Sam Walters wrote:

> Most important, you are painting yourself and all of us into a bad
> corner if you think the whole solution doesn't have to come from one new
> energy source.
>
> The people who sit around and knock or dismiss every attempt at solving
> the problems certainly aren't very useful.

...true enough, but don't get too fired up.

These responses exist in every crisis.  People want to continue to do
what they've been doing.  They've been trained to by market forces and
marketing.

Unfortunately when paradigms shift it often is a messy business
resulting in multiple avenues to solve the problem until those methods
mature and one or two obviously outshines others in terms of their
benefits...environmental, social and economic.

The thing to remember here is for those of us who realize we're in a fix
and that we're looking at global weather shifts, as well, must focus on
solving the whole problem globally and whatever parts we can address
locally as individuals....and ignore those that are critical or don't
want to see it.  They'll only be persuaded when it gets personal for them.

As a techie at heart I'm always looking for better solutions.  For a
list of VW owners I would think most would get a kick out of getting a
lot out of a little which was the premise for the bug, bus and even into
the Vanagons....only recently has VW joined the rest of the world's
pursuit of size and low mileage with the Toureag.

Me, I'm opting for a community based oil collection and refining
proposal...grass roots, find a way to fund a truck to go around and
collect what they're paying to get rid of.  Put some chemistry to work
and sell the result to the local heating oil company so they can sell a
cheaper grade of heating oil!  Diesel was developed to provide an
efficient, produceable fuel for Germany when importing petroleum for
gasoline wasn't a dependable option.  It worked then and can work now.
Actually using diesel decreases greenhouse gases and produces some level
of particulates which serves to maintain the dimming effect....this
could have the potential to keep warming from shooting up as scrubbers
continue to reduce CO2 and N2.

Put some PVC pipe together and paint it black...get a few valves,
thermostats and some circuitry and augment your heating or hot water system.

If you're adding a sunroom make the design include increased thermal
mass around the windows to hold more heat during the day so it radiates
at night.

Use a geothermal heating or hot water heating system to use the thermal
mass present in your yard beneath the frost line.  When you look at a
typical backyard you're staring at enough heat a few feet down, year
round to cut your gas/fuel oil or wood bills by a substantial amount.

Multiple paths to solve an immense and complicated problem with
implications for the several billion of us who live here and can't leave
yet.

; )

--

Wil

"I had amnesia once or twice."
-- Steven Wright