Novus wrote: Contrary to what many think here think power down is not a workable solution. In fact it is not a solution at all. It is like saying we don't have a solution, now go kill yourself. The power down crowd as turned into a death cult combined with mad max suvivalism.
So, let me get this straight: You have overextended yourself and you live way beyond your means. You are in debt up to your eyeballs, and going deeper into debt every day.
Someone suggests that you stop living beyond your means, get rid of all your superfluous toys and possessions that are dragging you under, pay off your debts and learn to live within your income, and you say, "no, I don't want to give up anything. Find a way to refinance me." "Being financially responsible is not a solution!"
Sooner or later you must powerdown, either by choice or by default. No one says that a powerdown is a solution that will maintain living like we do. Nothing can maintain living like we do, even fusion power...as energy is only one of the limiting factors of life here on earth.
Firstly, oil does not equal food. Food is energy and can really come from any energy source with the right knowhow. Fertilizer can be made with wind power by taking nitrogen out of the air. It can also be done passively by growing peanuts and hemp which produce their fertilizer direcly from the sun though a process called photo-nitrogen fixation.
Right now, food is oil. Try reading
Eating Fossil Fuels by Dale Pfeiffer. It can be googled.
Currently, food cannot be produced by just
any source of energy on the scale we need it.
We take nitrogen out the air now to make anhydrous ammonia, but we get the H from natural gas.
Secondly, we could cut our elecrtical use in half simply by switching from AC current to DC current.
Simply? Perhaps for local short distance power generation of wind and solar, but for all else? Get real? Try doing a little reading on
why we went to AC versus DC.
And how many years would it take for population growth alone to eclipse all of the efficiency gains?
Thirdly, we can divorce our cars and go back to walkable communities. Cars waste enormous amounts of power.
Yes, and they provide 1 out of every 6 jobs.
Divorcing our cars means divorcing suburbia and the entire infrastructure associated with it.
How long do you suppose it would take to dismantle 100 years of car culture?
A Saudi saying, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."