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Questions for the Individual Facing Peak Oil

lifetree76's picture
Posted by lifetree76 on April 24th, 2006 at 12:19 pm | 2 Replies

Your Job

-will you be able to make it work economically if price of gas doubles or triples?
-Will the clients you service be able to access you whether students, customers, clients, patients, parishioners?
-Will client’s cost of living making buying your goods or service prohibitive?
-Will your suppliers be able to reach you?
-Would your employees be able to make it to work?
-Would you be able to heat/light your business if utility costs increased from 5 times to 20 times or more?
-If your work closed, what practical skills do you possess to earn some kind of living?

Your Home
-can you grow enough food on your property to feed yourself? Are there parks, school yards, nearby that a community garden could be created to feed the neighbourhood
-Could you heat and light your home if the price of utilities increased 5-20 times or more?
-Are you in debt? How quickly could you get out of it? Would being in debt and losing your job result in your home being foreclosed on?
-How much of your food is grown locally? If trucks stopped moving food on the highway due to fuel costs, how much food do you have on hand?
-Will your city keep your water potable and keep the sewage treated?
-Do you have family/friends you could rely on and live in a communal type setting to save on costs of living?
-Do you own solar panels, a wind turbine, or a solar oven?

michaelkaer's picture
michaelkaer
April 27th, 2006

solar panels, solar oven

I have a few months worth of food, about a week's worth of water and 3 small solar panels. I have them in my front window and have them hooked up to a battery and an inverter close by should I need power. My needs are small during the summer, just enough power to keep my laptop running. I can charge rechargable batteries with one of the panels. I can cook my food on a propane grill, till the propane runs out. I made several solar ovens last year and mean to make a solar water heater, a solar de-hydrator and a solar wax melter this summer. I may expand my garden and add a second garden by the fence. I also need a proper rain barrel. The one I have is open and could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. There is only so much I can do with little money. All my extra money has been going to food. Any suggestions? Michael J. Kaer, Owner of www.mikesworms.com and www.2bitpixel.com
xtraspatial's picture
xtraspatial
April 28th, 2006

Of solar ovens and rainwater cisterns

Mike, Where did you get your plans for the solar oven and dehydrator? I'm very interested in constructing these this summer and am looking for sources of DIY plans. I do a lot of "raw food" (not sushi!), and dehydrating or sundrying is an important part of food preservation (tomatoes especially) for the long winters here in upstate NY. As for your rainbarrels: Back when I lived in Boulder Colorado, there was a dispute between a rural landowner and an agency (Denver Water?) about his rain-collection system, which was a rooftop runoff cistern. The agency claimed the right to every drop of rain and precluded the capture of the rain for "non-natural" storage. Probably not a big issue outside the rather arid Western US, but another interesting example of hurdles that need to be cleared to move towards sustainability. Cheers, Jim Z