Comments for Crunch Time - Kunstler at http://atlanticfreepress.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://atlanticfreepress.com Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:05:09 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/2321-crunch-time-kunstler.html#comment-2923 We are making our own biodiesel from restaurant waste, and have gotten several years of winter wood in by cutting two out of three standing deadwood trees in the neighborhood -- gotta leave something for the woodpeckers! We still use grid electricity, but here in BC, it's renewable hydropower, and dirt-cheap, making it really hard to justify putting money into. (We have biodiesel backup generation.) I'd rather have these two legs of our "energy tripod" figured out than having some PV panels, but being dependent on gasoline for transport and natgas for heat. Of course, the free vegoil we harvest won't last forever. It's an interim solution. As energy rises in cost, dining out won't be as popular, and the waste vegoil will likely have more demand than supply. We aren't "car lovers," but feel that motorized transport will be available in some form for some time. Making biodiesel from waste gives us time to watch the trends and make further plans, perhaps equine. In the mean time, we drive under 3,000 km per year, and use the biodiesel in our tractor and farm truck, as well as put used vegoil in the chain saws for chain lube. Next is 80,000 liters of potable water storage, attached to a 60'x20' metal roof, coming this month (September). That should give us about 1,000 liters per centimeter of rain -- enough for our small community to get off the municipal water system. Food is next year's project. We had a small garden this year, but are hampered by lack of deer fencing. We may have to put five figures into a perimeter fence before we can hope to grow much food. But most of all, we're working on community. All of the above is being done by a farm owned by a cooperative, in which we each own shares, and there are many others on our island (and off it) who are interested in what we're doing, and who may be joining us. What we're doing isn't for everyone. I hope there's still an economy left for JHK to start his local newspaper. But being close to your sources of energy and food -- both physically, and in the sense of "being in touch with" -- seems the prudent thing to do. - a guest Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:29:25 +0100 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/2321-crunch-time-kunstler.html#comment-2911 It is sad to say, but I think our near term destiny will lay with that political party formed by the truck-men. We may have a cycle of intelligence, but the recoil from our current excess will likely make Bush seem moderate. There have always been a lot of sparks as once dominate cultures circle the drain. It is unlikey that our experience will be different. - a guest Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:52:43 +0100 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/2321-crunch-time-kunstler.html#comment-2909 Mr. Kunstler, This is your very best article written and this is the most emergent situation you have written about. I pray that we Americans have already reached these conclusions on our own. Some have. Keep writing. Thank you, Dell - Del Mar, CA - a guest Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:36:54 +0100