tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post3427803850402637727..comments2024-02-24T18:01:44.751-08:00Comments on Musings . . . by Karen Lynn Allen: Squeezing Oil Out of Your Travel (Make Your Life Less Oily in 2017, Part 2)Karen Lynn Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-90230488714158751342017-02-08T19:12:18.458-08:002017-02-08T19:12:18.458-08:00A quick internet search shows that airliners use a...A quick internet search shows that airliners use about 75 to 100 gallons per passenger mile traveled, which would be better than fuel efficiency driving in a car. This surprises me. Maybe I should fly more.Creedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165191359623185786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-55955223904898833472017-02-02T15:53:51.629-08:002017-02-02T15:53:51.629-08:00Hey SV, Nice to hear from you! With falling EROEI,...Hey SV, Nice to hear from you! With falling EROEI, it would make sense to use 1/4th of our current energy solely for building out energy efficiency, renewables, energy-efficient transportation, and infrastructure that enables us to take advantage of sewage/industrial waste heat. Did you see my post, "Obey the Law of Exergy"? (The way we squander waste heat in the US makes me crazy.) <br /><br />"Let's do More with Less" is a hard sell in the US, even though it's not only possible and can improve health and save money, it's the only way forward through the predicament we face whatsoever. It will no doubt take some sort of crisis (the fall of Saudi Arabia?) to light a fire under us all. <br /><br />So much future suffering could be avoided with a modicum of foresight and intelligence, but it looks like we will just have to ride the roller coaster we are setting up for ourselves. Still, getting as many people prepared as possible will make it that much easier for everyone when the time comes.Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-59235255708127040482017-02-02T15:30:03.377-08:002017-02-02T15:30:03.377-08:00It's likely there will be fewer day-to-day mil...It's likely there will be fewer day-to-day miles traveled, but that doesn't mean there'll be no travel at all. Consider how much travel occurred in the era between 1900 - 1920, before widespread auto use. When visiting the Walt Disney Museum here in San Francisco, I was struck by how much Walt's family, not wealthy by any means, traveled all over the country. Because Walt's father had a series of disastrous business/employment situations, the family moved around quite a bit. From Florida to Chicago. Chicago to Missouri. Walt and his brother went from Missouri to Florida several summers to visit their aunt and uncle during school breaks. Whole family moves back to Chicago. Whole family moves back to Florida. Whole family moves back to Chicago. Finally, in the early 1920's, Walt struck out on his own and went to Los Angeles. All of this travel was done by train.<br /><br />I just got back from a train trip from San Diego to San Francisco. It took 16 hours, which, of course, is ridiculous. But this was not because we lack sophisticated high speed rail, but because much of existing line is only single-tracked, requiring frequent stops for other trains to pass, and most crossings are still at grade, requiring low speeds. A few viaducts here and there would also eliminate the need for miles of tortuous slow curves. With just a little investment, that trip time could drop from 16 hrs to 8. Quite a few improvements are happening on the Pacific Surfliner line from San Diego to LA, including substantial doubletracking, so it's not inconceivable that section could drop from 3 hrs to 1.5 hours in the next ten years. The rest has no hope of improvement because all California's eggs are in the high speed rail basket.<br /><br />Medium-speed rail infrastructure is far cheaper than car infrastructure to build, it's far cheaper to maintain, and electrified rail is incredibly energy efficient. One challenge will be getting rail out to national parks since most are accessible only via auto now, but that can be solved. With just medium speed rail, (the kind Japan and Europe mastered 20 years ago) trips under 1000 miles will take less than 8 hours. With some serious high speed rail across the Great Plains, we could get cross country trips down to a long day's journey or an overnight sleeping ride (16 hrs.) <br /><br />International travel is another matter. More expensive bio-based jet fuels are likely the future there. I'm guessing air trips will cost maybe two to three times what they do now. So less travel, but not no travel. Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-48271763448653404622017-02-01T19:07:42.677-08:002017-02-01T19:07:42.677-08:00Venkataraman, I appreciate your comments. I think ...Venkataraman, I appreciate your comments. I think that I read an article by you a while back. If you are still following this web site, I wonder if you could give us the exact data on the amount of CO2 emitted per person when flying by plane as apposed to by car. I also appreciate the comments of bv Koho above, another B.W.Hill fan.Creedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165191359623185786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-15235532087815559952017-02-01T08:59:28.932-08:002017-02-01T08:59:28.932-08:00It's been a while since I've visited your ...It's been a while since I've visited your blog Karen. This series on oil is well done and it derives validity because its author not only talks the talk but walks the walk by taking concrete steps to decrease her energy envelope. I am back to blogging on energy as well and I have spent a lot of time dissecting and poring over the 65 pg monograph from BH Hill and his group and I see there is awareness of their work among your commenters. I would urge anyone with the appropriate physics and math background to read and STUDY the work. BH Hill has been very generous with his time in my communications with him. As you probably know his Etp graph of exergy is well past the inflexion point and could hit the wall of EROEI collapse as early as 2030. Oil field depletion is baked into the cake anyway. The US with 5% OF THE POPULATION burns through 25% of the oil wasting VAST amounts mostly in personal transport but Oil energy has been the glue that has facilitated exponential population gains, industrial food production and resource exploitation, pollution, species extinction etc. In our country it has enabled 87% of us to live in suburban/ urban environments entirely dependent on oil dependent supply chains to live, to eat and to work. One thing that seemed to be missing from the data presented was the overriding importance of oil energy propping up the US lifestyle. I'm talking about the trucks and heavy equipment of all types that allow this misallocated lifetyle to exist. It is the surplus from oil energy which has delivered unsustainable societal complexity, enormous job specialization and class 4 tools all of which is soon to vanish following the depletion of those oil basins. Oils exergy is what allows the other energy sources to exist and without oils exergy, none of the so called renewable sources stand much of a chance of replacing what oil does for us now.Oil is that key resource allowing these processes to continue. Remember Liebig's Law? I think we all must be careful what we wish for and it is reassuring to see some people thinking about and actually voluntarily doing things to decrease their energy consumption. The rest of the population in the next decade or so will have it rammed down their throats, especially those of us like myself living in the far flung wastes of flyover nation with our fragile and tenuous diesel driven supply chains.sv kohohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11058401490041584973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-70173026654679285662017-01-30T19:40:03.038-08:002017-01-30T19:40:03.038-08:00Travel is educational and enlightening. One of the...Travel is educational and enlightening. One of the down sides of collapse is that we all become local and no longer travel to far off places. I now feel guilty about traveling long distances via fossil fuels. I feel differently about the future than you do. In a future where travel becomes more and more difficult, stress will increase. To be resourceful in such a world we will need other options. Traveling long distances without fossil fuels requires much more time and possibly money. Creedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165191359623185786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-86963262510441123332017-01-23T07:49:29.695-08:002017-01-23T07:49:29.695-08:00I always appreciate your positive message and stro...I always appreciate your positive message and strong conservation ethic. There always needs to be the person telling us how we can be resourceful and adapt to a lower energy future. How Americans in general are going to deal with what's coming I don't know. I believe that people are mostly unaware. For some reason I have been a bit obsessed with the energy issue for at least 15 years. Ever since I started reading Jean Leherer ,(incorrect spelling), on the internet. Creedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165191359623185786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-70238463948909759222017-01-22T12:36:27.895-08:002017-01-22T12:36:27.895-08:00Hi Creedon, Welcome! I've seen you over on Ste...Hi Creedon, Welcome! I've seen you over on Steve From Virginia's blog (of which I'm a fan.)<br /><br />The future is not set in stone. There are still many possibilities of how things will play out, some more probable than others. <br /><br />Civilizations do collapse. Ancient Rome is an excellent example. However, half of the Roman Empire, the eastern half, made a choice to retrench, drawn in its boundaries, reduce its thirst for empire. That civilization lasted another thousand years. China has had at least 15 dynasties that have risen and fallen, with its complex civilization periodically severely retrenching and then figuring out how to prosper again. <br /><br />Americans with little effort could get by on half the energy we currently use. With concerted effort we could get by on 1/4th of current energy use. This wouldn't cover Big Macs and driving around solo in monster trucks, but it would still support a fairly complex civilization.<br /><br />I think we'll see stair steps down as we hit various economic crises. Whether oil goes to $20 a barrel, $200 a barrel or controlled by stringent rationing is still up for grabs. In any event, living a lower energy lifestyle prepares one better for all possibilities. <br /><br />As economic complexity declines, people will live on farms on the one hand or nothing but ten minutes neighborhoods on the other, in the forms of villages, small towns, and neighborhoods in cities. Cities have existed long before fossil fuels. I don't expect widespread personal electric vehicle ownership, but I do see them being adopted for economic activities that have actual value (such as transporting food from truck farms into cities.) Urban farms and home gardens will also proliferate. (A surprising amount of food can be grown even in a dense city like San Francisco.)<br /><br />We can look at the mess in Venezuela as a possible future. We can also look at the rather sensible adaptations Cuba made to lack of fossil fuels. Yes, it's possible that Americans will be silly, lazy, entitled, drugged, distracted and deluded to the bitter end. But it's also possible that we will wake up and make changes that preclude collective suicide. <br /><br />Churchill said that Americans will do the right thing after they've exhausted all other alternatives. Let's hope so. Until then, no sense despairing, no sense not putting the pieces in place (supporting local small farmers, reducing energy use, increasing community health) that we know will be useful in the coming future.Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-21874549410724372762017-01-22T04:01:40.719-08:002017-01-22T04:01:40.719-08:00Karen I love you and your work. I have chickens ha...Karen I love you and your work. I have chickens have cut back to one car, have an electric bike and two other bicycles, garden and having been working on these things for a while.<br /> However, I am a follower of the Hill's group ETP model. It is my belief that the price of oil is going to continue to drop and that when it gets low enough, around 20 dollars a barrel it won't mater what anyone does, wallstreet will bail on the oil industry and the world industrial economy will collapse. I believe we are within three years of this crisis time and within 15 years of the total collapse of the world industrial economy. As the world industrial economy collapses frugality and efficiency won't be an answer there will be no ten minute neighborhoods to live in. America will will become Venezuela, Syria, Mexico. Creedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09165191359623185786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-81845771771052791182017-01-14T02:13:23.751-08:002017-01-14T02:13:23.751-08:00I am only half way there.
It is the title of an ...I am only half way there. <br />It is the title of an unpublished book by<br />Peter Kalmus. I’m an atmospheric scientist and the father of two happy boys. I also grow food and largely avoid burning fossil fuels, which requires some creativity in today’s world. I now emit about 1 tonne of CO2 per year, down from 19 tonnes per year, which is about the U.S. average. <br />You may google to find more about this amazing scientist.Amarnathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10045911629669056107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-33838538141840960882017-01-12T13:01:41.813-08:002017-01-12T13:01:41.813-08:00Good to hear! My oil consumption is about a fifth ...Good to hear! My oil consumption is about a fifth of the American average but I have further to go.Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-14051897049039626212017-01-12T12:42:05.243-08:002017-01-12T12:42:05.243-08:00Just in case you are not already aware of:
life w...Just in case you are not already aware of: <br />life with a tenth the fossil fuel | turns out to be awesomeAmarnathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10045911629669056107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-10447377764227750012017-01-11T09:51:07.011-08:002017-01-11T09:51:07.011-08:00Hi Jo, love your blog! Great that you live in a wa...Hi Jo, love your blog! Great that you live in a walkable town--you have half the battle solved right there. Yes, try an electric bike. My cargo bike with its long tail is very stable and easy to ride. If you're on a steep hill (I am, too, here in San Francisco!) I advise disc brakes. I don't have them and wish I did. Does your town have any bike lanes? Whenever possible I take slower speed streets with bike lanes or calm, car-lite streets to ride on. The key to my biking happiness is to spend little time next to fast-moving cars. <br /><br />Here's my take on why women especially need separated bicycle infrastructure on busy streets:<br />http://karenlynnallen.blogspot.com/2013/03/beyond-safety-why-women-need-separated.htmlKaren Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-84001075902272170842017-01-11T03:44:23.255-08:002017-01-11T03:44:23.255-08:00Karen, this is great! I live in a walkable town, a...Karen, this is great! I live in a walkable town, and walk it all the time. But I am a bit of a whinypants and hop in the car when it is too hot or wet or to carry heavy things or where I would need to walk for longer than about 20 mins. I can do better! I never bike anywhere because I am a bit of a scaredy cat about biking, and I live near the top of the steepest hill in town. BUT people keep mentioning electric bikes. Just maybe I could possibly look into that..Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17803297366197086152noreply@blogger.com