Exploring the End of Oil
This week, there is a conference going on in Denver hosted by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil, where industry experts are sharing information about how quickly we are all running out of oil, and what happens as this foundation of the world’s economy dramatically declines.
We at the People’s Policy Project have two correspondents at the conference (Bob Cook & Bob Kahl) who will be reporting back soon on what they have learned, and I suggest you stay tuned. What you learn will change they way you live.
Until we get the scoop from the two Bobs, you can get a preview from the Star’s Tom Beal, who is starting his 4-part series of articles on Peak Oil and its implications for Tucson in today’s Star.
As you read about the implications of the end of cheap oil for our society, consider what we will need to start doing in order to preserve our economy and our way of life in the Sonoran Desert. We need to focus more on public transportation, bicycles, sidewalks, and alternative energy instead of cars. We need to grow in a more compact way, instead of blading our way further out into the desert. We need to integrate permacultural principles, water harvesting, and solar energy into everything we build. We need to strengthen our bonds as a community.
I hope to create an information clearinghouse on how we Tucsonans can thrive together in the challenging years that lay ahead. We are lucky to have people like Brad Lancaster and Judy Knox to help guide us in making better choices; you’ll hear more from them and many others in upcoming months.
December 14th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
Steve–
This is a three step process. First is Solar Power. We can urge most homeowners to place Solar Panels atop their roofs and the Panels can actually turn meters backward if the transformers are set up correctly, the highest hurdle for me is setting up this system up to be safe, I don’t know how delicate the infrastructure of the Tucson Electric Grid is.
E-85, if we build it, the corn will come. I hear we now convert at about 1.90 a gallon. That ’s a website estimate citing no sources so I really do not know how much it costs, or how much energy is expeneded to make it.
BioDiesel–This is even better, because this process, all byproductions are mostly biodegradable. If you get the used cooking grease free, the process can cost as low as 55 cents a gallon. The problem is paying 20 guys to run the plant and collect grease, but if we can produce 250 gallons a day, we could convert all of the Buses in Tucson.
Evenmore, Oil company executives make guys like Ken Lay and Dennis Kozlowski look like choir boys. I would rather a Tucson Company team up with Pemex and buy it from them. We could probably import the stuff here, oxygenate it and clean it up, then use it. The money would at least stay in Town. Go Wildcats!!! San Dimas High School Football RULES!!!
Paul Cunningham
P.S. If you don’t get the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure reference, you have not made wise use of you spare time. Watch the film–it is very inspirational.