Of Gasoline and Gardens: A Look at the Future

[marmar]

via CommonDreams:



Published on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 by The Guelph Mercury (Canada)
Of Gasoline and Gardens: A Look at the Future
by Sam Turton



Modern industrial society runs on oil and its derivative, gasoline.

All the plastic or synthetic items around us, from clothing and computers to appliances and tools, are made from oil. Almost all of them were manufactured with machines that either run on oil or on electricity that was produced by oil. Each one of these items was shipped to a store — which we drove to — in vehicles that run on oil.

Cheap oil and combustion engines drive our global society. They are what separate us from the person-powered, hand-hewn, land-centered life that our predecessors lived barely 100 years ago.

Although many of us believe our modern lifestyles will be maintained by alternative energy sources, many experts disagree.

At the Guelph Civic League “Amazing Possibilities” conference two years ago, James Howard Kunstler, author of “The Long Emergency” and “World Made By Hand,” solemnly declared the raw, immediate power of the gasoline engine cannot be replaced by wind, solar, electricity or green fuels at the degree or volume required by our machine-driven society. In other words, we can only run at our present level with oil — cheap oil — and the days of cheap oil are over.

The cost of oil and gas will continue to rise because supply is limited and demand is increasing. As the price of oil goes up, the price of everything else connected to oil goes up as well. We are holding onto a balloon that is pulling us off the ground. There is only one thing to do — let go before it’s too late.

How do we let go of oil? Is it possible? How can we even consider such a life? .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/17/9693/

[Rosemary2205]

1. I really miss glass bottles and storage dishes.

I needed to replace my Pyrex 2 cup measure not long ago and had to resort to Ebay to find one. I guess when oil gets expensive enough they'll go back to making glass again.

[MadHound]

2. I have to disagree with this piece

Since we can make enough biodiesel, using algae as the feedstock, to fuel our entire demand for petroleum based products. Not only that, but using much the same chemistry, we can derive many fine plastics from corn, algae and other renewable resources.

Also, a 1991 DOE report stated that we have enough wind power to fulfill all of our electrical needs through the year 2030 in three states, ND, KS and TX. That's not to say that other states don't have massive wind reserves, they do. It just points out how large our potential from wind is.

Solar is making quick breakthroughs, both in price and efficiency, and can make a substantial contribution to our energy needs.

What is needed is rational, long term planning, and rethinking of our energy infrastructure. We can do without petroleum, but we have to plan for it.

[Terry in Austin]

4. Hope you're right, but...

The last time we visited on this topic, you cited about 15,000 square miles of algae ponds would be necessary to meet present fuel needs. I checked, and the figures looked about right. Only for fuel, btw -- not plastics, etc.

But let's pause a moment and really appreciate the scale of such a project. Comparable in scale, say, to the interstate highway system. So far, the scaling-up has been on paper, a straight-line extrapolation from what are basically lab results. Consider also that the energy inputs for building this infrastructure will be largely petroleum based.

Yes, we'll have solar, wind, algal biodiesel, etc., but the crucial question is On what scale?

I think that the biggest part of the solution is going to be revisiting what we assume to be our "needs" and then just getting by on less. I really don't think we'll have a lot of choice, frankly. It's tough to make a credible case that we'll simply find "something else to put in the tank," so to speak, and continue our hyper-consuming, car-centric way of life without interruption.

But meanwhile, we've got to keep trying stuff, certainly, and you never know -- it just might turn out to be a little less bad than it would have been otherwise!

[mdmc]

3. My grandparents survived the great depression

I have learned quite a bit from the way that they lived. I am now role modeling some of their same behaviors.

I always wondered why they grew their own veggies when they could just buy what they needed at the store. Now I enjoy our local tomatoes while all the local restaurants / fast food joints continue to hold off because of the recent "taint".

I look forward to a local economy. Just like my grandparents had.