Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Joined: Mar 23, 2005 Posts: 191 Location: SW Ct SW Va
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:11 pm Post subject: What's your personal response to PO ??
One either believes that PO is coming soon, that it
has already occurred, or that it is a non-event in our lifetimes and therefore; one presumably has determined a
personal course of action/actions to deal with it ..
Our household consumes 1500-2000 gallons of home heating
oil per year @ $1.77/gal/2005 contract from vendor. This covers space heating and domestic hot water needs. We also have three vehicles with an average of 20 mpg combined driving and roughly 25,000 miles annually or 1250 gallons
of 89 octane fuel @ $2.08/gal ( our average past 6 months
for mid-grade fuel ). Additionally, we consume roughly
1400 kwh of electricity per month @ 0.09/kwh or $125.00
per month or $1500.00 annually .. Our household average
annual energy bill is ~$7200.00 and rising ..
In a good year this figure represents less than 5% of
annual income, but also exceeds 75% of our projected
social security benefit
As a consequence of the above costs and assuming that they
will be increasing with time we've decided on the following
energy consumption reducing initiatives ..
Convert vehicles to EVs and PHEVs ( plug in hybrid electrics ) or at a minimum, a diesel hybrid electric as
that will afford the opportunity to burn biomass fuel if
available ..
Replace oil fired boiler for space heating and domestic hot water with a geo-exchange system .. ie a so-called ground source heat pump ..
Explore any viable investment in net-metering technology
ie grid connected PVs or other small scale generating
capability to reduce grid electric charges ..
That's it so far ..
So please post your personal plans for dealing with
PO and it's ramifications ..
Triffin ..
Last edited by Triffin on Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:49 pm; edited 3 times in total
Well, since the combined propane bill and property taxes on my home have exceeded 15% of our pay in FY 2004. We are heading for the hills.
I am selling my current home, clearing all debt, and rebuilding green with the profits. The PO ramifications are far too serious to think that it will pass in a few months.
We are fortunate to have relatives who still farm in the bible belt and we will be relocating there in under 90 days- hopefully.
Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 520 Location: The Land of Do-As-You-Please
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 5:40 am Post subject:
I think I might take a year off from studying engineering next year (will be between third and fourth years) do all the stuff I wanted to do but didn't have the time.
Triffin, you consume more than the average household. You definitely have an above-average income which makes this easier for you. You should be able to conserve your way into 25% savings if you make some rather minor changes. Not sure where you live but the following worked for us:
- programmable thermostat(s) for heating (15-20% savings)
- change light bulbs to compact fluorescent
- change out one or more of the cars
- make sure insulation, etc. is all up-to-snuff
- I'm betting you have at least one A/C unit you leave on full-time (judging by your electricity consumption): consider getting rid of one and/or use timers so that they're not running all the time
- make sure refrigerators and other appliances are fairly new i.e. Energy Star approved. Check thermostat settings: it's easy to run fridges and freezers colder than required
- consider upgrades in the above areas as Investment - not an expense! You SAVE money when you install a compact fluorescent light bulb.
- train everyone to turn the stupid lights off when they leave the room! I know someone involved with installation of solar panels in remove villages in Central America and they mount light switches over the doors so the kids can't reach them...
There's lots that can be done but conservation is the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to improve.
With your income levels you can also look into a grid-tied photovoltaic system which usually can be used to offset electricity consumption. Some States have attractive rebate programs.
Response to Peak Oil?--First I screamed really loud, the blood curdling type, then I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, in a state of complete panic. Then I rolled around in the dirt and pulled all of my hair out. But...that's just me.
Actually, I planned for a geo-global cluster fu** of one kind of another about 8 years ago, by moving to an island in the Pacific Northwest. I came back to Canada with my husband and moved to a smaller island with a very close community. I guess you could have roving bands of desparate souls, but they'd need the money and reservations for the ferry.
Noone here is going to do anything dire, as people will pull together and everyone's needs will likely be met. If anyone tried anything, frontier justice might kick in.
It does not matter where you are in the world. You can do the following two simple things.
1) Sell your shares (before the share market crash)
2) Do not get in debt. Not even to buy a house.
Unless of course you are only 14 years old, in which case you
should enjoy yourself as much as possible using your parent's money because in the future your parents would be too poor to spend money for your frivilous entertainment.
I've personally pondered tshtf scenario(s) for over a decade now... and had prepared for various situations, but all of them had these fatal flaws -
a) you can't prepare for everything
b) you can't stockpile enough
c) no "plans" or preps can last a lifetime
The best you can do is to mitigate the possibilities to the point where national (or personal) crisis do not make gigantic impacts in your life.
Therefore, I migrated away from "survivalism" to "sustainability" which made a heck of a lot more sense (and still does of course).
Actually, I was forced into survivalism, having found this absolutely necessary not so long ago... and it didn't work. While I had my preps (and lots of them), I discovered that there were still situations whereby I had failed to prepare adequately.
These are:
a) support network (absolutely essential, don't try this alone)
b) income generation (ALWAYS have a means to make $$ for barter, trade, emergencies, etc.)
d) Plan B (and C and D). The best plans don't always work. Always have backup plans and modify them accordingly to your current situation.
e) the most valuable asset you have is your mind, so learn everything you can, put it into practice (instead of just book knowledge) and mentally condition yourself to take charge of your life in any situation (and I do mean ANY, some things will happen that A - D are utterly unable to deal with).
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: What's your personal response to PO ??
Triffin wrote:
Our household consumes 1500-2000 gallons of home heating
oil per year @ $1.77/gal/2005 contract from vendor. This covers space heating and domestic hot water needs. We also have three vehicles with an average of 20 mpg combined driving and roughly 25,000 miles annually or 1250 gallons
of 89 octane fuel @ $2.08/gal ( our average past 6 months
for mid-grade fuel ). Additionally, we consume roughly
1400 kwh of electricity per month @ 0.09/kwh or $125.00
per month or $1500.00 annually .. Our household average
annual energy bill is ~$7200.00 and rising ..
In a good year this figure represents less than 5% of
annual income, but also exceeds 75% of our projected
social security benefit
As stated in another response, the heating/AC bill would be reduced with a digital thermostat. Just set the furnace to turn off about two hours before you normally go to bed, and back on about an hour before you get up. If the house is empty during the day, it can be off then too.
Also, for after you retire, the gas cost for driving will go down considerably. Unless you are planning on taking monthly trips to visit far away relatives, or whatever, you will likely be down to about 1000-5000 miles per year.
As for electricity, again as stated previously, turn off the lights when not in use, and get new energy efficient appliances. If you have a room that's lit with five lights, just use one, except when you have company. If you have a computer, turn it off when you're not using it.
Doing all of these would likely put that $7,200 annual bill down to about $4000.
You could save even more if you get a wood stove or fireplace with a good insert for winter heating, and a few fans for summer cooling. Perhaps also add some solar panels to your roof, and have it fed back into the grid.
Joined: Mar 23, 2005 Posts: 191 Location: SW Ct SW Va
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:32 pm Post subject:
Thanks to Frank and Half-Mad for the good conservation
ideas ..
We invested in a high-efficiency oil burner about five years
ago, which made a positive impact on our heating oil usage,
especially during the winter heating season ( about 6 months
here in Ct ) .. the thermostats are set for 60 degrees all
the time ( we wear sweaters ) .. half of our lights are
compact or regular tube type fluorescents, so we can do more
there and probably can/should beef up our attic insulation ..
We've been in our present location for 20 years with a
very stable electric rate ( a good thing ) .. gasoline
and home heating oil prices have been on a fairly steady
increase however, and I suspect that this is typical of
most thread participants experiences in their local
markets .. I guess we have to individually decide what
impacts PO will have on our society and personal livestyles/living standards .. I prefer to take a moderate
view of potential PO impacts, specifically persistent increases in the prices of transportation fuels and
home heating oil over time and tend to discount the more
extremist predictions of die-offs, civil unrest and unavailability of fuels .. I'm hopeful that the process
will be gradual rather than abrupt and will allow us all
the ability to transistion to a sustainable energy future;
but just in case I'm being too optimistic we've the option of relocating to a rural family
property in SW Virginia .. Might have to spend more time lurking on the homesteader threads
Triff ..
Last edited by Triffin on Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Feb 26, 2005 Posts: 107 Location: By the river
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 3:05 pm Post subject:
So far we have sold our SUV (sorry, but it was a sad day for me). Planted several fruit trees/bushes. Have been reading (and buying books ) on self reliance, gardening, canning, farming, natural remedies. We also go to auctions to look for manual or animal powered tools. The last two weeks we have been feverishly working on the house so we can sell it, get out of debt, and buy something with more land.
This has been our long term plan, but PO sped us up about 5 years.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1281 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2005 3:24 am Post subject:
My personal response:
Disbelief, anger, panic,
Read about permaculture, bush foods, scan realestate sales adds constantly, follow peak oil forums daily. No money for land (too expensive). No garden. sigh
It's too big, I'm too fat, gonna die. Depression, apathy.
Read about reincarnation....maybe I'll come back after the worst of it ... maybe I'll live through the worst of it then die just before it gets better... maybe I'll try to lose weight again and get fitter...
Save money...keep looking at realestate adds. No energy ... sigh, I'll have to at least move into a rental house with garden space.... its all too much work... depressed. _________________ Kind regards, Katkinkate
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka
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) .. half of our lights are
