tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post1192378870204786997..comments2024-02-24T18:01:44.751-08:00Comments on Musings . . . by Karen Lynn Allen: Make Your Life Less Oily in 2017: Part I, Taking StockKaren Lynn Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-6846877761361546402017-02-19T12:03:11.611-08:002017-02-19T12:03:11.611-08:00Karen - Interesting blog and similar logic and ana...Karen - Interesting blog and similar logic and analysis to what I have been doing for years. There are problems with food miles (look at where the numbers were derived) and I don't think you adequately address embedded energy. For example, the embedded energy of a tractor is within 3% of the energy of the fuel used, so you can just double the diesel/gas consumption to get the total energy use. I suggest getting a copy of Pimentel's book Food, Energy and Society, if you don't already have it. He has been doing this since the 70's. You can also check out my first book, The Laws of Physics Are On My Side (2013). It is available on Amazon, but you can also get it from your local county library through interlibrary loan.Walterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09458420994949500662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-52981905653780500502017-01-11T09:31:13.092-08:002017-01-11T09:31:13.092-08:00I am certainly aware that higher prices are the ma...I am certainly aware that higher prices are the major way to reduce oil consumption on a grand scale--the price in real terms of what people can afford. (Recessions have a way of quickly reducing oil consumption as well.) <br /><br />The premise of this article is if one doesn't want to personally support Saudi Arabia and ExxonMobil, there are ways to substantially reduce one's oil consumption (and carbon footprint) that have the side benefits of increasing one's wealth, health and happiness. Another added benefit is resilience. Any future problems with oil supply will have much less impact on someone already living oil-lite.<br /><br />Before the Civil War, some in the North chose not to wear cotton fabric because the cotton was picked by slaves. Did it end slavery? No. Was it the ethical choice? Yes.<br /><br />I have reduced my oil consumption for ethical reasons. I offer others ideas of how they can do the same.Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-29841792895462007432017-01-11T01:42:26.776-08:002017-01-11T01:42:26.776-08:00Price is the one - and only - thing that's pro...Price is the one - and only - thing that's proven to get the majority of the population to seriously reduce oil consumption on a grand scale. Oil use of every kind goes down as the price rises. It goes up as the price falls. Full stop. So if the goal is to get the entire country to be more mindful of consumption... prices have to go up significantly and stay up.<br /><br />Don't expect any government policy to raise the cost of oil. Ever. It's a political non-starter. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Socialists... forget it. They'd be voted out of office for merely suggesting such a plan.<br /><br />If you expect Peak Oil to cut off the supply and raise prices you're also going to be disappointed. As physical production declines and supply becomes tight prices rise. Those higher prices make it economical to pull dirtier marginal sources (tar sands, fracking, deep water) out of the ground. But high prices make the economy contract, demand collapses, and the price of oil drops back down. The lower price allows the economy to recover and people go back to consuming again. Rinse. Repeat.<br /><br />Wartime rationing is effective at reducing discretionary domestic oil consumption, but the war itself burns up a huge amount of oil.<br /><br />If you're waiting for enough environmental destruction and nasty effects of climate change to finally get people to understand that their oil usage is a genuine problem you'll also be disappointed. Society's response to floods, forest fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes will be to build protective infrastructure to fortify existing places (tidal barrages, sea walls, massive pumping stations, concrete storm shelters...) which are all intensely oily. People will also migrate away from vulnerable places and build new structures in safer places which will also be an oily process.<br /><br />I'm not being a pessimist here. I'm not a doomer. I've spent a lot of time thinking this through. In the end we do what we do because we can. And we stop doing things because we have no other choice. This process is going to play out for the rest of this century before all the combined forces resolve themselves in a messy decline.Idabloomsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642121597610292434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-64524176015292430212017-01-11T01:40:26.928-08:002017-01-11T01:40:26.928-08:00I am in Australia so converting from litres and ki...I am in Australia so converting from litres and kilometres. So much maths! Thank goodness for google calculators:)<br /><br />I did add 50kg (100 lbs-ish) to my 'stuff' calculation for old, small appliances that weren't second-hand, such as food processor, blender etc. I think the calculator is brilliant. Now, on to part 2!Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17803297366197086152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-8761338380438975332017-01-10T11:38:35.785-08:002017-01-10T11:38:35.785-08:00Even so, her number is pretty good compared to the...Even so, her number is pretty good compared to the average American (923 gallons!) If I were really clever, I'd make the calculator work for imperial gallons and metric. Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-15029961231095297482017-01-10T11:34:52.167-08:002017-01-10T11:34:52.167-08:00A UK gallon is a litre larger than a US gallon .3....A UK gallon is a litre larger than a US gallon .3.7 to 4.7 . So in us gallons their number is higher .Diogenese 5https://www.blogger.com/profile/14708716779866025893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-72532685454254797592017-01-09T22:21:44.802-08:002017-01-09T22:21:44.802-08:00Well, if you don't fly, don't drive much, ...Well, if you don't fly, don't drive much, and don't use heating oil or propane, I could see how your oil use would be quite low. I would say that second hand stuff does count but at some reduced rate, not just pounds of the item divided by years of life. However, the used stuff wouldn't have the oil delivery miles tacked on. The first owner gets that. And if you acquire something that would've been sent to landfill if you didn't use it, then I would say it's oil-free! Feel free to link. And check out part 2. It's up now.Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-26937480930466528692017-01-09T19:02:20.644-08:002017-01-09T19:02:20.644-08:00OK, so I just did the oiliness quiz, and I have co...OK, so I just did the oiliness quiz, and I have come up with 120 gallons. The hardest part was transferring all the quantities from metric to imperial. But I did it. It seems quite a small number compared to the US number, and I am sure my impact is greater than that. Having said that, I never fly, don't drive a lot, and never buy anything new - does buying second hand count in the oil stats? I rarely (twice a year maybe) get anything delivered and I included my plastic milk bottles, although they are HDPE not PET (still plastic obviously). I included my share of the car. Our heating is wood and our electricity is half hydro, half coal derived, which could be better, and of course coal is pre-oil. But thanks for this great resource - I will link to it from my blog if that is ok?Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17803297366197086152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-71315190240493036652017-01-07T03:39:15.148-08:002017-01-07T03:39:15.148-08:00Stay tuned for part II!Stay tuned for part II!Karen Lynn Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01570980995774757572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8731149177870823280.post-23718171024982450282017-01-07T02:53:16.829-08:002017-01-07T02:53:16.829-08:00Goodness, your blog is full of amazing information...Goodness, your blog is full of amazing information, and that is just what I need, as I am about to embark on a year of trying to reduce my oiliness to about ten percent of the average.. I really have no idea what I am doing, so it is wonderful to find this smorgasbord of useful information:)Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17803297366197086152noreply@blogger.com