I am sure we are in energy descent. I am preparing for it by studying up on alternative energies (ethanol, biodeisel, passive solar and such) and reducing my own energy use so that it won't be a such a shock for me and my family, (although I don't expect the decline to be too severe in my lifetime, but maybe my children's...)

Eric in Japan

yes, yes, yes! what eric said.... and I have been telling my high school science students to think about it. heated discussions on my classroom about this very topic.

Seraphima, what do you think about this? You made the original post?

Eric in Japan

Planning for Energy Descent

As fossil fuels get scarcer and more expensive, it is only prudent to plan ahead. Now is the time to switch over to sustainable technologies and practices, especially since they are cheap and easy to get now.

It can be as easy and simple as investing in a manual egg-beater, can opener, a good set of knives, a wood drying rack for clothes (or a clothesline!), or a carpet sweeper. Such simple tools are effective and use only human power to operate. They can be bought new or used, as they are often to be found at thrift stores and garage sales.

Other useful tools and gadgets include treadle sewing machines, hand operated crank washers and laundry wringers, manual lawnmowers, food-drying racks made of screen or basketwork, grain grinders and meat grinders, pressure cookers, canning equipment, etc. Those handy with tools may want a bit-and-brace, a come-along, good saws, and so forth.

Food prices and availability are very much influenced by gas prices, both for farm production and for transport. Growing part of your own food, even just a few pots of tomatoes and lettuce, can make for tasty, inexpensive additions to your cuisine. Plant a few berry bushes, fruit trees, and some perennial herbs, and you very easily set up a permanent system which feeds you every year with a minimum expenditure of energy. Those who like gardening can grow more food plants, often mixing food plants in with ornamental displays, and can replace commercial oil-based fertilizers with compost, seaweed, and other natural products. There are many new books on such ideas as Permaculture, forest gardening, edible landscaping, wild foods, etc. and these are tools also.

Bicycles, wheelbarrows and garden carts have some answers for transportation and hauling. Decreasing use of cars, or cutting back to one car in a family, can be a start on living without as much gasoline.

Energy efficient home construction, insulation, making optimum use of sun and windbreaks, greenhouse additions or walls, and keeping unused space to a minimum are all part of planning ahead.

Wood stove instead of oil heat? Open interior design so heat can freely move to each part of the house is important. Fans that run on hot air from the woodstove can move the warm air around. Having a flat top to your stove allows for a pot of water or soup to be heated.

These are a few of the many ideas for how I am trying to plan for an energy descent world, in the simplest possible ways. There are lots of fancier ways to go about setting up alternate systems for electric generation; solar, wind, and water powered, but simple steps can quickly reduce the amount of energy you need and give you working tools now.

What a wonderful article and thread. I have been preparing for some time now. And agree with ERic, I think it is likely to affect my son more than me. Anyway I hope I am modeling appropriate use so he will have some path to follow when the proverbial @@@@ hits the fan.

WE remodeled our 60's ranch and opened up the floor plan, installed a scandanavian wood stove and burn pressed wood logs to heat. We have a furnace (already here) but rarely use it now (we live in a mild climate). This year we hope to add windows on the south side of house with overhangs and thermal mass inside to do some passive solar heating.

WE also installed PV panels, but are tied into the grid. I certainly do not grow all my own food, but I am acquiring the skills to do so if I needed to. I love my chickens and rabbit as pets, and if need be could even look at them as a meat source.

I drive a Prius and love having to go tank up once or twice a month. I have always sewed (but on an electric machine) and LOVE the goodwill (cheaper than sewing and ususally looks better too!) In some ways we have so much excess clothing, shoes, furnishings in our society now I think we could coast for decades without anymore of this stuff being produced at all. (Much to the designers chagrin.)

I love my crockpot and pressure cooker. Its a game for us to see how low we can get our utility bill. Last month the gas and electric was $10. I understand the average for a family of 4 per month is $150. (There are only 3 of us).

Claire

With oil prices at $50 a barrel, we may be into energy descent situations sooner than the next generation! All the good ideas discussed on this forum; canning, water capture, solar and water co-generation of electricity,edible fences and landscaping, composting toilets, growing more of your own food; these are tools that are easy to get and do now, but may be far more expensive in time, materials, transportation, and availability in the near future. Kudos to each person here who walks the walk as well as talks the talk.

I read an article last year in the Boston Globe about the
coming hydrogen technology. It seemed to suggest that the
technology was almost fully developed and just around the
corner.It promised unlimited clean energy..Of course, I did
not believe it, sounded to good to be true.
Is it all hype or what!!??????

SWANZ

Dear SWANZ,

I think you got it in one- hype. Takes electricity to generate hydrogen, lots of it. I'm betting on low energy solutions like florescent light bulbs, good insulation, growing food, fiber, and wood fuel close to where it is used, and re-use of resources like aluminum to generate more workable solutions on both a short and long term basis. Don't think there are any scientific miracle solutions- we may just have to face ourselves and the consequences of our consumption, buying, and discard habits.

Yes, the world is not disposable! In the 70's there was a "gas shortage", and all the same conversations that are taking place today took place then.

Here it is, 30 years later, and what have we got? Even MORE dependence on oil, esp Mid-Eastern oil. No really big steps have been made in solar, biodiesel, wind, etc. Instead, many things that were easily recyclable, like glass, turned into plastic, which is dependent on oil. Then they came up with gas-guzzling SUVs.

There are some people who see the big picture, but not very many, overall. Americans esp seem to have really poor memories!

'Pup

thanks for the link to the article-
if you've got $3000 you can buy a biodiesel system- I saw one in a catalog from Hardy Diesel & Equipment, inc. Jamul, CA
I'm sure there are other providers- this is just one that I got in junk snail mail
I have a place in the city and 40 acres in the country. I am practicing the 'farming' skills here, while I'm still working as a corporate slave. I hope to harvest my first worm bin after 3 months and also recently harvested 55 gal rainwater from the roof. I have a 4' x 4' compost bin and hope to have chickens soon. I have read Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison with Reny Mia Slay and have to say it is very engaging to practice some of these techniques. Soil, trees, and water. The 3 basics.

I read an article in my Sunday paper (we only get Sunday) a few weeks ago about alternative heating solutions. These are very simple, renewable resources used much like a wood or pellet stove, but which are fueled with grains or seeds. In fact, I think it even said some of the models could use pellets or grains. Corn and sunflower seeds are the two main fuels that were mentioned. The oil content of sunflower seeds make them especially good fuel. I don't know how much space you would need to grow all your own fuel (depends a lot on where you live and how much you need to heat, I suppose). Anyone know the average per acre yield for sunflower seeds?

I am currently planning for a world devoid of fossil fuels. I HOPE it will be a world of our own making rather than one forced upon us by the disappearance of said resource. Either way, I bought my husband a bike for Christmas, and hopefully I will get one soon also. I started working at a place very close to my home. I am developing a garden which I hope can yield a lot of the food we will need. Basically, thinking about design, inputs and outputs. How to minimize inputs that require fossil fuels. We hope to go totally solar some day, which will also mean cooking with electricity instead of gas (oh, well). That may happen sooner rather than later if the CA gov't passes these new subsidies (they get smaller every year according to the plan, so the sooner you do it, the more $$$ you get back), and also because, well, solar panels are high-tech and high-input to produce and may not be produced in a fossil-fuelless world. Thankfully, they are fairly easy to deal with and maintain once you have them. BUT, we also have to think about living without electricity altogether.

The Amish, I think, are good role models to look to in planning for energy descent. Wondering where to get a hand-operated grain mill or non-electric washing machine? Try Lehman's (link below). They have been serving the Amish with non-electric goods for many years. They even sell wood-burning cookstoves.

(hey, it's okay to post links like this here, right? i promise lehman's did NOT pay me for this plug ;) )

Here is a link that might be useful: Lehman's

Dear Eden, Thanks for the thoughtful response! Lehman's is a great resource, and yes, I use it too. Regarding sunflower and corn for fuel, this might be an option in the Lower 48 states, but not up here in western Alaska. We don't have enough degree days (zone 0 for that here!) to grow corn, and so far I have not been able to grow sunflowers except in microclimate areas. So, its burn Sitka spruce for us (abundant and close), or driftwood, if we could haul it from the beach without oil-fired engines.

For biodiesel we would probably have to use seaweed, but again there is the hauling.. and seaweed, like corn and sunflower, can be eaten directly. Seaweed is also a great compost, mulch, and fertilizer source, especially since it has no land plant seeds! I keep bags or boxes in the car and stop at the beach when making other trips to get seaweeds for the garden whenever possible.

There sure is a lot to think about with all this...and thanks for sharing your good ideas.

This is an interesting conversation. It's also one that presents many sides, like all sustainable and renewable issues do.

For example, we're talking about heating with corn or sunflower seeds. Yet in doing so, we take away from precious food supplies. Right now the ethanol issue is creating a huge increase in food costs and, for the most part, is not even successful in achieving its purpose.

Here is a link that might be useful: It's Not Easy Being Green

Americans have always had an apocalyptic bent, and so I'm always skeptical when someone predicts a die-off of the human race.

But, I will say that intuitively the peak oil theory would seem to have some merit. I mean, we use 85 million barrels a day of the stuff and America's domestic production peaked 30 years ago and is in serious decline. Why would the same eventually not hold true for the rest of the world?

The depletion of cheap oil will change everything, and I mean everything. Essentially, we'll be living on energy consumption at the level of medieval peasant. Go throw all the breakers in your electrical system and sit in your dark house for a month. Good practice for the future.