Tiny Houses

In this world of ever bigger homes, it is nice to see that at least a few people are working in the other direction (see link below), toward smaller homes. While I find that for me these are excessively small (can you imagine wintering in a 96 square foot home?) I could definitely see living in as little as 500 square feet, provided I had a separate workshop for tools and storage and such.

On the other hand, part of the appeal is in the minimal resource usage, and by building with local materials such as mud one could easily have more space with less impact than the manufactured materials used in these homes. I think I'd prefer to simply live somewhere where the building codes wouldn't interfere and I could build a cave-like passive solar house with ample room.

Small houses challenge our notions of need as well as minimum-size standards

Ranches in Western U.S. Shifting From Grazers to Greens

According to the National Geographic article linked below many ranches in the western US are being purchased by 'weekend ranchers' for their scenic and natural value rather than their value as ranch land.

Weekend ranching is so common in the West now that a study by the New Mexico State University Corona Range and Livestock Research Center found that only 25 percent of a ranch's market value in New Mexico relates to its income-earning potential.

The wealthy buyers are interested in scenic beauty and recreational opportunities, such as trout fishing or skiing, says Bill Travis, professor of geography at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Travis co-authored a 2006 survey, published in the journal Society & Natural Resources, which studied land-ownership changes in ranchlands surrounding Yellowstone National Park between 1990 and 2001.

The survey found that wealthy buyers purchased 40 percent of the ranches on the market, compared to 26 percent bought by traditional ranchers.

In some parts of the region, weekend ranchers now outnumber the traditional ones. (Read more)

I have to agree with the National Geographic article, I can't see any way that this is a bad thing. In fact, I'd love to someday become one of these weekend ranchers, with a little sustainable home on the range.

Extending Yourself: Additional Senses

A while back I encountered this Wired.com story about using simple vibrating motors on a belt and a digital compass chip to give the user direct perception of direction:

For six weird weeks in the fall of 2004, Udo Wächter had an unerring sense of direction. Every morning after he got out of the shower, Wächter, a sysadmin at the University of Osnabrück in Germany, put on a wide beige belt lined with 13 vibrating pads — the same weight-and-gear modules that make a cell phone judder[sic]. On the outside of the belt were a power supply and a sensor that detected Earth's magnetic field. Whichever buzzer was pointing north would go off. Constantly.

"It was slightly strange at first," Wächter says, "though on the

bike, it was great." He started to become more aware of the peregrinations he had to make while trying to reach a destination. "I finally understood just how much roads actually wind," he says. He learned to deal with the stares he got in the library, his belt humming like a distant chain saw. Deep into the experiment, Wächter says, "I suddenly realized that my perception had shifted. I had some kind of internal map of the city in my head. I could always find my way home. Eventually, I felt I couldn't get lost, even in a completely new place." (Read more)

I find this concept fascinating. The idea that the brain can integrate a simple vibrating belt as an intuitive sense is incredible. A direction sense is a great idea, but I naturally immediately wonder what other ways this idea can be extended. First I wonder how many different senses can be stimulated by such a belt. Vibrating motors are obvious, but what about something more energy efficient, maybe a simple wire coil with a small spring and metal slug? This could be activated to generate a variable rate and intensity tapping sensation that would be more versatile and more energy-efficient than a shaker motor. You might also be able to incorporate small resistive heaters or electrical 'tinglers' so that multiple inputs could use the same belt. A directional sense might be manifested as tapping while speed or distance were indicated by heat or electrical tingle.



Also, there is no reason that a direction indicator belt would be limited to indicating a single cardinal direction. If integrated into a more complete system, a military video game for example, multiple tappers could be active at the same time, indicating the direction and distance to team members. While it would require extensive practice to integrate such a device, the integrated 'sixth sense' of exactly where each team member was located might give the team a significant organizational advantage. It would also allow members to more quickly know when a member has been injured or immobilized and where to find him. A real-world device would require GPS (or other location) and wireless communication technology. This is easy to provide in a video game as no battle-ready tech is required, you just need an output from the computer and game software that supports the feature.



I also imagine a feature for high-performance cars (or possibly military jets) that provide non-visual information about the performance of the vehicle. Drivers that are pushing the performance envelope of a vehicle have little attention to spare for looking down at the instrument cluster, so tactile signaling could give them a faster, more integrated perception of the vehicles performance. If the seat had embedded tappers the driver would learn to understand what the vehicle was signaling as he became familiar with the vehicle. It might signal when the driver was pushing the design parameters of the vehicle (lateral acceleration, max RPM, excessive suspension travel, etc), or when the vehicle was engaging performance enhancing features (traction control, dynamic stability, adaptive suspension, etc) so that the driver could build a faster, more intuitive sense of the vehicle, integrating it's senses into his own, extending his sense of body into the vehicle.



I find this idea not only very compelling, but easily within the reach of today's technology. A car maker, or even an after-market manufacturer, could easily integrated this sort of indicator into a vehicle with minimal effort. Many vehicles already provide this data in standard displays and in output from standard communications ports, so anyone could make a simple seat cover to add this technology to almost any vehicle.



In fact, I find this idea so interesting that I've priced out some digital compass and 3 axis accelerometer chips (about $30-$50 each) for construction of my own 'feelSpace' belt. The project may never go anywhere, depending on how much time I have, but it sure would be a cool toy.

Iraq's Plentiful Oil

This is interesting news, it seems that Iraq is second only to Saudi Arabia in oil reserves, and it is questionable how much oil Saudi Arabia actually has left, some analysts believe that the largest Saudi fields are already entering decline and this fact is being hidden from the world for political reasons. This could make Iraq, and whomever can pull strings in the Iraqi government, quite powerful in the world markets.



However, my perception of the tribal culture of the locals isn't what we here in the US are familiar with. I think that they are much more possessive of their land and its resources. Where we see of our land as something we buy and feel free to sell or lease to corporate interests, they seem to have a deeper sense of communal, territorial ownership. They aren't necessarily as willing as we would be to have an oil company come in and produce the fields.



I think this is particularly interesting in light of global peak oil production. As other fields are reaching their peak we get this windfall that won't be online for quite some time (much of the existing infrastructure is in disrepair and many of the fields have never been drilled). Political issues will likely make it difficult to bring this resource onstream for some time. Perhaps by the time production starts there will be enough increased awareness of the imminent global oil production peak to shift the production goals to sustainability rather than maximal production.

"Last week a Colorado energy consultancy firm, IHS, stunned some of Iraq's politicians and oil engineers by declaring that the country's oil reserves were about 215 billion barrels — about double the estimates that have held for Iraq for years. That would make Iraq a giant oil power, second only to Saudi Arabia. If the estimates prove true, Iraq's potential would outstrip its other neighbor Iran, which sits atop about 136 billion barrels of oil." (Read more)

Of course, given the source, one must take this news with a pinch of salt. Jerome says it well in this excerpt from an EnergyBulletin.net article:

Jerome a Paris, Daily Kos

I actually went to the website of IHS and found the underlying press release. It's transparently an attempt to sell their maps to oil producers seeking new oil fields. While IHS is a respected player in the industry, and is known to have one of the most extensive proprietary databases on world oil fields, it is a lot harder to gauge the reliability of this new publication. Iraq has been largely inaccessible and unexplored for most of the past 25 years, and the situation has not really changed in the past few years... While I have no doubt that IHS has been able to put its hands on data on known oil fields, I just don't see how their number for additional resources is anything other than a marketing coup based on wild-assed guesses, as they themsleves admit:

The Iraq Atlas estimate of up to another potential 100 billion barrels of oil reserves is largely based on the establishment of new play concepts in the Western Desert of Iraq, which have been generated from a recent study of the Western Arabian Platform. The Western Desert of Iraq is widely regarded as being substantially under explored with only one commercial discovery in the region largely because Iraq has had a surplus of oil to date and little incentive for exploration.

While IHS might be reporting their high-end estimate, they probably aren't too far off the mark. The oil business is big, but if news that IHS's maps were crap gout out they'd be up a creek. Thus, I expect that they are making as accurate a report as the are able, with maybe a little spin to make it juicy.

H2CAR Hydrogen/Carbon Liquid Fuel System

I've been fairly negative on the idea of the 'Hydrogen Economy' that our President is pushing, mostly because it is a stupid and unworkable idea. However, some researchers, who are significantly smarter and better informed about fuel technology than Mr. Bush have come up with an interesting process for producing liquid transportation fuel from energy sources (i.e., wind, hydro, coal) and carbon sources (i.e., biomass, coal) to produce liquid hydrocarbons. This looks to me much like a biomass/coal-to-liquids process but with much of the CO₂ emissions typical of theses processes recycled or utilized so that the valuable carbon is not lost to the atmosphere.



As usual the challenge will be making the process cost-effective and ramping up production while the economy still has the potential of driving the development of technologies such as this.



"In a recent study, scientists have demonstrated that a hybrid system of hydrogen and carbon can produce a sufficient amount of liquid hydrocarbon fuels to power the entire U.S. transportation sector. Using biomass to produce the carbon, and solar energy to produce hydrogen, the process requires only a fraction of the land area needed by other proposed methods."



H2CAR could fuel entire U.S. transportation sector

Global Peak Oil Awareness Increasing

Awareness of the issue of peak oil is increasing, as shown by both the existence and placement as well as the subject of this article.



BBC NEWS | Business | 'Peak oil' enters mainstream debate





Note that the article is fairly old, but peak oil is at least well-known in the investment sectors and many articles about it can be found on the likes of Bloomberg.



A more recent 'Viewpoint' article provides some opinion on the scale of the problem:



BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | End of oil heralds climate pain

A Step in the Right Direction

California is again a leader, encouraging regional independence from fossil fuels:



Power by the people - Apr 23





It is very encouraging to see these movements, toward efficiency and regional independence. I'm hoping to see more communities pick up on this in the coming years.

Powered by ScribeFire.

A Letter to My Governments

Some of the meager few who read this blog already know that I am a 'Peak Oiler', one voice of the tens of thousands who have heard the peak oil message and understood the implications. In the past I have written to my government representatives to express my concern. Generally I get no response or noncommittal platitudes. Today I've composed a more strongly worded letter, including links to the recent US Government Accountability Office report, regarding the critical nature of this issue.

If the opinion of the US GAO, one of the most highly respected entities in the US government, telling them that the imminent peak in global oil production will have an unavoidable economic impact on the US, the most voracious consumer of petroleum, even if we act now, then nothing will. You'd think that the country of Sweden's commitment to be petroleum-free in just 15 years would clue them in as to the seriousness of the issue. Perhaps one year ago was just too soon, the issue is quickly gaining mindshare, which is good, as I note in my letter below, we simply don't have the luxury of the 2 or 3 decades it has taken for global climate change to (almost) become an 'action item'.

Below is a letter I wrote to send to pretty much anyone who represents me in government, local, state and federal. I expect that their respective staffs will skim it and bin it, and perhaps pass on a note that some nutter in Omaha thinks energy security is important, so tally another vote for pounding Iraq (which contains the second largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil in the world, by the way) into submission.

I hope that you, gentle reader, will not dismiss my opinion quite so lightly. Please, take a few hours to poke around the links I provide below and to read about this issue and to consider how it could impact you.

I'm not asking you to change your lifestyle. I just want to direct your attention briefly away from the immediate concerns of your life to the storm clouds on the horizon. Take some advice from a friend and an evening to assess this potential threat for yourself. If you see that perhaps the forecast is for rain, you will see for yourself the need to change your lifestyle and to pass on the warning.

Below is the message I am sending to my mayor, governor, representative, senators and to the President himself (for all the good that will do, perhaps he can get an intern to explain the big words).

Greetings,

I am writing to express my concerns about energy security, specifically the issue of global peak oil production. Recently the US Government Accountability Office has released a report concerning peak oil production. The full article is available:

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07283.pdf

Their conclusion:

"The prospect of a peak in oil production presents problems of global proportion whose consequences will depend critically on our preparedness. The consequences would be most dire if a peak occurred soon, without warning, and were followed by a sharp decline in oil production because alternative energy sources, particularly for transportation, are not yet available in large quantities. Such a peak would require sharp reductions in oil consumption, and the competition for increasingly scarce energy would drive up prices, possibly to unprecedented levels, causing severe economic damage. While these consequences would be felt globally, the United States, as the largest consumer of oil and one of the nations most heavily dependent on oil for transportation, may be especially vulnerable among the industrialized nations of the world."

The timing of a peak in production is very difficult to estimate, for reasons described in the report. A recent report from Sweden (a country already working on it's stated goal of becoming petroleum free within 15 years) makes a credible estimate of peak production occurring by 2018:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266764,00.html

This is an extremely near-term estimate, and yet well within the range the GAO finds credible. This is the sort of time-frame that, if correct, would result in the 'dire' consequences mentioned in the GAO report.

I have been following peak oil news for most of a year now and have seen it slowly moving from a peripheral awareness toward the center of attention. Years ago, when I was in high school, my Biology class marked Earth Day by planting trees on the school grounds. Now, twenty years later, global climate change is taken seriously, more or less. A significant number of people agree that somebody should do something about it (as long as it isn't too expensive of course). It took more than two full decades for people to reach this consensus. With peak oil we do not have the luxury of decades to decide to make changes. As you will see in the GAO report and multitudes of other publications, if we make a concerted effort now to slash our energy requirements we might be able to avoid the bulk of a long and deep economic depression. If we do nothing, or if we address this problem by attempting to replace our imported fuels without drastically reducing our consumption we will certainly experience a long, deep and crippling depression.

I don't want to make statements that sound alarmist, our natural tendency is to dismiss such Chicken Little pronouncements and to dismiss the speaker as unreliable. I recognize this, but the fact is that this is a well researched issue, and it is, in fact, very alarming. This is not another bullet point in your list of priorities. It is the priority, it is the imminent exhaustion of the foundation that our American civilization is built upon. Yes, I know, I sound like a nutjob now. Please, read the reports for yourself, take a look at the large internet communities that have grown around peak oil preparedness. Realize how critically important this is and that the only solution is to make the lifestyle changes that are necessary to cut our fuel consumption at a prodigious rate.

Thanks
Me
Elkhorn, NE

And now for some links you can read to learn what this whole peak oil thing is.

Wikipedia.com's Hubbert peak theory
EnergyBulletin.com's Peak Oil Primer
PeakOil.com's Exporing the Issue of Hydrocarbon Depletion
OmniNerd's What You Need to Know about Peak Oil
SaintBryan's Let's Talk About Peak Oil
James Howard Kunstler's The Long Emergency
Life After the Oil Crash

M. King Hubbert on Lower 48 peak oil production:

YouTube videos about peak oil. Includes clips from many well known figures. Also includes some wacko conspiracy theory stuff, don't believe everything you hear.

Michael C. Ruppert's FromTheWilderness.com

Do be aware that many of these sources have their own agendas. Focus on gathering and verifying information from many sources, this is a high-stakes issue about one of the most profitable industries the world has ever known. Not everyone will be telling the same story.

Customized for the Whitehouse

I am writing because I believe it is necessary for our highest leader to explicitly bring this issue to the attention of the people. It is simply not enough to ask for increased ethanol production. It is not possible nor sane to supply our current fuel demand with sustainable fuels. We must immediately begin reducing our demand for fuel at a rapid rate. We must pursue relocalization and sustainable living efforts to a large degree. The public and very visible support of our leaders in this effort is critical.

Customized for Lee Terry, Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Congressmen

I am writing to you because I feel that it is important for us to act immediately at a local, regional and national level to promote localization and conservation.



I want to know specifically if you believe, as the US GAO does, that peak oil production is an imminent and actionable threat to our way of life, and if so what you are doing to lead Nebraska and our nation into a secure future?



I realize that Nebraska supports a number of alternative energy projects such as wind and ethanol. These are commendable efforts, but if you have an understanding of the threat that peak oil presents you already know that these are not and can not, by themselves, be enough. We must pursue relocalization efforts to reduce our dependence on and need for transportation and we must encourage sustainable communities that use the resources we do have as efficiently as possible. I believe that you can do much more to support sustainable living and relocalization.



I thank you for your time and encourage you to respond directly and candidly, I'm not looking for platitudes or generalities. I want to know if your continued leadership will help to bring Nebraska and our nation to where they need to be in order to deal with this issue, and if you believe that it will, specifically how?

Customized for Mike Fahey, Mayor of Omaha

I am writing to you because I feel that it is important for us to act immediately at a local and regional levels to promote localization and conservation.

I want to know specifically if you believe, as the US GAO does, that peak oil production is an imminent and actionable threat to our way of life, and if so what you are doing to lead Omaha into a secure future?

I realize that Nebraska supports a number of alternative energy projects such as wind and ethanol and that OPPD has done much to support renewable and alternative power genration. These are commendable efforts, but if you have an understanding of the threat that peak oil presents you already know that these are not and can not, by themselves, be enough. We must pursue relocalization efforts to reduce our dependence on and need for transportation and we must encourage sustainable communities that use the resources we do have as efficiently as possible. The City of Omaha can do much more to support sustainable living and relocalization.

Extensive support for community gardens such as the Omaha Sprouts and sustainable gardening techniques would be a great start. I would also like to see expanded efforts to bring as much locally produced food as possible into supermarkets as well as more farmers markets. Perhaps a city-funded department to promote, organize and bring together local producers and retailers and to raise citizen awareness of the availability of and need to support products from local businesses. We should make efforts to bring the major superstores on board with this, the participation of the likes of Wal-Mart, Target and Bakers are essential, as they serve an enormous proportion of the community. I believe that relocalization efforts such as these are already in the interest of Omaha, from both business and community viewpoints. The issue of peak oil only makes these things more urgent.

I thank you for your time and encourage you to respond directly and candidly, I'm not looking for platitudes or generalities. I want to know if your continued leadership will bring Omaha to where it needs to be in order to deal with this issue, and if you believe that it will, specifically how?

Customized for Dave Heineman, Govenor of Nebraska

I am writing to you because I feel that it is important for us to act immediately at a local and regional levels to promote localization and conservation.

I want to know specifically if you believe, as the US GAO does, that peak oil production is an imminent and actionable threat to our way of life, and if so what you are doing to lead Nebraska into a secure future.

I realize that you support a number of alternative energy projects such as wind and ethanol, but if you have an understanding of the threat that peak oil presents you already know that these are not and can not be enough.

We must pursue relocalization efforts to reduce our dependence on and need for transportation and we must encourage sustainable communities that use the resources we do have as efficiently as possible.

I thank you for your time and encourage you to respond directly and candidly, I'm not looking for platitudes or generalities. I want to know if your continued leadership will bring Nebraska to where it needs to be in order to deal with this issue, and if you believe that it will, specifically how?