tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617610752412695885.post1138817477685884141..comments2017-05-15T16:36:55.519+10:00Comments on A Melburnians Response to Overshoot: What is the Role of Governments?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07113030328290684028noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617610752412695885.post-64783772325934103332012-11-12T19:31:30.191+11:002012-11-12T19:31:30.191+11:00Only one or two of our peers know about this, most...Only one or two of our peers know about this, most of the grasp comes from reading and growing up with it as a basic view, i read Jared Diamonds Collapse and Guns, Germs and Steel a while ago and gone on from there. <br /><br />The main obstacle i found to maps was that if you didn't know what everything meant its just confusing, once i got told what all the lines meant it got easier (learnt from both Scouts and School how to read maps and compasses). A lot of old skills are like that (not all, some are also hard work and patience), once the basic principles are grasped it gets a lot easier.<br /><br />For biofuels, growing the food comes first and the main reason its not a good idea to immediately start production is because switching to organic methods, producing the surplus takes time and practice (i'm guessing on a range of 10 years to be reliable) and only then can they be produced, once the transitions done i expect most farms will produce some but during, depends.<br /><br />The wind turbines probably the better option now, the main advantage of biofules is the ease of storage (compared to solar and wind). While wind and solar are interrmittant, you know they'll pick up at some point, so using biofuels as a bridge between downtimes seems the best use. e.g I saw you mention on the Archdruid report that you needed to burn (20?) litres of petrol, instead you'd use biofuel saved over the year/s and would eventually have a tank you could use when neccesary (100 litres or so?) and sell any extra. <br /><br />You'll probably find that bio-oils will be farmed extensively as canola or similar while farming intensively/small farms as nuts or olives will be used. <br /><br />If you ever decide to try, http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/energy/sustainable-energy/bioenergy here has some examples on large scale projects and hopefully http://bioenergyvictoria.net.au/home/ will have some applicable projects, if not there should be information available somewhere.<br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07113030328290684028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617610752412695885.post-52472233371281933342012-11-12T18:04:51.503+11:002012-11-12T18:04:51.503+11:00Hey guys,
Out of curiosity, do your peers discuss...Hey guys,<br /><br />Out of curiosity, do your peers discuss this stuff as you two seem to have a good handle on the major issues facing us?<br /><br />Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a good viewpoint with which to view the actions of others too.<br /><br />In any future given situation, the trick is to make yourself useful to others. Maritime engineering is certainly a good example of this. Old school navigation skills seem like a good idea too. I know too many people who are reliant on GPS systems and have lost the basic skill of reading a map, let alone looking at the sky and the terrain.<br /><br />Biofuels are an interesting topic too. I muck around a lot with the soil here and am yet to grow a surplus. Food really is a form of energy when you get down to basics and preserving skills are on par with making biofuels. Every year the place is a bit more productive, but it is a slow process to become resilient (as distinct from efficient).<br /><br />I saw a show called Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home and he home built a bio-digester to produce methane to use on a propane cooker. A smart guy and a simple and elegant system. I compost human wastes back into the soil via a worm farm (it's my most popular youtube clip!), but until society sees our own wastes as a resource, well...<br /><br />I use wood here for heating the house and hot water systems during about 6 months of the year. I looked into getting a small steam engine to generate electricity, but they were out of my price range and I don't have the skills to build one from scratch. A business in South Australia still makes them:<br /><br />http://www.strathsteam.com/<br /><br />I reckon you two would enjoy a visit to their workshop!<br /><br />I also thought maybe about an old Lister diesel engine hooked up to a 24v truck alternator as you can import replica Lister engines made in India and they are fairly affordable and will go forever and are easy to repair. <br /><br />Bio-oils here would have to be either nuts: almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, but the best producing ones maybe olives. I'm trying all of them but they take years before they produce a crop and even then I don't know whether I'd have the heart to turn them into biofuels?<br /><br />I'm taking the easier route though and experimenting with a cheapie wind turbine generator which I'll only use for about 6 weeks of the year when the sun is too low in the sky and the photo-voltaic panels only produce about 2/3rds of the daily power if it is anything less than sunny. At least these are easily made, although the magnets are getting harder to source. There is a booming market in second hand Fisher and Paykel drive motors which you can convert into wind turbines. If I have a lot of free time then I'll have a bash at making one as they seem pretty easy to make, otherwise it'll be just eBay.<br /><br />ChrisFernglade Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06950962122594709186noreply@blogger.com