Sorry, this is a very slow reply from me, and apologies if the thread is too far gone to pick up on again, but is the thrust of your comment that the “obvious” alternatives in fuels, and life style won’t work?

I realise that few individuals (let alone whole societies) make dramatic life changes voluntarily, and most might need to be forced to change by extreme circumstances. But, what else is out there apart from the obvious alternatives?

I am very keen to learn as much as I can to make the most positive impact I can in my lifetime for the sake of future generations, and so would appreciate dialogue that tries to act as a catalyst for education and positive action.

If there are other suggestions that aren’t ’seriously flawed’ (I assume you are referring only to fueling vehicles, or were all the alternatives included in the group?), this would be a great place to share them.

I was fascinated by professor Bartlett’s lecture (before posting my original post), but thank you for the referral. In return, I would suggest David Blume’s work on ethanol production on a community scale. To me, his suggestions seemed environmentally sustainable (closed systems), and economically positive because they encourage local economies and not mega-corporations.

In my original post I should have made it clear that I believe this “economic growth” that our governments promise the craving, blinkered masses is an endangered species. Maybe I’m naive or idealistic, or both. But I am sure that my eyes are wide open and they’re searching for ideas and alternatives that will save our planet, and of course not to forget, like minded people who want to do the same.

Yours respectfully.

Yes, we need to recycle, reuse, car pool, etc., but the present consumption rate of fossil fuels and projected increases of that consumption over the next twenty years is so immense (it’s estimated we’ve used about 1 trillion barrels of oil since we first started drilling in 1859, but that we’ll use that much again within the next 30 years…), and the energy harvest we get from oil so dense, that I don’t believe we understand how reliant we are on it and how difficult/impossible it will be to replace.

Everybody’s got different opinions about what the downslope of the oil production curve will look like (ie. how steep) and what, if any, mitigation strategies will work.

Apologies, but you’re not the first to suggest what you suggest. They’re quite obvious, and they’re all quite seriously flawed. They’re unlikely to provide reasonable adjustment and cushion on the downslope.

I’ll leave you to google Bartlett’s lecture on exponential growth (the full hour, not the 9 minute extract), EROEI, and topsoil depletion issues.