PV Gap

Terry Said:

What do you think of this story? What would your response to it be?

We Answered:

I think it is a very mild projection i would have thought i might be much worse .

The aspects of a global nuclear war or the full effects of Global warming have not been included.

Such as rising seas ,which could displace millions of people ,moving them further in land ,to fight it out with the residents already there causing wide spread public violence.

Also global food and potable water shortage ,and we have since come up with many alternatives to producing power ,why did he leave out solar or wind power.

But then this story was from 1977,and even so Asimov is a master at imagining future happenings
I wonder what he would see today ,it will be a different story.
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The solution to a world devoid of energy is to think backwards and improve upon it .This is what Permaculture is all about sustainable ideas from the past (only in the past can prove of sustainability be found )

So my response is teach the people about PERMACULTURE a way of life using ingenuity and innovation with limited technology or dependence on Government energy sources,derived from a collection of sustainable ideas from around the world coupled to present level of knowledge
ideally suited for those who want to get back to the country and build a auto sufficient situation for themselves and the family or a community .

People plant rather for the quality of life and to feed their families, than for the market ,so the motivation and the manner are totally different from ordinary agriculture .

Although the basic concept of Permaculture also applies to Organic and sustainable farming,

Utilizing soil management ,and mulching

The utilization of space is more concentrated ,thinking in cubic and vertical terms instead or merely horizontal on the plain ,

Having many principle to follow such as utilizing all resources and following and enhancing energy flows ,
for example the ditch around the house catches the rain water and leads it through the chicken house where it cleans and picks up the manure to deposit it in the vegetable patch

Permaculture means permanent agriculture
a concept put forward by Bill Mollison in the 60`s

Which offers practical solutions for energy systems ,infrastructure ,intelligent design in housing,
animal shelter ,water systems and sustainable agricultural practices.
With the world and it`s history as it`s source
From the chinampas of Mexico to the terraced gardens of the Andes.
From the dessert wadis to the steppes of Russia.
Covering all climatic conditions temporal, dessert, humid and dry tropics.
with chapters on soil ,Water harvesting and land design,Bio diversity
Earth working ,Spirals in nature,Trees and water ,utilizing energy flows,
Strategy for an alternative nation

including gardening tips,bio-gas,companion planting and ideas for structures ,how to cool down houses in hot climates ,how to warm up houses in cold climates with out using technology but rather by design.
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The Permaculture designers manual by Bill Mollison,which cost about 40 dollars.
and is the best all round book you can get,on Environmental design,.(tagiari publishing, tagariadmin@southcom.com.au)

Some other writers that are on the Internet are
David Homegrown
Larry Santoyo
Kirk Hanson

Masanobu Fukuaka has written ,
One-Straw Revolution
The Road Back to Nature
The Natural Way of Farming
Simon Henderson
and Bill Molisson.
there is a Permaculture Institute in Australia
there is also a Dry land strategy Institute in North America

Links to previous relevant answers
bio diversity
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
organic pest control
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
growing your own
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
water harvesting
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
the rippling effect
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
choosing a site
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
alternative solutions to Urban sprawl
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…

Maxine Said:

Should people who do not support drilling and hate the oil companies be forced live on alternative energies?

We Answered:

Also, they shouldn't be allowed to use anything made out of plastic or styrophome (sp?) as those are petroleum derived materials.

Troy - Actually oil is priced on the world market, which means that basically everyone pays the same price for it. It's not until it gets to the gas pump that you add different factors like refining, transportation, and taxes which are different for each location. Oil from alaska would most likely go to the US any ways because it would be the cheapest to transport it there, and there is more than enough demand, but even if it didn't you're increasing the world supply so it wouldn't make a difference where it goes from that perspective.

Jacobjack - this is a democrat made mess, but fingerpointing aside, we will still be using oil in 10 years, and well beyond that. Alternative energies will take a lot longer than 10 years to reach the scale they need in order to be commercial.

And since when can we not refine oil into gas? I didn't understand that.

Also, of the 68 milllion acres you're talking about, oil companies are still exploring most of that, and in the rest they have found no oil, and are just waiting until the leases are up and revert back to the government.

Exxon is investing around 20 billion dollars (+/- a couple billion if I'm not mistaken) this year in new oil and gas production, so I don't know what else you want them to do. They are investing at capacity. The amount they used for stock buy backs is far less than that. But even still their primary obligation is to their stock holders. Also, I'm sure you're an oil stock expert and already knew that Exxon as well as other oil co's believe that their stocks are undervalued right now. So what they're doing with the stock buy back strategy is to wait for the stocks to go back up and then pay for new oil and gas projects with the appreciated stocks.

It's good that you read, but it helps when you read things other than liberally biased garbage.

Maskddingo: As I stated before, there are a lot of places we can legally drill, but why should we drill where there is no oil? That doesn't make much sense does it.

Also, I think you're overlooking the fact that fossil fuels will make up the majority of our energy mix over the next 30 - 50 years even if one ora all of the alternatives (like solar or wind) become commercial.

Also, the place in ANWR oil companies want to drill is a frozen tundra, where nothing lives. But in other parts of alaska, where they do drill, the wildlife don't seem to mind, in fact many of them seem to like warming themselves on pipelines etc...Also, oil companies nowadays are extremely environmentally conscious. They get blamed for things that aren't even their fault all the time, so you can bet that in most cases they do everything they can with what they can control

If we did find significant discoveries off our coasts it wouldn't be too difficul to build another refinery so that argument doesn't hold an weight either.