MIT says we are done in 2030

I retrofit my tractor to run on biodiesel and grow my own, or retrofit it to run on methane and produce my own



I use part of the methane to power my Bio-Char retort and use the energy from it to run the outbuildings and heaters in the fish ponds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOq3gW8v1Vg"]autostoking wood gas producer - YouTube

I use the compost from my methane digester (a.k.a. "Slurry") in a 50/50 mix with the resulting waste of Bio-Char from the producer gas plant to make "Terra Preta" and NEVER NEED to let a field sit idle or rotate my crops as each year I make a batch of potash from last years "Dirt" to make soap and clean drains with,,, and simply replenish my field with Terra Preta already charged with a specific colloidal blend of nutrients specifically formulated to whatever crop I wish to grow.


Ideally I would do this along the seaside somewhere and take advantage of the Sun to run my desalination plant via an array of focal lenses which would give my "salt farm" an additional 3620 equivalent Watts of thermal energy to speed the process of your Salt farm per 10' of effective lenses,,, thats focusing the energy of 3 microwave ovens on a shallow kiddie pool in essence,,, and using more lenses, able to move my water vapor to any height I wish and if I make enough salt farms, have enough GPM available to generate hydroelectric power WITH relative to the overall scale of my operations.

Recheck,,,
Not once you have Power running, it all gets easy then. Just do like Tom Wait's did in the Book of Ely and charge the Ipods of weary travelers for a liter of water maybe? (Not that you would be short on water,,, or couldn't barter something else,,,

AND as far as commerce, with a wasteland around me and abundant scrap (Pre or post collapse) and abundant amounts of Biochar which could be made into plain charcoal with 5% clay added as a binder to use as a fuel for a small or not so small foundry where you can make whatever you want with a little know-how. (Also see first part regarding repair part sourcing)
www.lindsaybks.com

http://books.google.com/books?id=ESENAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20282/20282-h/20282-h.htm

So pretty much if you cant read and aren't generally handy, in the event of collapse you're pretty fucked,,, but you can always work a farm job or in the kitchen or at the power plant, I'm sure I'll be pretty busy when that time comes and would love assistants in the overall process.

:cheers2:

 

This oversimplifies the matter. The Government performed both roles. If it allowed the economy to collapse completely the society would fold and the Government would have no more authority/power. YES they are working for their friends in the banks, but Psychonaut is right: the Government will keep averting imminent-traumatic disaster as long as it can, while still propping up the practices/behaviors that lead to systemic/long-term failure.

 

Santorum says we are done in 2020 ...

 

That's ok, most people say He's done in 2012,,, so we've got at least THAT much in our favor.

 

I notice a lot of you seem to be of the opinion that when shit hits the fan, the government will take care of it.

I don't trust the government that much. They're creating this mess. They're pouring money into dinosaur industries to line a few pockets when they could be investing money into programs that actually help people, into art programs like Karen mentioned, into forward-thinking industry. Why does anyone still have trust in the government?

I've recently discovered that gardening truly makes me happy. Maybe thats why I have a different perspective. When I'm at work I would much rather be at home in my garden and I find it so much more rewarding to collect my food from my backyard than to buy it with money I earned at my job.

I know that I'm romanticizing it a bit but despite the hard work it would take if I needed to depend on my gardening skills for survival, I still don't think it would be a horrible life.

 

This is basically the kind of thing that Malthus said about 150 years ago-that the human race was going to starve to death because population would outstrip food production. It didn't. The same rationale was used by the Chinese to implement the one-child policy. Fact is, China still has a much higher birth rate than any European country and is now exporting large amounts of food, as well as adequately feeding its own population.

The world has, and will have plenty of resources to go around. It's just a matter of using and distributing them properly.

 

Amen to that. :cheers2:

 

P.S. I would only do this in the event of some form of contamination really as it sort of negates the offsetting effect to the carbon footprint but is a nice option in the event of some soil borne blight.

 

The game's already over. The US government lost. It's like watching an episode of Deal or No Deal when all the 6 figures are gone and the family is trying not to cry in front of the audience.

The men in power thought the Country holding the last 25% of the worlds oil reserves wins. America played their Middle East cards and lost their shirts. Outsourced their heart and soul for the pocketbooks of a few. Became addicted to Chinese merchandise like a crack baby.

We are absolutely at the mercy of China right now. Pay close attention to how much oil reserves they invest in and consume the next couple years. This will basically tell us if we have 10 years left or 20. There's no scenario where 7 billion survive the next 30 years. This impending crash is not like a bad recession, we're talking energy apocalypse, the END of the economy, banks, corporations, manufacturing, distribution, transportation... billions of people are going to starve to death.

 

The U.S. still has a military hegemony that can blow China out of the water. China's "investments" will be meaningless without some way of defending them. As the situation becomes more dire, the U.S. will have less and less hesitation in disregarding international law and invalidating national contracts, to claim what it wants for "U.S. interests." The end result is still the same, as you correctly diagnose: collapse of the world order and the suffering of hundreds of millions.

 

Errrrrrruuummm, maybe,,,

Now Add the Unified nation of Islam who comes to Chinas Aid after intervening on behalf of Iran in the face of Israeli sponsored Oppression and you then tell me where Russia and all her Satellites will stand, popping out SU-37's and AK-47's like Bottlecaps from a workforce earning a bowl of rice a day to strip their nation bare of every resource available and reshape it into something to throw at us??

Just sayin'...

 

Yes, the "red button" is still in play, for quite a few players...

 

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/12-5

 

And when emergency measures were taken in 2008 to limit the damage, the US government almost completely blew its opportunity due to indecision and political infighting. If the next financial hurricane blows in from Europe, which seems quite likely, response options open to the US will be much more limited. The EU isn't even a "real" country, so there may be no one on their side who has the authority to make the tough decisions that will be needed at that time.

There is no way the US can tread water in a flood of EU bank failures, no matter whether they are triggered by Greece, Italy, Spain, or Ireland, or some combination. The EU financial market has become like a chain that is only as strong as its weakest link.

This year is going to be a good time to keep some extra cash around the house.

 

society isn't the species. and neither are little green pieces of paper.

so. nature will correct our over population for us if we don't limit our firtility ourselves. but we aren't gonna like how she does it.

well you know, the only reason we need oil and coal, isn't to generate energy and propel transportation, it's to create and maintain centralized control of the generating of energy and the propelling of transportation.

its not the little green pieces of paper that are unhappy.
its not the little green pieces of paper that are unhappy.
its not the little green pieces of paper that are unhappy.

 

British Petroleum has requested an official proposal on my system so I can't quite agree with Max.

:cheers2:

:willy_nilly:

 

Whether it's 2030 or sooner or later, I don't think human civilization will last. A big problem is the energy bubble and population growth. Cheap energy has fueled civilization and allowed us to temporarily support ridiculous population growth, but not for long. Of course, I could be wrong about this. Maybe a solution will be thought of and human civilization will last much longer. But it seems less likely than not. In any case, just enjoy the present while it lasts and don't worry about the future. All things come and go, including life itself, so enjoying it while it lasts is all we can do.

Also, this is a very thought-provoking and informative video about the subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VOMWzjrRiBg

 

I've long said that humans will bring about their own self destruction with their raping of the earth's natural resources, contemptuous attitudes towards other animal species, greed, and overpopulation. Fortunately, I very likely won't be still around when that happens. Humanity has been given enough warnings, but keeps turning a blind eye to it. Mother nature is going to bite back hard for that ignorance though, you can be sure of that... and it can't come soon enough really.

 

The answer lay in finding a form of energy production that gives off a valuable commodity as a waste byproduct.

My "Machine" has 4 in fact.

#1 Waste heat in sufficient quantity which could make power or distill Sea Water

#2 Fresh Water

#3 Dirt to grow more food and fuel in

#4 Smiles on the faces of anyone who aint' "Doin' it wrong"

OH Yea,,, 2 of the 4 pretty much provide you the very fuel it runs on.

#5,,, Abundant Food. :2thumbsup:

 

There have been plenty of civilizations which got on fine without using that kind of energy.