Peak Oil... Very interesting read...

[XylathaneGTR]

Linkz0r (http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Index.html)

I came across this site a while ago...Its a long read, if you read through everything, but its very interesting, and makes you think about where things are going. I've even noticed, in hindsight, some of the said initial trends...

Discuss?

[Ducati]

It is an alarming prospect, however I cannot see technology being completely blindsided. There is an Oil Lobby that is applying a tournequet to both the oil reserves, as well as to extracting economic utility out of their investment for as long as they are investing in it.

We face many perils, energy being but one large component of the drastic changes we imminently face. I will not go into all of them. My point is that the change will occur and will be more of an economic reorganization than a technical one.

Fuel can be made from biomass. There is a lot of biomass. In Germany there is a processing plant that renders dead cattle carcasses into diesel fuel. Not trying to sound absurd, but maybe there will be something besides Organ Donor on your drivers license in the future?
Why dont we have that here? Why arent the 19 million chickens and other poultry that was killed in BC this week converted in this manner?

There are experiments that show great promise relating to the cold fusion of seawater.

Upon delving deeper into that website, it has all of the alarmist earmarks of some apoplyptic religious group. Sure change is gonna come - and it will not be comfortable - but "neccessity is the mother of invention", right? I believe that we as a civilization will adapt. If I knew more about what exactly wqe would have to adapt to I could get stinking rich. Just call it "confidence" in mankinds ingenuity.

[koopkoop2]

Originally posted by Ducati
It is an alarming prospect, however I cannot see technology being completely blindsided. There is an Oil Lobby that is applying a tournequet to both the oil reserves, as well as to extracting economic utility out of their investment for as long as they are investing in it.

We face many perils, energy being but one large component of the drastic changes we imminently face. I will not go into all of them. My point is that the change will occur and will be more of an economic reorganization than a technical one.

Fuel can be made from biomass. There is a lot of biomass. In Germany there is a processing plant that renders dead cattle carcasses into diesel fuel. Not trying to sound absurd, but maybe there will be something besides Organ Donor on your drivers license in the future?
Why dont we have that here? Why arent the 19 million chickens and other poultry that was killed in BC this week converted in this manner?

There are experiments that show great promise relating to the cold fusion of seawater.

Upon delving deeper into that website, it has all of the alarmist earmarks of some apoplyptic religious group. Sure change is gonna come - and it will not be comfortable - but "neccessity is the mother of invention", right? I believe that we as a civilization will adapt. If I knew more about what exactly wqe would have to adapt to I could get stinking rich. Just call it "confidence" in mankinds ingenuity.


If you read his article more carefully, alot of your counter-arguments were addressed in his article. Take, for example, your theory of converting 19 million chickens into energy. If you consider the amount of energy it took to raise 19 million chickens and then transport 19 million chickens to an energy convertor, the output of the convertor would have to equal or exceed that amount to make it worthwhile. You don't need to be a scientest to see just how much energy is involved when you examine all the major and minor details involved in such a task.

As well, the guy's point about the inability to create plastics and "petrol based products "(which is basically EVERYTHING) from alternative energy sources is extremely hard to argue.

I would love to think that we will find a way to fabricate materials from dust and grass but when you REALLY think about how realistic that idea is, it's not very feasible at all. Consider the materials in something as simple,yet oh-so neccessary, as a tootbrush. Now consider the amount of R&D it would take to build that exact same tootbrush without the use of anything fabricated from a petrol product. This new breed of tootbrush must last just as long and cost the same as a tootbrush created from petrol products. Now why would any corporation spend substantial amounts of resources to develop something that is only equal to a currently available product. Especially when they know their competitor will be spending an equal amount of resources to improve upon a petrol based product, effectively destroying the marketability of their "just as good as the current model" design.

This cycle of corporate competition is what will ensure the demise of all of us. The corporations know they can only make money by selling "the best" and we as consumers will always be looking to buy "the best". Even if developing or obtaining or being "the best" would result in the destruction of ourselves.

[Ducati]

The 19 million chicken were killed anyway, due to Avian Flu. They are now being hauled to an incinerator at Cache Creek, where people are out picketing that they don't want diseased chickens in their garbage incinerator. If this was Germany those chickens would be next months' low sulphur diesel fuel.

Whats your point? Why waste them? Why waste anything that can be converted into useful energy or fuel? We are a wasteful society, and that is a big part of our problem.

I met a man who makes his own biodiesel out of common fryer grease from restaraunts, and burns it in his 68 Mercedes 240D and 1981 Mazda diesel pickup truck. Commercial Biodiesel is used commonly in the USA, especially in the Southern States where there is no cold weather to cause the biodiesel to gel and clog fuel filters. It is now being tried out in Ontario (summer only).

I did read the article and concede that current technology is a ways away from the sort of things you refer to, but I still feel that we are capable of the technological paradigm shift that will be forced upon us as a matter of survival. I believe that it will take economic chaos on a massive scale to shake the credibility and strength of the petrochemical lobby, and create a sense of urgency to change.

My veiled suggestion that we make biodiesel out of human corpses was deliberately absurd, however was meant to provoke thought about just what really is recyclable.

There are quite literally thousands of synthetic bases for materials that do not rely on petrochemicals.
"Dust and Grass" - hardly!
The toothbrush is even now being reinvented, and "The Best" will take on a new meaning once our culture and survival are threatened by the impending crisis.

I am glad to see that you do concur that something has to be done, though.