I can't buy the building and realize that dream, maybe I could try to organize a CSA!?!?! I'm going to look into it.
With this link, I hope you can find one near you if you don't already know where one is!
sustainability
Monday, June 06, 2005
Story of Peaknik's search for the puzzle pieces
Do some of you other peakniks feel sometimes like you're on the Truman Show? As I've been learning, preparing, trying to spread the word, and trying to get my local community to start planning for the issue, I've seen coverage and commentary explode on peak oil since February '04. Like Olwe has said in the past, I want the title crown for "Doom & Gloomer" because in the end I will be crowned "Most Prophetic"! LoL
I always feel like I'm way out ahead of the crowd on some issues. Not that I'm any smarter than the average joe because it's not that at all. I just tend to see things ahead of the rest. It could stem from my INTP/INTJ personality, or my inclinations to figure out the big picture the whole time I've been alive. I've spent my whole life gradually finding pieces to the puzzle little by little, observing, reading, learning, experiencing all facets of life and the different perspectives and world views. I just love to understand, and my understanding always changes as new information is added.
For instance, I became a born-again Christian in 1985. This was before the commercialism you see today (well, it was the beginning of it). I was curious about God and who He was and about faith and what it meant, especially in the scheme of life. I asked myself what the world was coming to and why people seemed to be so cruel to one another, and why do we kill each other in wars or not help the starving in Ethiopia, etc., which is everything contrary to what I was taught as a child about morality. I gained a direct relationship with the Lord and my life has been directed by Him ever since with His basic principles left in the New Testament according to my understanding of the Word. I immersed myself into learning and studying Christianity. Knocked on doors, tithed, participated in the choir and plays, attended every gathering for 5 years. I went fanatical nuts for awhile so that nobody would hardly come near me. I lost long-time friends and annoyed my family. They thought I'd become involved in a cult. I've built my foundational beliefs from it, though, because the fundamental message is the truth but the truth has been led astray. Back then, however, I compared and contrasted other faiths during that time, and read the Word almost from cover to cover and gained my own understanding as opposed to what I watched and listened to in my church and in the media. I came to different conclusions after reading and feeling like the Holy Spirit was telling me otherwise. His principles of loving my God and loving my brother are always with me to this day but I do not attend organized church because of my experiences and what I saw transpiring. Hence, 20 years later, look at what has happened. I knew it. I knew this was what the "Christian" church was intending on doing (what you see today as involved in politics as they are). Look up dominionism and you'll know what I'm talking about. It's been in the works for a long time now. Unfortunately, people are going to have to find out themselves and separate, like me, or they will follow the pied piper like sheep to the slaughter. They'll not prepare like Noah. If they wake up and turn, I will be very happy and have more hope. I won't get into this any deeper. My point is, I saw it 20 years ago, before all the little pagan fishy symbols popped up on the many vehicles you see today.
After my dive into finding my faith and forming my foundation, I asked the Lord for direction in my life--what was my purpose, how could I lead others to Him besides purely knocking on doors and asking flat out, etc. What occupation could I have that would mimic what His commandment of loving God and brother be? There was no other thing that came up except for nursing. I returned to school at 27 and every door opened that was possible that allowed me to succeed-financial aid, transportation I thought I wouldn't have, a G.P.A. beyond my wildest dreams. So, for 5 years I learned more in sociology classes, psychology, cultural anthropology, literature, logic, ethics, and all the sciences. This experience also helped me expand my understanding of the bigger picture. Upon graduation in 1997, I tended to assume at that point in time that I couldn't change the world so I would "be the change I wished to see in the world" (thanks Ghandi) and accepted that fact that the only thing I could change was myself and hopefully it would spread to those around me.
Then in 2003, the U.S. was again going to war and something seemed fishy to me. Something was not right. My dad sent me a document via email which woke me up to the political world. It was from Indy Media called Iraq War in a .pdf file. It talked about the possible reasons for going to war and the possibility of OPEC wanting to move from the dollar to the euro because the dollar was so weak. This piqued my interest because of my past reading about endtimes theories of a one world currency, and that Europe was the bastion of the old Holy roman empire which would be revived, and all the one world government prophecies I had read about. That started my distrust of the current administration and the moves it has been making. I felt the administration wasn't being truthful about its intentions or motives. I don't value dishonesty in my leaders whether its well intentioned or not! Thus, I ventured out on a crusade to try to change the administration through the elections process. Ultimately, I found out how much of a farce the electoral process has been! So many things are set into place now that it's almost impossible to change the system. But I won't get too far into that, either. So, I went from trying to change the world again, to my previous assumption of myself being the only thing I can change! Must be in me an intent desire to change the world, no? It's a common battle thread in my life.
Foward to presidential primaries Feb '04. I felt like some headway was being made. But out of the clear blue sky, out drops a link from Democratic Underground to Matt Savinar's website Life After the Oil Crash! I sat in a stupor for at least a month! This was a HUGE picture piece to the big jigsaw puzzle I'd been trying to put together most of my life. Everything started coming together, the economy, oil, religion, the history of the world, population, pollution, global warming, disease, famine, resources, resources, resources! It was a big AHA! So THAT'S why we would blow each other up! Resources! Resource control brings POWER. Globalization brings POWER! Totally, the opposite from what Jesus taught. A pyramid scheme usually collapses and it's usually the guy on top that rakes in all the profit, if you catch my drift.
Suddenly, I wanted the candidates to mention more about this "peak oil" I just learned about. Kerry and Kucinich did bring up some good solutions but they never ever really made it one of their primary concerns which disappointed me. Both parties seemed to be all about growth, globalization, etc. Although I favor the Democratic party, they also haven't been honest in looking into what peak oil means to this nation and the world. Maybe in 3-1/2 years they and the public will figure it out. We definitely know where the neoconservatives want to go with this--the "last man standing" route for the greater good (meaning your life may be expendable and we'll get the last drop before we collapse). There has been much more in the media lately about it. However, many polarized political minds have been laughing it off as some left-wing environmentalist propaganda. Far be it from this! Awakened peakniks are ranging from all facets of life. Take Rep. Roscoe Bartlett R-MD. He's more conservative than my tastes for a politician but he gave that Special Order Speech on c-span to wake America and the congress up! I'll lift my biases for someone who will address and try to conserve the future for my great-grandchildren! Neither political party is approaching this critical issue like they should. To become more sustainable, in alot of aspects we are going to have to abandon big government and decentralize as painful as it will be. The Republicans are making this happen but without any support for a transition! That's just plain cruel! I don't sound like a Democrat, do I? I'm sounding more like a Green or an anarchist now. But our lives depend on it. We are all going to have to change our ways of living sooner or later whether we like it or not. It's not going to be pretty if we fight it in favor of our current lifestyles. I may not live through it if it happens in my lifetime. Many of us might not. I can say that after more than a year of reading on this subject. The only way there will be a softer fall will be if the political realm wakes up enough to make the coming changes easier. Unfortunately, many changes cannot be made without political pressure. More than likely, we'll be on our own.
So that's where I've come from and where I'm at. I'm back to changing the world again. Actually, it's a little bit of both. If I can't help to foster awareness and to create an easier transition for my community and the rest of the world, at least I know I can attempt to change my own ways of consumption albeit maybe a little slow. Again, I'm ahead of the curve. I've been aware for a year and have been making transitions as quickly as I'm able. I'm still trying to be "that change I wish to see in the world". I still have some pieces of the puzzle missing but it's almost complete. I just hope things don't end for me before I can help others on this journey of life. If we can make this transition together, our world will be a better place for the future of mankind.
peak oil
I always feel like I'm way out ahead of the crowd on some issues. Not that I'm any smarter than the average joe because it's not that at all. I just tend to see things ahead of the rest. It could stem from my INTP/INTJ personality, or my inclinations to figure out the big picture the whole time I've been alive. I've spent my whole life gradually finding pieces to the puzzle little by little, observing, reading, learning, experiencing all facets of life and the different perspectives and world views. I just love to understand, and my understanding always changes as new information is added.
For instance, I became a born-again Christian in 1985. This was before the commercialism you see today (well, it was the beginning of it). I was curious about God and who He was and about faith and what it meant, especially in the scheme of life. I asked myself what the world was coming to and why people seemed to be so cruel to one another, and why do we kill each other in wars or not help the starving in Ethiopia, etc., which is everything contrary to what I was taught as a child about morality. I gained a direct relationship with the Lord and my life has been directed by Him ever since with His basic principles left in the New Testament according to my understanding of the Word. I immersed myself into learning and studying Christianity. Knocked on doors, tithed, participated in the choir and plays, attended every gathering for 5 years. I went fanatical nuts for awhile so that nobody would hardly come near me. I lost long-time friends and annoyed my family. They thought I'd become involved in a cult. I've built my foundational beliefs from it, though, because the fundamental message is the truth but the truth has been led astray. Back then, however, I compared and contrasted other faiths during that time, and read the Word almost from cover to cover and gained my own understanding as opposed to what I watched and listened to in my church and in the media. I came to different conclusions after reading and feeling like the Holy Spirit was telling me otherwise. His principles of loving my God and loving my brother are always with me to this day but I do not attend organized church because of my experiences and what I saw transpiring. Hence, 20 years later, look at what has happened. I knew it. I knew this was what the "Christian" church was intending on doing (what you see today as involved in politics as they are). Look up dominionism and you'll know what I'm talking about. It's been in the works for a long time now. Unfortunately, people are going to have to find out themselves and separate, like me, or they will follow the pied piper like sheep to the slaughter. They'll not prepare like Noah. If they wake up and turn, I will be very happy and have more hope. I won't get into this any deeper. My point is, I saw it 20 years ago, before all the little pagan fishy symbols popped up on the many vehicles you see today.
After my dive into finding my faith and forming my foundation, I asked the Lord for direction in my life--what was my purpose, how could I lead others to Him besides purely knocking on doors and asking flat out, etc. What occupation could I have that would mimic what His commandment of loving God and brother be? There was no other thing that came up except for nursing. I returned to school at 27 and every door opened that was possible that allowed me to succeed-financial aid, transportation I thought I wouldn't have, a G.P.A. beyond my wildest dreams. So, for 5 years I learned more in sociology classes, psychology, cultural anthropology, literature, logic, ethics, and all the sciences. This experience also helped me expand my understanding of the bigger picture. Upon graduation in 1997, I tended to assume at that point in time that I couldn't change the world so I would "be the change I wished to see in the world" (thanks Ghandi) and accepted that fact that the only thing I could change was myself and hopefully it would spread to those around me.
Then in 2003, the U.S. was again going to war and something seemed fishy to me. Something was not right. My dad sent me a document via email which woke me up to the political world. It was from Indy Media called Iraq War in a .pdf file. It talked about the possible reasons for going to war and the possibility of OPEC wanting to move from the dollar to the euro because the dollar was so weak. This piqued my interest because of my past reading about endtimes theories of a one world currency, and that Europe was the bastion of the old Holy roman empire which would be revived, and all the one world government prophecies I had read about. That started my distrust of the current administration and the moves it has been making. I felt the administration wasn't being truthful about its intentions or motives. I don't value dishonesty in my leaders whether its well intentioned or not! Thus, I ventured out on a crusade to try to change the administration through the elections process. Ultimately, I found out how much of a farce the electoral process has been! So many things are set into place now that it's almost impossible to change the system. But I won't get too far into that, either. So, I went from trying to change the world again, to my previous assumption of myself being the only thing I can change! Must be in me an intent desire to change the world, no? It's a common battle thread in my life.
Foward to presidential primaries Feb '04. I felt like some headway was being made. But out of the clear blue sky, out drops a link from Democratic Underground to Matt Savinar's website Life After the Oil Crash! I sat in a stupor for at least a month! This was a HUGE picture piece to the big jigsaw puzzle I'd been trying to put together most of my life. Everything started coming together, the economy, oil, religion, the history of the world, population, pollution, global warming, disease, famine, resources, resources, resources! It was a big AHA! So THAT'S why we would blow each other up! Resources! Resource control brings POWER. Globalization brings POWER! Totally, the opposite from what Jesus taught. A pyramid scheme usually collapses and it's usually the guy on top that rakes in all the profit, if you catch my drift.
Suddenly, I wanted the candidates to mention more about this "peak oil" I just learned about. Kerry and Kucinich did bring up some good solutions but they never ever really made it one of their primary concerns which disappointed me. Both parties seemed to be all about growth, globalization, etc. Although I favor the Democratic party, they also haven't been honest in looking into what peak oil means to this nation and the world. Maybe in 3-1/2 years they and the public will figure it out. We definitely know where the neoconservatives want to go with this--the "last man standing" route for the greater good (meaning your life may be expendable and we'll get the last drop before we collapse). There has been much more in the media lately about it. However, many polarized political minds have been laughing it off as some left-wing environmentalist propaganda. Far be it from this! Awakened peakniks are ranging from all facets of life. Take Rep. Roscoe Bartlett R-MD. He's more conservative than my tastes for a politician but he gave that Special Order Speech on c-span to wake America and the congress up! I'll lift my biases for someone who will address and try to conserve the future for my great-grandchildren! Neither political party is approaching this critical issue like they should. To become more sustainable, in alot of aspects we are going to have to abandon big government and decentralize as painful as it will be. The Republicans are making this happen but without any support for a transition! That's just plain cruel! I don't sound like a Democrat, do I? I'm sounding more like a Green or an anarchist now. But our lives depend on it. We are all going to have to change our ways of living sooner or later whether we like it or not. It's not going to be pretty if we fight it in favor of our current lifestyles. I may not live through it if it happens in my lifetime. Many of us might not. I can say that after more than a year of reading on this subject. The only way there will be a softer fall will be if the political realm wakes up enough to make the coming changes easier. Unfortunately, many changes cannot be made without political pressure. More than likely, we'll be on our own.
So that's where I've come from and where I'm at. I'm back to changing the world again. Actually, it's a little bit of both. If I can't help to foster awareness and to create an easier transition for my community and the rest of the world, at least I know I can attempt to change my own ways of consumption albeit maybe a little slow. Again, I'm ahead of the curve. I've been aware for a year and have been making transitions as quickly as I'm able. I'm still trying to be "that change I wish to see in the world". I still have some pieces of the puzzle missing but it's almost complete. I just hope things don't end for me before I can help others on this journey of life. If we can make this transition together, our world will be a better place for the future of mankind.
peak oil
Sunday, June 05, 2005
"I don't think there was a gas station in Eden"--My Oil Storm Review
That was my favorite quote in the TV movie on FX called "Oil Storm".
Overall, I felt the movie put some ideas out to the public that might otherwise be blown over in 60 second soundbytes on the news--as much as one can in a faux documentary 90 minute piece. It was probably good that it was not clearly leaning right or left politically in its presentation because oil depletion will affect every one of us and we don't need to be divided on this issue. I'm just glad someone decided to actually present something to the public to make them more aware of the situation concerning our oil dependency. I like how it ended by evaluating our way of life and what we need to do to change it.
Of the things I didn't like, one was the way it ended by using Russia's decision to turn back the oil tankers toward us as a way back to our usual way of life. I don't think things would be so rosey with the public after implementation of martial law and thousands dying. I felt the movie did not really get too deep into how seriously it would affect our lives. Of course, it showed bare shelves in the supermarket, people dying of frostbite, and the implications of martial law, but I didn't get a real emotional feel from the clips they showed. I think it will be much worse in feeling than presented. The actual numbers they were spewing out really wouldn't mean a thing to a layman who knows nothing about oil. They should've made aware how much oil we use everyday in our country to have a basis for what numbers they were talking about in production. A couple of tankers coming our way is in no way going to solve a crisis like this. Production was a main focus but consumption numbers weren't there to compare. Like inFlying Talking Donkey's review, I can foresee everyone getting the blame like the Saudi's, Russia, and China, etc. Somebody always has to be blamed except for ourselves, I guess.
After watching this, I wonder if the author of this movie searched through the internet to see all of the viewpoints and then tried to intertwine them into the movie. Gee whiz, my favorite line in the movie includes a related concept from Olwe's writing of Edenism on one of my first posts! Hmmm. Had this move been in the making for awhile or was it just thrown together recently? At first, the movie made me think of one of those propaganda war clips made during WWI & WWII you often see on the History Channel. I could see where someone more military-oriented than I would go away thinking that what we're doing in the mideast is the right thing to be doing. I, being more liberal, appreciated the comments from the farm wife talking about how she knew how the peace/civil rights protesters in the 60s felt after her husband was arrested for protesting in D.C. for the farmers.
In a nutshell, it was acceptable. I just hope people will pick up on the message that we need a Manhattan-type energy project and NOW! Not more wars to fight for the last man standing.
peak oil
Overall, I felt the movie put some ideas out to the public that might otherwise be blown over in 60 second soundbytes on the news--as much as one can in a faux documentary 90 minute piece. It was probably good that it was not clearly leaning right or left politically in its presentation because oil depletion will affect every one of us and we don't need to be divided on this issue. I'm just glad someone decided to actually present something to the public to make them more aware of the situation concerning our oil dependency. I like how it ended by evaluating our way of life and what we need to do to change it.
Of the things I didn't like, one was the way it ended by using Russia's decision to turn back the oil tankers toward us as a way back to our usual way of life. I don't think things would be so rosey with the public after implementation of martial law and thousands dying. I felt the movie did not really get too deep into how seriously it would affect our lives. Of course, it showed bare shelves in the supermarket, people dying of frostbite, and the implications of martial law, but I didn't get a real emotional feel from the clips they showed. I think it will be much worse in feeling than presented. The actual numbers they were spewing out really wouldn't mean a thing to a layman who knows nothing about oil. They should've made aware how much oil we use everyday in our country to have a basis for what numbers they were talking about in production. A couple of tankers coming our way is in no way going to solve a crisis like this. Production was a main focus but consumption numbers weren't there to compare. Like inFlying Talking Donkey's review, I can foresee everyone getting the blame like the Saudi's, Russia, and China, etc. Somebody always has to be blamed except for ourselves, I guess.
After watching this, I wonder if the author of this movie searched through the internet to see all of the viewpoints and then tried to intertwine them into the movie. Gee whiz, my favorite line in the movie includes a related concept from Olwe's writing of Edenism on one of my first posts! Hmmm. Had this move been in the making for awhile or was it just thrown together recently? At first, the movie made me think of one of those propaganda war clips made during WWI & WWII you often see on the History Channel. I could see where someone more military-oriented than I would go away thinking that what we're doing in the mideast is the right thing to be doing. I, being more liberal, appreciated the comments from the farm wife talking about how she knew how the peace/civil rights protesters in the 60s felt after her husband was arrested for protesting in D.C. for the farmers.
In a nutshell, it was acceptable. I just hope people will pick up on the message that we need a Manhattan-type energy project and NOW! Not more wars to fight for the last man standing.
peak oil
The Downing Minutes (non-peak related, maybe)
I try to keep my blog strictly peak oil related but I felt that this deserves some attention. Congressman John Conyers and 88 other congress people are asking for an investigation into The Downing Minutes concerning the implementation of the Iraq war. I found out about the petition on uncommonthought. Read more here.
Sometimes I feel like I should make a blog for my political interests but I haven't done so yet. I'm just learning the ropes with this one. So, for now, this post goes up here. Who knows? Maybe this has something to do with energy and plans to control the resources in that region. Peak oil and other resource depletion weaves its way into almost everything--economy, politics, global change, power, etc. So sometimes it's hard not to intertwine them. I feel that if we have a chance to make things right with the rest of the world, then maybe we can all work together towards a more sustainable future and not obliterate ourselves into oblivion.
Sometimes I feel like I should make a blog for my political interests but I haven't done so yet. I'm just learning the ropes with this one. So, for now, this post goes up here. Who knows? Maybe this has something to do with energy and plans to control the resources in that region. Peak oil and other resource depletion weaves its way into almost everything--economy, politics, global change, power, etc. So sometimes it's hard not to intertwine them. I feel that if we have a chance to make things right with the rest of the world, then maybe we can all work together towards a more sustainable future and not obliterate ourselves into oblivion.
Power outages & screwed up blogsite
Hello! Just had a 3-hour power outage. We haven't had one of those for a long time. I guess that's something we'll all have to look forward to in the future, huh? I don't know what happened. It was the first day over 90 degrees here and I bet everyone turned everything on at the same time. A storm was on the horizon but I don't think it was the storm that affected it. There was no lightening or thunder yet. I was able to run my laptop but the connection through the router was out with the power so I couldn't get online. That's sort of a wake up call for me to figure out a way to run without power. A generator would be nice but I just can't afford one right now. I guess they're cheaper now than what they might be if there's a continuing crisis, I guess. Another thing on the list.
It's amazing how much we depend on electricity for things like telephones, garage doors, and crockpots. By the way, supper will be about 3 hours late tonight! I should also have an old phone handy--one that doesn't rely on electricity like the cordless. My daughter had a cellphone that was usable but I hardly ever use mine and I hadn't charged it up so it was dead.
I don't know what could have done this but after I came back online, my weblog has gone haywire! Can anyone tell me what is going on when your blog's sidebar moves under your posts? I can't tell if there's anything different in my template. It looks the same to me. This is annoying me and I don't know where to look. Well, I'm off to look at blogger.com for some answers. If anyone has any answers, please comment. I still don't know if this new haloscan comment feature works because nobody has commented since I activated it.
It's amazing how much we depend on electricity for things like telephones, garage doors, and crockpots. By the way, supper will be about 3 hours late tonight! I should also have an old phone handy--one that doesn't rely on electricity like the cordless. My daughter had a cellphone that was usable but I hardly ever use mine and I hadn't charged it up so it was dead.
I don't know what could have done this but after I came back online, my weblog has gone haywire! Can anyone tell me what is going on when your blog's sidebar moves under your posts? I can't tell if there's anything different in my template. It looks the same to me. This is annoying me and I don't know where to look. Well, I'm off to look at blogger.com for some answers. If anyone has any answers, please comment. I still don't know if this new haloscan comment feature works because nobody has commented since I activated it.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Friday, June 03, 2005
"Welcome to the Grand Illusion" -or- it's all a game for them
All the world's a stage
I know. I know. I'm showing my age. I equate the many songs stored in my memory often to what I read. After I read these next 2 links, you'll know why I thought of Styx's "Grand Illusion".....
First read this exerpt from Andrew McKillop at vheadline.com:
...."Any country with ‘civil’ nuclear power is at most ‘two screwdriver turns’ from nuclear weapons capability. Great Game 2 strategists, despite their air-conditioned bunkers, might toy with Indiana Jones images of those long-ago imperial tea rooms and moustachioed strategists with solar toupee hats, of Sopwith biplanes and Lee Enfield or Mauser and Remington rifles left over from the 1914-18 war.
If so, they have gone too far in their reverie: they might imagine they have the time that Great Game 1 players had. They might imagine their strategy game only generates occasional and relatively small skirmishes against lightly armed and disorganized enemies, as US and British media likes to present the 2003-2005 Iraq war. They might above all imagine they will find, and then hold abundant and cheap oil and gas resources in the Golden Triangle centred on present day Saudi Arabia.
The Fast Replay
Sadly for them, the replay will be different, and will come to an accelerated end. It has two-only variants: nuclear war or resource wipeout, the second of which is certain and inevitable, while the other remains an option. Sooner rather than later, this endgame choice will become evident -- any responsible citizen, anywhere, should be concerned."
Then...have any of you heard of Thomas Barnett and his book _The Pentagon's New Map_? Well, I saw him talk on c-span last November/December and I was totally mesmorized with all the things he was saying. I think it still may be in c-span's archives or he may have a link on his website but I wanted to link you to one of his blog entries so that you can see the mindset the military has after reading the first link I gave you. He is a strategic planner. What he said totally blew me away when I saw him on c-span.
"Can't we all just get along?"
peak oil
Books, bikes, breadmakers, bunnies & boas
Okay, Code Three, you talked me into buying Kuntsler's book and reading it from your most recent post. The bad thing about reading these books is that after I read one, I want everyone else to read it, too. Then I can't get anyone to WANT to read it. So when I finally find someone that says they are interested, I'm afraid that when I give it to them, they'll never read it and never give it back! That's happened on several occassions. But thanks for sparking my interest Code Three! It's on my "list".
At the top of my agenda for today was to find a bike at a garage sale. Nothing piqued my interest regarding quality with price. Most of them were kids' bikes like I thought. I've also been looking for a good bookshelf because of all the prep books I'm buying and planning to buy. Didn't find it yet, either.
While garage-saling, it amazed me about all of the useless JUNK people have. I mean really. Every sale was all about nicnacs or clothes. My Lord, I thought about all the energy it took to make all of this junk! I like Longaberger and everything because it's a durable product but $40 for a used one? Come on!
There is a breadmaker for sale in one of tomorrow's sales but I started thinking of how I would operate it during a blackout this summer or when we can't afford electricity any longer? I guess it would be useful now for me to just learn how to make bread--period.
I think I'll have to bypass it because I need to spend some time in the garden tomorrow building a fortress around my garden. To date, a little bunny (I think) has eaten off the tops of my tomato plants and my sunflowers. My carrots will probably be next.
He was looking at me JUST like that!
Within the next week I'll have a picture of the little bunny that I took while I was watering the garden. He was watching me water the garden from underneath some fence sections laying in the yard. He stayed long enough for me to run to the house, grab the camera and walk back nonchalantly to water the lawn to take the picture. Yesterday, I had just picked one of my first radishes and I saw him out of the corner of my eye. Picture me jumping up and down on the fence sections with radish in hand, trying to scare him out. No luck. I sprinkled cayenne pepper around all the plants the other day but it rained the next day. So, today I bought a fake snake and put it right in the garden. Within the last hour, I looked out and a bird was standing right by it. So much for the snake idea. Tomorrow it's helping out with putting up fence posts and making a cage for my garden out of chicken wire........I need to figure out how to do all of this for when TSHTF.....
peak oil
At the top of my agenda for today was to find a bike at a garage sale. Nothing piqued my interest regarding quality with price. Most of them were kids' bikes like I thought. I've also been looking for a good bookshelf because of all the prep books I'm buying and planning to buy. Didn't find it yet, either.
While garage-saling, it amazed me about all of the useless JUNK people have. I mean really. Every sale was all about nicnacs or clothes. My Lord, I thought about all the energy it took to make all of this junk! I like Longaberger and everything because it's a durable product but $40 for a used one? Come on!
There is a breadmaker for sale in one of tomorrow's sales but I started thinking of how I would operate it during a blackout this summer or when we can't afford electricity any longer? I guess it would be useful now for me to just learn how to make bread--period.
I think I'll have to bypass it because I need to spend some time in the garden tomorrow building a fortress around my garden. To date, a little bunny (I think) has eaten off the tops of my tomato plants and my sunflowers. My carrots will probably be next.
He was looking at me JUST like that!
Within the next week I'll have a picture of the little bunny
peak oil
Back in the "high" life again------oil breaks $55
Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]
Are those the words to that Stevie Winwood song? That's what song came to my mind when I read this for some reason.
peak oil
Are those the words to that Stevie Winwood song? That's what song came to my mind when I read this for some reason.
peak oil
The End of Suburbia Interviews--Kuntsler
The End of Suburbia Interviews
I know this is probably on every other peak oil blog but I'm listening to it right now. He's talking about his vision of how urban structure should morph in order to acclimate to less energy.
peak oil
I know this is probably on every other peak oil blog but I'm listening to it right now. He's talking about his vision of how urban structure should morph in order to acclimate to less energy.
peak oil
Australian PM Anderson fears for oil reserves
ABC News Online
Yay for the Aussies! I only wish that our government would be so blatantly honest to the people about this.
peak oil
Yay for the Aussies! I only wish that our government would be so blatantly honest to the people about this.
peak oil
Winterline: When Oil is but a Memory
Winterline: When Oil is but a Memory
I thought this was a good post. I'll have to make a link for Winterline but for now, I must go to sleep!
I thought this was a good post. I'll have to make a link for Winterline but for now, I must go to sleep!
Vote Mogambo for Fed Chairman in '06
The Daily Reckoning
WARNING: this is very, very long!
Just to show you I'm not COMPLETELY going off subject from peak oil here, below is an exerpt. I probably needn't explain as most of us know how the economy and peak oil can be tied together anyway. Parts of it were entertaining, too. It helps to laugh every now and then even in midst of chaos now, doesn't it?
"Quoted Pearls on Energy" is an essay by Jim Willie CB, editor of the Hat Trick Letter. He writes on the 321energy.com site, "Contract prices for crude oil have risen for the 'out' years, the distant future months. A tectonic shift has occurred since last autumn 2004. Those who mistakenly (very shallow analysis) point to the recent pricing of crude oil above $45 per barrel as a temporary aberration, might want to check the forward pricing of crude oil futures contracts. A $10-12 rise across the distant year spectrum versus last Oct2004 is evident in futures contracts. This should be interpreted as 'crude market recognizes post-peak supply declines' integrated into pricing structures. Couple the reality of finite limited oil supply with steady relentless demand increases, especially in emerging markets. Supply will struggle to meet 84 to 86 million barrels per day demand. Population growth and economic growth foster demand, a reflection of reality."
He also quotes T. Boone Pickens, who has been around oil for a long, long time, as saying "The oil price is going up. We are heading to $60. This is the weakest season of the year, when inventories are built up. From the second quarter and third quarter, we will be coming into demand. The current oil price is legitimately based upon supply & demand. In the short term there is plenty of oil around right now. We will make it to $60 by the third quarter for sure. The typical backwardization [in futures contracts] has changed dramatically."
-A letter from a Norwegian reader to Bill Bonner of DR and his newsletter "The problem is that the politicians here, just as in the U.S., don't have a clue. They are spending the oil and gas revenues on better schools, better homes for seniors, more expensive roads, higher minimum wages, etc. and all of this is driving up prices. Now we are facing a rate (tax) hike, I'd guess."
Tag: economics peak oil
WARNING: this is very, very long!
Just to show you I'm not COMPLETELY going off subject from peak oil here, below is an exerpt. I probably needn't explain as most of us know how the economy and peak oil can be tied together anyway. Parts of it were entertaining, too. It helps to laugh every now and then even in midst of chaos now, doesn't it?
"Quoted Pearls on Energy" is an essay by Jim Willie CB, editor of the Hat Trick Letter. He writes on the 321energy.com site, "Contract prices for crude oil have risen for the 'out' years, the distant future months. A tectonic shift has occurred since last autumn 2004. Those who mistakenly (very shallow analysis) point to the recent pricing of crude oil above $45 per barrel as a temporary aberration, might want to check the forward pricing of crude oil futures contracts. A $10-12 rise across the distant year spectrum versus last Oct2004 is evident in futures contracts. This should be interpreted as 'crude market recognizes post-peak supply declines' integrated into pricing structures. Couple the reality of finite limited oil supply with steady relentless demand increases, especially in emerging markets. Supply will struggle to meet 84 to 86 million barrels per day demand. Population growth and economic growth foster demand, a reflection of reality."
He also quotes T. Boone Pickens, who has been around oil for a long, long time, as saying "The oil price is going up. We are heading to $60. This is the weakest season of the year, when inventories are built up. From the second quarter and third quarter, we will be coming into demand. The current oil price is legitimately based upon supply & demand. In the short term there is plenty of oil around right now. We will make it to $60 by the third quarter for sure. The typical backwardization [in futures contracts] has changed dramatically."
-A letter from a Norwegian reader to Bill Bonner of DR and his newsletter "The problem is that the politicians here, just as in the U.S., don't have a clue. They are spending the oil and gas revenues on better schools, better homes for seniors, more expensive roads, higher minimum wages, etc. and all of this is driving up prices. Now we are facing a rate (tax) hike, I'd guess."
Tag: economics peak oil
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Sorry about the technorati blunder guys. I was messing around trying to figure out how to use the technorati tags. I decided to try and place it on my template instead of me having to type out the tag for every post (I guess I'm lazy!) So it tagged every post I've done and knocked out everyone else's. Well, I went back into the template and erased it. I'll keep working on this but I wanted to apologize!
Power giant warns of coming energy crunch (Switzerland)
swissinfo
Potential crisis
According to Karrer, the Swiss energy supply situation could become acute after 2020, if the country’s two oldest nuclear plants close down and supply contracts with French nuclear plants are not renewed.
He estimated that, if no action was taken to replace existing capacity and import contracts, the supply gap could reach between 10 and 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030 – between 15 and 33 per cent of total anticipated annual demand.
This situation – which mirrored a similar looming crisis at Europe-wide level – could be particularly serious during winter months, when a supply gap could begin arising as early as 2012.
And Karrer added that options were limited – energy efficiency and conservation measures were not even capable of keeping pace with annual demand growth, new renewable energy sources were "nowhere near" being able to meet the gap, and the potential to expand Swiss hydro-power capacity was "very limited".
Switzerland currently produces some 40 per cent of its electricity from five nuclear power plants and the vast majority of the rest from hydropower.
The issue is also complicated by the fact that the other main existing option – gas or coal-fired plants – produce significant quantities of carbon dioxide.
Tag:energy+depletion
Potential crisis
According to Karrer, the Swiss energy supply situation could become acute after 2020, if the country’s two oldest nuclear plants close down and supply contracts with French nuclear plants are not renewed.
He estimated that, if no action was taken to replace existing capacity and import contracts, the supply gap could reach between 10 and 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030 – between 15 and 33 per cent of total anticipated annual demand.
This situation – which mirrored a similar looming crisis at Europe-wide level – could be particularly serious during winter months, when a supply gap could begin arising as early as 2012.
And Karrer added that options were limited – energy efficiency and conservation measures were not even capable of keeping pace with annual demand growth, new renewable energy sources were "nowhere near" being able to meet the gap, and the potential to expand Swiss hydro-power capacity was "very limited".
Switzerland currently produces some 40 per cent of its electricity from five nuclear power plants and the vast majority of the rest from hydropower.
The issue is also complicated by the fact that the other main existing option – gas or coal-fired plants – produce significant quantities of carbon dioxide.
Tag:energy+depletion
How to buy a hybrid
Union of Concerned Scientists
I subscribe to this newsletter and it has some useful information. As my lease ends in December on my Jeep, I'll be looking around at what's available. I also have to talk to my dear husband. We've always bought Chryslers because his dad is retired from there and we always get a greenslip, so having him agree to buy a car with better gas mileage will take some work! I wish Chrysler would come out with something along these lines. It probably won't be soon enough (December). I'm not looking too hard right now but I will be. I definitely know we won't be leasing anymore. It's been nice driving newer cars but I'm tired of paying for something that won't be mine. It's still been a hefty payment and I'm tired of the higher insurance, too. We may even buy used this time. I definitely need a small truck for hauling gardening things. Alot of things to think about coming up for us. I would like to buy a used truck that might have the ability to run on biodiesel later, if I can only get my spouse interested in making it.
He's one of those who conceptualizes the idea of peak oil but he's in the camp of "we can't do anything about it, so why do anything about it". I'm thinking I'm driving him crazy because peak oil has become a part of me and the way I view everything anymore. But he accepts me and all of my obsessions!
Who knows? Maybe we'll be walking and biking in the near future? I'm going to try to go garage-saling tomorrow morning to look for bikes. Hope I find something. I'm hitting all the places with ads that say they have bikes. They'll probably all be tricycles! The bike I get probably won't be one of those $2000 bikes like I'd like but it will be better than nothing at the moment!
I subscribe to this newsletter and it has some useful information. As my lease ends in December on my Jeep, I'll be looking around at what's available. I also have to talk to my dear husband. We've always bought Chryslers because his dad is retired from there and we always get a greenslip, so having him agree to buy a car with better gas mileage will take some work! I wish Chrysler would come out with something along these lines. It probably won't be soon enough (December). I'm not looking too hard right now but I will be. I definitely know we won't be leasing anymore. It's been nice driving newer cars but I'm tired of paying for something that won't be mine. It's still been a hefty payment and I'm tired of the higher insurance, too. We may even buy used this time. I definitely need a small truck for hauling gardening things. Alot of things to think about coming up for us. I would like to buy a used truck that might have the ability to run on biodiesel later, if I can only get my spouse interested in making it.
He's one of those who conceptualizes the idea of peak oil but he's in the camp of "we can't do anything about it, so why do anything about it". I'm thinking I'm driving him crazy because peak oil has become a part of me and the way I view everything anymore. But he accepts me and all of my obsessions!
Who knows? Maybe we'll be walking and biking in the near future? I'm going to try to go garage-saling tomorrow morning to look for bikes. Hope I find something. I'm hitting all the places with ads that say they have bikes. They'll probably all be tricycles! The bike I get probably won't be one of those $2000 bikes like I'd like but it will be better than nothing at the moment!
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Hot summer could bring power outages, price spikes
Oil & Energy - MSNBC.com
Yikes! I don't want to hear that! Not, not yet! I'm not ready! I haven't even had to rev up my central air yet (at least I'm trying to hold out)!
Yikes! I don't want to hear that! Not, not yet! I'm not ready! I haven't even had to rev up my central air yet (at least I'm trying to hold out)!
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