<The Game is afoot, or another look East of the Caspian. The Oil Drum Does the Public Transit Model Still Work?>

196 comments on Friday Open Thread: Hemenway's "Apocalypse, Not"

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

| Show without comments | PDF version

Leanan on April 7, 2006 - 3:26pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Excellent points.  A lot of people think it would be no big deal to go back to a 1930 or 1900 or 1850 type of life.  But our population is much larger now than it was then:

Your point about efficiency is spot-on as well.  The classic example is Southwest's ordering its pilots to save fuel by running only one engine when the plane is taxiing.  Easy way to save fuel.  But then what?  You can't cut back to no engines.  

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
Science Ed guy on April 7, 2006 - 7:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
/Currently, about half the petroleum used in the US is spent on gasoline and diesel for personal vehicles.  It seems that a lot of this is still being squandered, so we do have a chance to reduce consumption in a substantial way - - if people could be convinced to park their cars.
Comments can no longer be added to this story.
kjmclark on April 7, 2006 - 8:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Of course, the paradox of this is that if people parked their cars, it would be the end of the "drive a car by myself anywhere, anytime" world that they had known.  As others have pointed out, the whole concept of the "end of the world as we know it" is too subjective to be meaningful.  
Comments can no longer be added to this story.
R W Reactionairy on April 7, 2006 - 7:24pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Self nomination for quibble of the day:

Actually you could if you were referring to the main engines. Just utilize a tug which admittedly currently run on fossil fuels. There would be safety issues as more wheeled vehicles would be on runways and taxiways, but it is possible and almost undoubtedly would save some fuel.

It would still be necessary to allow the main engines to reach an optimal thermal state amd be run up prior to take off.

BTW, IIRC Southwest used to run their auxilliary power units almost continuously rather than plugging in to ground power. The theory was that this enabled faster turn around. This may no longer be the case.

Comments can no longer be added to this story.
kjmclark on April 7, 2006 - 8:21pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
To quibble further, you could use an electric tug!

To quibble a bit further still, you could use an electric tug to get the plane to the runway, then use a tow-cable to help pull the plane up to speed.  There probably hundreds of ways to play this game, and I'm sure we'll end up playing most of them.  

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

196 comments on Friday Open Thread: Hemenway's "Apocalypse, Not"

Comments can no longer be added to this story.

| Show without comments | PDF version