artimaeis

I've had my eyes out and about and it seems to me that many people are worried about electricity. Many seem to feel that one day the power may just shut off. That somehow without the oil we won't be able to produce enough to power our homes.

I must say that this is far from foreseeable.

The major first effect of the oil-crisis will undoubtedly be transportation. However, we can rest assured knowing that only 2% of our nation's electricity (coming from a documented source published ~2002) electricity relies on fossil fuels. Most of that is diesel for the brown-outs of large cities.

There will, however, be a problem. How do the workers that go out and harvest the other 98% of electricity go to their jobs? Yes, many use public transportation, especially in larger operations such as coal mines where more man-power is required in comparison to the relatively self-motivated hydro-electric plant, which requires notably less workers to operate. Because of this one can expect the price of electricity to rise.

Bio-diesel is undoubtedly going to have to take over our nations shipping, there is no other viable alternative at this point in my opinion. The majority of shipping relies on those big mac-trucks to get things from place to place. The machines used for harvesting will also need to convert to bio-diesel.

I'm very fortunate to be a simple pedestrian. At this point I don't even own a vehicle. I hope to be able to bike to work this summer.

Honestly, I still don't see where this is going to go. I've got so much on my mind as finals approach that I don't have time to use the restroom, much less decipher where our nation is heading. It's just that time of year again.

Any trumpet players out there reading this? I'm just curious. Leave a message. For anyone who's curious I'm a trumpet major here at college, I'm playing today (May 1) for one of my classes. It's all on a stage and everything, supposed to be like practice performance. Really exciting, I'm performing Arban's Fantaisie Brillante. I'm nervous as all get out. I'll be taking a video recording of it, may post it on YouTube or something. I'll post a link.

Wow, it's already here. Well, fortunately the world hasn't stopped cold, that's somewhat reassuring.

I've seen many people talk about bio-diesel. It seems like a viable solution to some problems. Of course it's going to take some growing pains for it to become fully implanted in our everyday lives. There's another solution though, that may have just as much potential.

They call it ethanol, it's a distant cousin (chemically speaking) of methanol. A clear liquid solution which burns at what can only be described as an extreme rate. It's most commonly used as a fuel additive, but in Brazil it has been such a hit that about 50% of cars use 100% ethanol (furthermore, all gasoline sold in Brazil has to contain 20% ethanol by state law). There are, however, disadvantages, the main one being that for the effort that goes into producing it you get notably less energy than from fossil fuels. The other disadvantage lies in the fact that here in the states we don't have enough fertile farmland capable of producing the sheer volume of ethanol which we would need. In my mind, it should be possible to import it from Brazil and other large fertile countries. It burns 100% clean from what I understand, an environmental wonder.

Ethanol comes from either sugar or corn (it's been discovered that it's 30% more efficient when it comes from sugar, due to refinement techniques) and is therefore infinitely renewable. Flex fuel engines are available which can use pure ethanol, pure gasoline, or a mixture, thus making them the most ideal.

I seem to see a lot of talk here in the states about bio-diesel, but we also need to consider other solutions. It would be nice to not have to replace all our engines with diesel. There are just so many factors. It absolutely boggles the mind.

    I've seen many people starting to panic over the April 30 situation. Medical supplies, it seems, would undoubtedly run out as those nice delivery trucks that get them to you would stop running, as would the high-tech factories that produce the pills in the first place as most workers would have a hard time getting to the factory to begin with. It is my thinking though, that this may be just what our culture needs.

    Now I mean no offense to anyone out there with any serious medical illness or whatnot, believe me, I sympathize for all who are in such condition, many in my family suffer from various forms of cancer, they too would undoubtedly die rather quickly if it weren't for their medicines and other medical treatments. It seems to me, however, that Darwinism would truly rise again. Look around you today, how many people are wearing some sort of glasses or contact lenses? How many people do rely on medicine for one reason or another, be it their sanity or their well being? Far too many.

    Our modern medicines and technology work to defy Darwinism, it would seem. For even the unfit are quite apt to survival. More often than not they are taken care of by the more fit. Truly, that must be one of humanity's highlights. It's not, however, the best for the gene-pool. We've become a weak people. Am I weak also? Undoubtedly so, I'm allergic to nearly everything: grass, pollen, pet dander, many oils, and even my own sweat. It will be an uncomfortable world indeed without my antihistamines (fortunately there are alternative solutions to my needs, natural honeys from my area will cure me of my allergies to much of the plant life around the are I live).
  
    I undoubtedly sound cruel when I say that it's a good thing that many people will die. If you think about it though, maybe it's what the world needs. I don't know. I don't particularly enjoy the metaphysics of death. Too much fluff if you know what I mean. I don't want to be thought of as some weird sociopath either, so please don't take it that way. I don't know, maybe it's time for some pro-evolution.

--
Artimaeis

Alright, so I'm a big environmentalist (some would prefer the term hippie, or tree-hugger, bah on them), and I try to keep up on my own 'carbon footprint' as Al Gore calls it. I have never owned a car (though I'll be getting a moped soon, I have to get a real job), I don't use all that much electricity (an air conditioner, my laptop, energy efficient lights, my electric keyboard, my sound system, my cell phone charger, and my alarm clock are really about it) and I conserve water as much as possible (don't run it all the time while brushing my teeth, quick showers, and the like). I would say I'm successfully rather eco-friendly.

So as I was browsing the internet, checking my emails, and reading the daily news I noticed that there was an online alert at www.worldwithoutoil.org saying that there would be a major disruption in our nations oil on April 30.

After doing some research it looks like this could be a danger, in ways I cannot yet even comprehend. I live on a college campus, our cafeteria ships in our 'food' (if it can indeed be called food, that inedible paste, perhaps?) from lord knows where. I can just see my tuition rates going through the roof.

I've lived in rural areas before, without access to power or running water (much less hot water!) so I know how it works. I find myself, however, quite exposed in the sense that if power were to go down then I would have virtually no way to sustain myself as I rely on the college campus for everything. I don't know. It scares me though. So I'm going to go think about it for a while.

I take confidence in that there are many other voices besides my own. If there is a community out there, I hope I may find my place in it.

--
Artimaeis