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I'm a history major, Loki.

I chose that path because I want to be a teacher. I have come to realize my limitations - I'm never going to be a math or an applied sciences guy. I enjoy the humanities - I know I personally can't 'save the world' but if I can open a few doors for people and turn a few mental light bulbs on it might just inspire somebody who inspires somebody who actually does have serious impact on this world for the better. My little self-fulfilling fantasy.

The blatant lies and misconceptions that are fed to the general public about how the world really works bothers me. A lot. It's more than a tall order, but I want to fix that. Rockman, you said that the world is responsible for it's future, not me. I know what you meant by that, but in a way I disagree. I feel like it's a moral imperative for me to educate people who just flat out don't know any better or just haven't yet heard the right words to develop a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at things. I was a blind sheep my entire life. The fog is beginning to clear a little bit and as it does, it makes me want to share what I am learning with more and more people.

Charm, I doubt anyone here wants to dampen your enthusiasm- yet we have all felt like we are standing next to a diesel railway screaming at those inside the train that they are running out of track. Better to put up your sign, wave it at the driver first then the passengers, take time to enjoy the flowers while you wait. Life is short enough, stressful enough, don't forget to keep the things you really enjoy at the center of it.

charm - a noble calling for sure. Now some more advice I learned from my experiences in educating folks: don't try to teach pigs to roller skate...it only frustrates you and pisses the pigs off. LOL. Mostly advice on any efforts to teach folks about PO that don't really want to hear the truth.

Actually I'll be so bold and tell you what path you might want to consider: How about learning those basic skills Loki mentioned with the idea of eventually teaching others as well as making your existence as comfortable as possible? As most in that area of study will tell you there's no great need for a science or even an engineering degree. It really falls more into the area of applied engineering/horticulture. Which means knowing how to use a hand drill or build a foot powered irrigation system might be more useful than a running a computer program. You were clever/cognizant enough to find us so you should be able to handle such a path. And I think history isn't the worse angle from which to approach the matter.

The old saying that those that can…do it and those that can’t… teach it: Might be replaced with those that can…do it and they can also teach others how to do it. The world will be responsible for adjusting as required. You still won’t be responsible for making that happen outside of your personal sphere. Some will reject such efforts just like those anti-roller skating pigs. LOL. But you could be a part of the process by teaching those who accept that responsibility. Real leadership is not taking on the responsibility of others. It’s helping them to accept their obligations IMHO.

charm - In case you missed it check out the "Energy Fairs" thread. Maybe some food for thought.

charmcitysking wrote: First off, I'm pretty pissed off about the fact isn't really a mainstream issue.

It is! Or was. But ever since it happened a few years back it just doesn't seem to generate the interest some have hoped is all.

Admittedly, once the survivalist component ran off to other items of interest it hasn't attracted the attention from the "serious" types, but after the failure of TOD, some of the other blogs related to the topic, and the general concept that once something happens to you (like peak oil a few years back) and it doesn't cause the dysfunctional planet some thought it would, it just doesn't have quite the high priority.

There were quite some serious problems years ago, and people barely noticed them either. It just seems like this is the way of things. Almost unanimous! Sounds like the current climate change 97% in agreement routine!

"Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions…. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine." — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter

ROCKMAN wrote: Mostly advice on any efforts to teach folks about PO that don't really want to hear the truth.

The problem being, obviously, which truth?

Rockman:

Greetings,

The largest gas plant I am working with will generate about 13 MMSCFD of treated acid gas (TAG).

The mix is about 88/12 CO2/H2S. I don't believe that any EOR projects can handle that much H2S.

Also, 13 MMSCFD is pretty small potatoes in any CO2 project.

Yep. Not enough even for a pilot projects. I gather your efforts are more for regulatory relief than anything else. Sounds like some pretty nasty concentrate to mess with.

More on AGI:

The TAG is compressed at the surface using 4 to 6 stage compressors, giving a final stream at pressures of 1000 to 3000 psi and temperatures of 80 to 120 psi.

At these P/T conditions the compressed TAG is usually in the supercritical phase, with densities from 600 to 850 kg/m3. Effective compression ratios (original to final volume) are in the range of 500 to 600, again depending on composition and P/T.

A big headache can be hydrate formation during initial startup or uncontrolled shutdowns. If the TAG temperature falls below about 80 F in pressures above 1000 psi, and if any significant H2O is present, hydrates can form and plug up the surface lines and/or in the Christmas tree or upper well tubing.

Good practices involve careful management of P/T during startup, and commonly we inject small amounts of methanol into the stream to depress the freezing point of the hydrates.

If things get a bit of hand and hydrates do form, we need to slowly bleed down the well and let the hydrates sublime away. This can take days because rapid decompression can cause extreme cooling, making the problem much worse (and may physically damage equipment).

No two wells, TAG streams or compressor systems are the same, and our work has been challenging. We use a variety of phase-equilibrium models to predict hydrate behavior, but mother nature and human engineering problems have spanked us more than once!

I have two new wells to drill, complete and commission this fall, and 3 others in the planning and permitting process. I work in interesting times.

It's kinda funny, because a lot of the jobs i've held down in my working life have been a trade of some sort. I've worked as a carpenter apprentice, a mason apprentice, a butcher apprentice, and even as a farmhand for a few summers. The irony is that I decided to go back to college because I was sick of all that shit and wanted an easier life, then I use my education to find out I could well need all of those skills and more just to survive! lol

Good advice all around. There is quite a multitude of areas and issues PO encompasses. So many ways to look at it...

charmcitysking wrote:It's kinda funny, because a lot of the jobs i've held down in my working life have been a trade of some sort. I've worked as a carpenter apprentice, a mason apprentice, a butcher apprentice, and even as a farmhand for a few summers. The irony is that I decided to go back to college because I was sick of all that shit and wanted an easier life, then I use my education to find out I could well need all of those skills and more just to survive! lol

Good advice all around. There is quite a multitude of areas and issues PO encompasses. So many ways to look at it...

At least you have some “real work” experience and haven't spent the totality of your adult life in school or slinging burgers and fries.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but majoring in history is risky. I say that as someone with a master's in American history and who got half way through a Ph.D. in historical geography before realizing that I was on the wrong path. Making a living in the history field is like trying to make a living as an artist or writer. People do it, but it ain't gonna be easy. You really have to have a passion for it. After 10 years I had lost the passion and wanted to do something else, spurred along by the lack of job prospects.

If you're hellbent on history, I'd suggest focusing your future studies on something vaguely practical, the history of agriculture, for example, or the Great Depression. I mostly did regional environmental history. I wrote half a dissertation on the historical ecology of a sub-region in Oregon; wish I had done something on the history of farming instead, I might have finished it. I found my interests moving more and more towards horticulture, got tired of the abstraction of historical research and spending all day staring at a computer or with my nose in a book. Been doing horticultural work for 6 years now and generally find the work far more rewarding.

There are no easy answers, particularly on the internets where nobody knows the details of your situation. Won't stop us from giving you unsolicited advice, of course, but take it all with a grain of salt.

BTW, in case you didn't know, John_A is one our many resident trolls, take his advice with a bag of salt.

Hi Friends,

My name is Joe and I am from TX.
Saying hello to all

"welcome to the party, pal"

Hey, Joe

What you doing with that gun in your hand.

vm - That's not what we usually ask in Texas. More commonly it "Where's your gun? Did you forget it at home?"

.
Welcome mate ,have fun !

Hello Everyone,

We are based in rural Northern Scotland, having made a major relocation from the crowded south east of England last year.

We live in a 200 year old crofter's cottage close to the centre of a small town (ca. 4000 people). We have 60 acres of woodland a couple of miles away on the coast, which we are gradually transforming from a conifer monoculture to a more diverse, mixed conifer and broadleaf woodland.

My wife and I are in our 50's and were empty nesters. Moving to Scotland is the culmination of a five year project to down-size, liquidate some real estate assets and convert these into long-term "hard" assets such as productive land, sustainable energy sources and tolls and equipment. We were planning to do this anyway, but I "discovered" peak oil along the way. Since then we have been on a journey of awakening to all of the related issues; debt-timebomb, asset depletion, climate change and population vs. planetary carrying capacity.

Our vision in our remaining years is threefold;

1. To live a personal lifestyle which contributes as light a footprint as possible to our environment and,in fact, seeks to restore some of the damage we have contributed to so far. Also, to share our new found understanding with other people we know.

2. To integrate with, and contribute to, our new community.

3. To create a resilient "lifeboat" for ourselves and our children (who are very much engaged in the Business-as-usual system, doing their work and living their lives), by reducing our dependence on grid power, oil and industrialised food production.

I don't have experience in the oil industry, but I am a qualified mechanical engineer and am educating myself about small and large scale renewables. I hope to contribute to the forum by sharing experiences from the "sharp end" of trying to adjust our life to some new norms and realities. I hope some folks might find our blog entries of interest, although I tend to post a bit erratically!

I am an occasional contributor to the Powerswitch forum in the UK, and I suspect there may be some other Powerswitch contributors who are also members here.

Thanks for reading. Hope it wasn't too long-winded!

Welcome Terrel, somewhat kindred spirit here, moved out in '04 to 40 acres in Missouri Ozarks region in the central US from the west coast. Our intent being to downsize and beat the rush... or hobby-farm as the case may be.

There are still a few "transitional" folks around posting in the Planning For The Future forum though not as many as in the past, maybe you'll lead a resurgence of interest here!

Post away!