Peak Oil - Adapting for Big Changes Ahead

Peak Moment 155: With a long-time eye to declining energy resources, Bart Anderson envisions a very different society in five years. The former editor of Energy Bulletin.net offers advice for post-oil living: Understand the problem. Prepare psychologically for big shifts and the unexpected. Find your niche and get good at it. See what your great grandparents did as a model for living well within limits. "Live poor and learn to do it well" as Bart did as a graduate student. Things will be very different, he said, but we'll make it through.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• peak
• oil
• collapse
• preparedness

[jason1973tl]

People also need to remember that it is possible to derive oil from shale, coal to oil, algae farms and other sources. So while it will get more expensive the bell curve on the downward slope will be stretched out much more than how fast it went up.

[peakmoment]

@jason1973tl, shale and coal-to-oil are terribly dirty because they're low-grade. That means a whole lot more carbon emissions in the atmosphere. And of course expensive, as you say, because these are harder to exploit.

[walter0bz]

thorium ftw

[peakmoment]

@walter0bz, reply from David Fridley, one of my advisors on alt. energy sources, is that thorium reactors are theoretically better than uranium-based, but are only at R&D and demonstration level, not commercial. Problems with fuel recycling, and proliferation and waste disposal. If they're not commercial now, it'll take 20 years or so to see if they make a difference.

In the context of peak oil, won't make a difference. Don't provide liquid fuels.

[peakmoment]

@tommcreynoldscom we videotaped two of Heinberg's presentations. What I heard is there are several possible scenarios -- and one is that big governments will fight over resources -- "last man standing." He doesn't want this but he sees it as what's going on now. Richard advocates for energy reduction, relocalizing communities, decentralizing energy.

[MrEnergyCzar]

Learning to live an enriched life as if you are a poor graduate student is the best advice ever to prepare for PO...

[DoblyTufnell]

@jason1973tl I have studied and practiced Permaculture for almost 6 years. So I know what can be done to grow food for those who have the skill, time, land and whatever else to make it. Most food does not come from Permaculture system.

We use 80 million barrels of oil a day. Every day. How many acres of algae farms would we need to keep things going the way they are? I'd suggest a few planets worth.

Seems we are on the same page but you have a more optimistic view on how this will pan out.

[jason1973tl]

@peakmoment We can only hope to find better alternatives before they insist on stripping the land for it.

[jason1973tl]

@DoblyTufnell Petrochemical fertilizers can be replaced. This channel has a few episodes on permaculture. Fertilizers are not needed. Also people are working on huge factor type hydroponic systems that also do not need fertilizers. Do not think that nothing can be replaced. If man uses his ingenuity and brains anything is possible.

Besides, for anything you can't replace oil with, I have seen work on algae farms that produce oil that is so clean the scientists where shot drinking it.

[DoblyTufnell]

@jason1973tl How on earth are you going to (for just one example) use 'hemp' to:

1. Create the equivalent of petrochemical fertilizers (or any fertilizers for that matter). These are of paramount importance to the way that most of our food is created in 'modern agriculture' that currently feeds the masses.

2. Create the heavy machinery that plough the fields, move and process the produce, move that produce all over the country etc etc...

There is no replacement for oil. Nothing.

[DancingSpiderman]

@jason1973tl I Googled Velomobile.

It's a Bicycle. Sometimes a Tricycle. No thanks. I need a vehicle that "does the pedaling for me". I enjoy the concept of the motorized bicycles, like this one:

watch?v=sXhhWXw9V7A&feature=ch­annel_video_title

Or this one even better;

watch?v=B_Whbb_hlPs&feature=re­lated

[jason1973tl]

@DancingSpiderman One word.....Velomobile.

[jason1973tl]

@DoblyTufnell That is not entirely true. There are replacements for oil when you talk about making stuff. Hemp for example and many other plants not readily used today can be used to make replacements for materials making.

[keeelane]

hello,

i'm a grad student from finland majoring on musicology

i'm amazed how little people here are - well, at least SEEM to be - aware of this happening

it's hard to find information on how this will affect places like scandinavia and finland (neighbor to scandinavia, but not scandinavia per se)

i know it probably won't have the same impact in terms of i.e. water, because we have a very efficient water system and there's plenty of clean water around anyway

any info will be appreciated