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238 comments on DrumBeat: August 12, 2006

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DIYer on August 12, 2006 - 8:56am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I think the mistake that's commonly made here is to assume that we'll just find a drop-in replacement for all the energy we're wasting now.

As opposed to conserving, and living conservatively. Which USians will refuse to do ... we are so so screwed.

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odograph on August 12, 2006 - 9:01am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
That link I dropped below on "oil shocks" actually leads to a piece on the Energy Security Leadership Council.  The CEO of FedEx, and a retired commandant of the Marine Corps ... they seem to be pushing conserving, and living conservatively.
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odograph on August 12, 2006 - 9:04am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Many TODers might also like the bald statement, from those establishment types, that "Pure market economics will never solve this problem."
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totoneila on August 12, 2006 - 10:12am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hello DIYer,

This would not be a drop-in replacement for anything we have now, but might be a possibly reliable way to make intermittent gobs of power at scheduled times with power grid load matching.  I have read articles that say that all the good damsites to build water-powered electricity are already taken, and some dams should be removed to restore riverine habitat downstream to help protect aquatic species.  My thinking is that due to the compact design of a 'steelie generation facility' out in the Southwest's deserts that it might inflict less environmental damage than any present day hydro-source.  But I could be wrong.

Bob Shaw in Phx,Az Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

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DIYer on August 12, 2006 - 11:39am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yes, I understand that you were suggesting a storage solution for intermittent renewable sources. And we were deconstructing it.

In your case, it might make sense to move your house mostly underground, and to have thick masonry walls for the aboveground part. Since you Sonorans insist on irrigation, irrigate the roof. Grow shade plants on it. And there you've conserved about 4-6 kW of electricity. You could run a smallish ground-heatsink refrigeration unit for lower humidity in your living space.

Not that it wouldn't be a thrill to see millions of BBs rolling down the sluice, but most of us view that as really very impractical.

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totoneila on August 12, 2006 - 1:12pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hello DIYer,

About a month ago, I posted my idea of building a small house in a bought-used, then mostly-buried culvert, so we are thinking much alike in this regard.  But sadly, I don't have the funds, real estate, nor time to do this yet.  I think alot of TODers are in the same predicament too.  It is very difficult to try and move ahead when it seems we are constantly moving backwards.

I am very happy for Todd and the others that are re-pioneering the future.  I really hope they succeed and can pass their skills and knowledge to the next generation.

Bob Shaw in Phx,Az  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

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DIYer on August 12, 2006 - 2:20pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Yeah, I hear you on the money thing. I'm trying to figure out how to put together enough money to buy some land, since I think future survival will hinge on land ownership. Though as Airdale and Wharf Rat have mentioned, the land is just the beginning. There's lotsa stuff that is nice to have on the land, such as a garden. A source of water. Knowledge to deal with bugs & pests in said garden. Ability to defend said land from gangs of hungry zomboids from the city. Etc.

I never really thought my mchouse in the mcburbs had much of a future, having been 'into' this stuff since the last crisis in the '70s. But after reading TOD for a while, I realize it's a lot worse than I thought. This ol' mchouse probably isn't going to be worth living in by 2015 or so. Not that it was poorly built (it was; OSB anyone?) — but by then I think our lifestyle will have collapsed sufficiently that we won't have reliable utilities nor city services.

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airdale on August 12, 2006 - 5:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
One possibility is building a small log house. You find some wooded acreage with some nice popular trees on it. They grow very straight and no lower limbs. They make excellent logs for laying up a house. You want some rocks to build a 3 ft or so above ground foundation and start laying logs on that.

While chainsaws are still doable its not that hard to create something rather on a small scale.

Lay up a stick and mud chimney or flueblocks.

I know a guy in North Carolina who went to the woods nearby and did just exactly what I am speaking of. It turned out very very nice and his huge fireplace gave him a method of heating and cooking at the same time.

While there is time is when to start on it. When resources are available. Read Thoreau. He did it and loved it.

He makes the economics look very promising as well.

Funny he was talking about the unnecessary extravagances of life even back in the mid 1880s.

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DIYer on August 13, 2006 - 12:14am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Central Texas ranch land is running $1500 - $3000 an acre. And I figure to need more than one acre; it's not wooded like NC, so the log house is out. The trees are stunted and twisty. But it has plenty of stones.
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TrueKaiser on August 13, 2006 - 12:22am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
isn't it obvious? make a stone/earth house. or at the very least drag a large buss or something similar in size.
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DIYer on August 12, 2006 - 4:30pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Also, you want to avoid building your earth-house in a dry wash. I've lived in Texas about a quarter century now, and have some respect for a low water crossing. And they're bound to be worse in the desert.
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