Last year Al Gore used as much electricity in his mansion as I would use in 150 years.
Al Gore 221,000 kWh - Me 1,342 kWh
Surely this must make him the ideal candidate for president of the United States of Waste.
Can you be green, wealthy and have a big house?
Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth is coming home to roost via his electricity bill. Last year he used as much electricity (221,000 kWh) as I would use in 150 years!
That's some carbon footprint. Surely now he's the ideal candidate to be the next president of the United States.
The Guardian - An inconvenient truth: eco-warrior Al Gore's bloated gas and electricity bills
That's some carbon footprint. Surely now he's the ideal candidate to be the next president of the United States.
The Guardian - An inconvenient truth: eco-warrior Al Gore's bloated gas and electricity bills
I like a good debate
My previous post generated a heated debate. That was good. Not all self-reliant people are the same and we need to look at ourselves from time to time so as to make sure our solutions to the world's problems are good ones.
I am very happy to hear about individuals who make use of local resources and who reuse waste. Western society is very wasteful. Our society expects the rest of the world to be a resource larder from which we can dip into to keep our western lifestyles going. That is despicable. My example was Borneo being used as a giant palm oil plantation, which will do nothing but provide greedy westerners with bio-diesel. To keep the majority of the world in servitude so that wealthy capitalists can keep themselves in suits, cars and big houses is a great evil.
The point of my previous post was that some of our self-reliant solutions do not scale up to global solutions. The watchword of the 21st century is sustainability. I don't believe that vegetable oil is a sustainable resource for our energy requirements.
Used vegetable oil is a rare commodity. Where I live there is no used vegetable oil to be had. Most of the fast food and restaurant owners have converted their diesel engined cars to use their own vegetable oil. The few other restaurants are selling their used oil to the larger self-reliant groups living in the hills. Used vegetable oil has its uses but it won't solve all our problems.
Even if we started setting aside farmland for growing vegetable oil solely as a fuel it would not replace our oil dependency. You would reach a point where you would have to make cuts in food production and that requires population reduction. And long before that you get to a point where you have ravaged the land and destroyed bio-diversity.
The key to sustainability is for us to use energy more efficiently and less wastefully. That can be easily attained by having less humans on the planet.
I am very happy to hear about individuals who make use of local resources and who reuse waste. Western society is very wasteful. Our society expects the rest of the world to be a resource larder from which we can dip into to keep our western lifestyles going. That is despicable. My example was Borneo being used as a giant palm oil plantation, which will do nothing but provide greedy westerners with bio-diesel. To keep the majority of the world in servitude so that wealthy capitalists can keep themselves in suits, cars and big houses is a great evil.
The point of my previous post was that some of our self-reliant solutions do not scale up to global solutions. The watchword of the 21st century is sustainability. I don't believe that vegetable oil is a sustainable resource for our energy requirements.
Used vegetable oil is a rare commodity. Where I live there is no used vegetable oil to be had. Most of the fast food and restaurant owners have converted their diesel engined cars to use their own vegetable oil. The few other restaurants are selling their used oil to the larger self-reliant groups living in the hills. Used vegetable oil has its uses but it won't solve all our problems.
Even if we started setting aside farmland for growing vegetable oil solely as a fuel it would not replace our oil dependency. You would reach a point where you would have to make cuts in food production and that requires population reduction. And long before that you get to a point where you have ravaged the land and destroyed bio-diversity.
The key to sustainability is for us to use energy more efficiently and less wastefully. That can be easily attained by having less humans on the planet.
Second warmest recorded UK winter
Now, the first thing the sceptics say is, "Statistical outlier!" Yes, there are warmer than usual and colder than usual winters. It's the trend line that counts. If the trend line was flat then this winter would be a statistical anomaly. However, the trend line points upwards so winters are getting warmer, year on year.
"But," the sceptics say, "there were ice fairs on the Thames in the middle ages and the Romans cultivated wine grapes all over England." That is meant to be proof that the climate changes and we should be grateful for the increased warmth. Climate does change, over long periods of time not in decades as we are seeing now.
"More warmth means less heating fuel used and longer growing seasons are good for our farmers," say the sceptics. Try saying that to our pensioners who die of heat exhaustion during the summer or to Australian farmers who haven't seen water for years and haven't grown anything this year.
Oceanic islands are disappearing under the sea and bio-diversity is in decline throughout the world all because of our impact on the climate. It is selfish to want global warming to heat your country just because you can no longer squeeze your obese backside into an airliner for your yearly visit to the Mediterranean.
A warmer winter in the temperate zone is an unbearable one in the tropical zone. "Tourists" from the tropics might be coming here for good if the planet heats up too much.
BBC - Winter 'second warmest on record'
"But," the sceptics say, "there were ice fairs on the Thames in the middle ages and the Romans cultivated wine grapes all over England." That is meant to be proof that the climate changes and we should be grateful for the increased warmth. Climate does change, over long periods of time not in decades as we are seeing now.
"More warmth means less heating fuel used and longer growing seasons are good for our farmers," say the sceptics. Try saying that to our pensioners who die of heat exhaustion during the summer or to Australian farmers who haven't seen water for years and haven't grown anything this year.
Oceanic islands are disappearing under the sea and bio-diversity is in decline throughout the world all because of our impact on the climate. It is selfish to want global warming to heat your country just because you can no longer squeeze your obese backside into an airliner for your yearly visit to the Mediterranean.
A warmer winter in the temperate zone is an unbearable one in the tropical zone. "Tourists" from the tropics might be coming here for good if the planet heats up too much.
BBC - Winter 'second warmest on record'
Red Ken goes green
Londoners are being asked to cut their carbon emissions by 60%. A tall order? You bet. The whole point of living in London is to be selfish, wasteful and uncaring. I know, I lived there and couldn't wait to leave.
The UK government hopes for an expansion of flights from Heathrow airport, which will more than cover any reduction in carbon emissions and probably increase them instead. It's the wanting of cake and eating it that always causes the problems.
The Guardian - Cleaning up the Big Smoke: Livingstone plans to cut carbon emissions by 60%
The UK government hopes for an expansion of flights from Heathrow airport, which will more than cover any reduction in carbon emissions and probably increase them instead. It's the wanting of cake and eating it that always causes the problems.
The Guardian - Cleaning up the Big Smoke: Livingstone plans to cut carbon emissions by 60%
The fallacy of vegetable oil bio-fuel
With the onset of peak oil, the point at which oil production begins to decline, everyone is looking for alternatives to prolong their oil based lifestyles. For many, it is unbelievable to have a lifestyle without a car to hop into for when they desire to drive to the shops and buy a throwaway plastic consumer item.For those who could not bear a life without oil there is nothing I can say. You are tomorrow's dinosaurs and will either adapt or become extinct. Remain a brontosaurus or evolve into a bird, the choice is yours.
Consumers are not the only deluded people though. Many self-reliant people are pinning their hopes on vegetable oil to sustain their downsized lifestyles. Some boast about 40 acres of land that they have vegetable oil producing plants growing on. There are also those that boast about nipping down to the local fast food shop and getting free used vegetable oil to run their car or generator on.
It is just as silly for a self-reliant person to believe 'Vegetable oil is our saviour' as it is for a consumer to believe 'Oh the scientists will think of something'. Not everyone has 40 acres of land on which to grow vegetable oil. There just isn't enough land on the face of this earth to grow the vegetable oil to replace the tiniest fraction of our petroleum oil.
Whether you grow vegetable oil yourself or get it free from the chip shop it can never replace the world's fuel requirement when oil runs out. It is both arrogant and selfish to boast about your accomplishments with vegetable oil on the various self-reliance web forums populating the Internet.
Many of these vegetable oil evangelists are sellers of kits to convert your diesel car to vegetable oil or they will sell you a vegetable oil fuelled Lister engine with which to generate electricity. There are many trying to cash in on the self-reliance boom. Think twice before being taken in. Vegetable oil has no future as a global fuel. Vegetable oil as fuel might have a use in a world with a much reduced population but I don't see any concerted attempts at population reduction.
I also don't like the fact that third world countries are being used as giant bio-fuel farms to satiate our oil addiction. A bio-diverse world is very important. Using poor countries as single crop fields is damaging to the environment. Borneo has lost 80% of its forests. They have been replaced with palm oil plantations in which nothing but palm trees grow.
The orang-utans that lived in Borneo's dwindling forests are becoming extinct. But why care? So long as you can drive 10 yards down the road to eat energy negative food shipped in from 10,000 miles away and buy a child slave made orang-utan cuddly toy that has travelled the same distance.
Seed saving
Seed saving is important for the self-reliant. Buying seed is a waste. A lot of people worry about disease and genetic inbreeding. That is why building a seed bank amongst your neighbours is a good way of ensuring you have a bank from which you can borrow seed. If you have a bad crop one year and can't produce enough seed for next year's crop then you just get some from other growers in your locality.
All vegetables produce seed and it is just a matter of allowing a few vegetables to grow beyond the point at which you would normally harvest them. There are some exceptions though. Onions live for two years before producing seed so you have to leave them in the ground over winter to collect the seed the following autumn. Potatoes produce seed but it is more usual to grow future potatoes from the tubers themselves. I usually set aside potatoes that are egg sized as candidates for next year's crop. They can then be chitted on a window sill during January and February before planting in March.
I was in the village a few weeks ago meeting other organic growers and talking about seed swapping. It is good to meet and talk about our different techniques. We also discussed the possibility of setting up a stall for out excess vegetables and selling it.
All vegetables produce seed and it is just a matter of allowing a few vegetables to grow beyond the point at which you would normally harvest them. There are some exceptions though. Onions live for two years before producing seed so you have to leave them in the ground over winter to collect the seed the following autumn. Potatoes produce seed but it is more usual to grow future potatoes from the tubers themselves. I usually set aside potatoes that are egg sized as candidates for next year's crop. They can then be chitted on a window sill during January and February before planting in March.
I was in the village a few weeks ago meeting other organic growers and talking about seed swapping. It is good to meet and talk about our different techniques. We also discussed the possibility of setting up a stall for out excess vegetables and selling it.
Planting willow cuttings
Willow forms the backbone of our renewable energy. The intention is to plant willow over the whole of our land and to leave the minimum amount of land for vegetable growing.After cutting back a willow tree I reduced each branch to 10-inch long cuttings. In the past I have put single cuttings in plastic pots or multiple cuttings in large drums. The cuttings could then be sheltered from storms and frost, either of which will kill the roots. The trouble with potting is that willow grows very fast and can quickly become pot-bound. Any attempt to transplant the young tree results in root damage and death.
This year I am making paper pots. The advantage of paper pots is that they are bio-degradable so when the willow is transplanted the pot can go in with the willow and it will rot away. The roots will not be damaged.
In the photo you can see a piece of 4-inch plastic pipe around which two sheets of newspaper are wrapped. A few inches of overlap at the end of the pipe allows paper to be tucked into the pipe to form the bottom of the pot.
The top of the paper pot is held together with a small piece of masking tape so that the pot does not unravel itself. The pots are filled with a 50/50 mix of riddled soil and compost. Cuttings are then pressed into the pots with about an inch or two showing above the soil/compost.
Pots are placed in drums (as shown) so that they don't fall over. There is enough moisture in the cutting for it to grow but they are given a quick watering anyway. By the end of May the new cuttings will be strong enough to go into the willow plantation.
Another cold snap
I'm casting a cautious eye over the wood pile. I think there's still enough so I won't be supplementing my heat with coal. There is still a lot of slab wood and waste sheets of plywood to chop up. I know some may not like me burning plywood with its bonding agents but beggars...
February is usually the coldest month here though this winter is a lot milder than last year. However, it was a lot windier and the wind continues to howl outside. The polytunnel was lost but things could have been worse. Looking at the glass flexing in the windows is quite frightening. I often went outside at night with a flash light to check that the roof was still intact.
Next month will see warmer weather. The equinox is fast approaching and outside temperatures will rise over 10C. I'll be happy with that. The house is now fully insulated and a sunny day will produce enough passive heat so that I won't have to light a fire.
February is also a time for preparing willow cuttings. I have prepared enough 10-inch sticks for myself and Alfred's farm down the road. My promise to plant a tree a day continues. My land is getting rather full so I help others to grow more trees in one of the least tree populated countries in Europe. The apple trees were pruned whilst I was out there.
And now it's time for some baking. I need to stock up on chocolate muffins. A supply of chocolate is non-negotiable. If we don't have any then it's war!
February is usually the coldest month here though this winter is a lot milder than last year. However, it was a lot windier and the wind continues to howl outside. The polytunnel was lost but things could have been worse. Looking at the glass flexing in the windows is quite frightening. I often went outside at night with a flash light to check that the roof was still intact.
Next month will see warmer weather. The equinox is fast approaching and outside temperatures will rise over 10C. I'll be happy with that. The house is now fully insulated and a sunny day will produce enough passive heat so that I won't have to light a fire.
February is also a time for preparing willow cuttings. I have prepared enough 10-inch sticks for myself and Alfred's farm down the road. My promise to plant a tree a day continues. My land is getting rather full so I help others to grow more trees in one of the least tree populated countries in Europe. The apple trees were pruned whilst I was out there.
And now it's time for some baking. I need to stock up on chocolate muffins. A supply of chocolate is non-negotiable. If we don't have any then it's war!
Eat local global food
Keeping an eye on food miles is very important. Having gotten used to delicious products such as chorizo, olives, cecina, calvados and so on, it is good to know that local producers can produce as well as any.
Guardian - Bon appetit - English-style
Guardian - Bon appetit - English-style
Banning the incandescent lightbulb
Australia is taking the first steps to ban incandescent light bulbs thus saving on electricity generation.
There is an e-petition here to enforce a tax on incandescent bulbs in the UK but an outright ban would be better. Especially, a ban on those people who like to illuminate their houses so that astronauts can see it.
BBC - Australia pulls plug on old bulbs
There is an e-petition here to enforce a tax on incandescent bulbs in the UK but an outright ban would be better. Especially, a ban on those people who like to illuminate their houses so that astronauts can see it.
BBC - Australia pulls plug on old bulbs
Operating a wood gas stove
I have created a better video of the MIDGE stove in operation. I'm no Orson Welles but I do come in on budget.
The stove is a particular type of gasifier known as an 'inverted downdraught gasifier'. Essentially, that makes it an upside-down downdraught gasifier. The difference being that the wood gas is immediately burnt in the inverted gasifier but in the normal configuration it is tapped off for running an internal combustion engine.
The inverted downdraught gasifier in its most basic form consists of one can suspended inside another. The outer can acts as a cowling permitting air to enter its primary air holes where it can pass into the inner can. The inner can has holes at the bottom, in the form a grating which aids combustion of the fuel, and a ring of secondary air holes at the top which create an air/fuel mixture with the wood gas.
Fuel consists of wood chips. This permits easy fuel collection from broken tree boughs and the sort of waste that owners of log burning fires reject. The chips are packed down into inner combustion can and a small amount of some flammable liquid (spirit or paraffin) is dripped on top so as to get the fuel to sustain a hot flame long enough for char formation.
A fire is lit on top of the fuel, which results in a char layer forming. Beneath this layer is the pyrolysis layer where wood is converted into hot wood gas. Combustion continues down through the wood chips, converting the chips into charcoal which is then reduced to wood gas. The wood gas rises up, meets hot air at the secondary air holes and ignites.
You can think of a MIDGE stove as a device for making charcoal, which is then reduced to various volatile gases and a small amount of ash. The operation is very efficient, is virtually smokeless and yields little ash.
YouTube - Wood Gas Stove
The stove is a particular type of gasifier known as an 'inverted downdraught gasifier'. Essentially, that makes it an upside-down downdraught gasifier. The difference being that the wood gas is immediately burnt in the inverted gasifier but in the normal configuration it is tapped off for running an internal combustion engine.
The inverted downdraught gasifier in its most basic form consists of one can suspended inside another. The outer can acts as a cowling permitting air to enter its primary air holes where it can pass into the inner can. The inner can has holes at the bottom, in the form a grating which aids combustion of the fuel, and a ring of secondary air holes at the top which create an air/fuel mixture with the wood gas.
Fuel consists of wood chips. This permits easy fuel collection from broken tree boughs and the sort of waste that owners of log burning fires reject. The chips are packed down into inner combustion can and a small amount of some flammable liquid (spirit or paraffin) is dripped on top so as to get the fuel to sustain a hot flame long enough for char formation.
A fire is lit on top of the fuel, which results in a char layer forming. Beneath this layer is the pyrolysis layer where wood is converted into hot wood gas. Combustion continues down through the wood chips, converting the chips into charcoal which is then reduced to wood gas. The wood gas rises up, meets hot air at the secondary air holes and ignites.
You can think of a MIDGE stove as a device for making charcoal, which is then reduced to various volatile gases and a small amount of ash. The operation is very efficient, is virtually smokeless and yields little ash.
YouTube - Wood Gas Stove
Is climate change inevitable?
So governments and their scientists are beginning to believe in global warming. Will it make a difference? Not if the human population keeps on rising because that will negate anything the current 6.5 billion cut back on. And not if our governments continue to chant the mantra of infinite economic growth. They think they live in an imaginary world with infinite resources to give to an infinitely large population everything it could ever dream of.
Face facts the only way to avert catastrophe and keep the do-gooders happy is to reduce the population down to 1.5 billion. Then, totally remodel our economies so that they are sustainable and based on 100% recyclable goods. Tall order? You bet. Going to happen. When hell freezes over. Double order of factor 100 sunblock for me.
BBC - 'Now or never' for climate action
Guardian - Climate change: scientists warn it may be too late to save the ice caps
Face facts the only way to avert catastrophe and keep the do-gooders happy is to reduce the population down to 1.5 billion. Then, totally remodel our economies so that they are sustainable and based on 100% recyclable goods. Tall order? You bet. Going to happen. When hell freezes over. Double order of factor 100 sunblock for me.
BBC - 'Now or never' for climate action
Guardian - Climate change: scientists warn it may be too late to save the ice caps
Polytunnel removed
The polytunnel has now been dismantled. What is left of the plastic sheeting might be used in the summer for a small temporary greenhouse. The steel frame has been stored away in the workshop and will be used at another location.
There is no wind today and the sun is out, passively heating the house. You wouldn't know it was the same place as last Wednesday night. Sometimes you think the house is going to lift off the ground. As it is, you can see the windows flexing with each gust.
Today I will take a chainsaw to all the slab wood I had stored in the polytunnel. I will then tidy up where the polytunnel was. On the positive side I now have two large growing beds for outdoor vegetables.
I shall also make good use of this sunshine and produce a better video of my wood gasifier.
There is no wind today and the sun is out, passively heating the house. You wouldn't know it was the same place as last Wednesday night. Sometimes you think the house is going to lift off the ground. As it is, you can see the windows flexing with each gust.
Today I will take a chainsaw to all the slab wood I had stored in the polytunnel. I will then tidy up where the polytunnel was. On the positive side I now have two large growing beds for outdoor vegetables.
I shall also make good use of this sunshine and produce a better video of my wood gasifier.
Polytunnel placement is important
A polytunnel should be placed for catching the sunlight but that must be tempered with protection from the wind. That is a difficult thing to do on my land. I am on the west coast of Ireland and this is first land fall for Atlantic storms.
I awoke this morning to find the tunnel flattened by last night's storm. Winds gusted at 80 mph. The tunnel had already been weakened by previous storms this winter. I knew it was only a matter of time before the storms returned to finish the job.
I shall get a new plastic sheet but probably won't repair the tunnel until it is moved to a hoped for farm later in the year. It looks like I shall be growing peppers inside the house this year.
Heating water with wood gas
I was experimenting with Big MIDGE last night. Attempting to find out the minimum amount of wood chips I would need to boil 1 litre of water. Not much was the answer. Approximately 200g is the amount of wood chips required.It is surprising how efficient these MIDGE stoves are. They produce no smoke, can be used indoors so long as there is adequate ventilation, and produce little ash. They give off an awful lot of heat and most of it is directed precisely where you want it.
Upcoming experiments include constructing a heating coil from copper pipe and attempting to heat a larger mass of water using the thermosiphon effect. I would like to heat enough water for one or two showers, washing the dishes and a cup of coffee per day.
Ultimately I would like a larger gasifier that during the course of a day can heat a large heat store. This store would be a heavily insulated tank holding 10,000 or more litres of water. The intention would be to heat the store to provide enough heat for a week of hot water and underfloor heating.
A wood gasifier is ideal for this as it is very efficient. Most of the heat generated would go into the store. The wood chips would be simply created from waste wood mass. There would be no need to fell large trees, which could then be sold on for income rather than my burning here. Besides, chainsaw work, bucking and splitting does my back no good at all.
With international development ministers like this
Who needs enemies? We are instructed to buy our flowers from Africa instead of Europe because African flowers are not grown in heated greenhouses. You sometimes have to wonder about the intelligence of those who "govern" us.
BBC - Buy African flowers - UK minister
BBC - Buy African flowers - UK minister
Growing again
My sweet peppers, sown last November, continue to grow indoors ready for planting out in what is left of the polytunnel. Today I planted onion seed in a tray. The seed were from a two-year old onion that went to seed last year. I also finished a new no-dig bed for this year's potatoes. The seed potatoes being small potatoes from last year's crop.
It is very satisfying growing your own vegetables but producing your own seed heightens the pleasure. To know that the complete life cycle of generation after generation of vegetables is carried out only on your land is very heart warming.
A seed swapping group was set up in the local village so we will be able to have a local food of many varieties. Each grower has their own particular skill and so what you can't grow someone else will and will be happy to swap their excess.
I will certainly have an excess of onions by the end of the year. And about time too as I always run out by Christmas. I must have about 2000 seeds this year and they are all going into the ground!
It is very satisfying growing your own vegetables but producing your own seed heightens the pleasure. To know that the complete life cycle of generation after generation of vegetables is carried out only on your land is very heart warming.
A seed swapping group was set up in the local village so we will be able to have a local food of many varieties. Each grower has their own particular skill and so what you can't grow someone else will and will be happy to swap their excess.
I will certainly have an excess of onions by the end of the year. And about time too as I always run out by Christmas. I must have about 2000 seeds this year and they are all going into the ground!
Irish blog awards
This blog has been nominated for the Irish Blog awards. If you think this blog is good enough to win the Best Specialist Blog award then maybe you'd like to vote for it. Thank you.
Irish Blog Awards - http://www.awards.ie/vote and scroll down to the Best Specialist Blog section.
Irish Blog Awards - http://www.awards.ie/vote and scroll down to the Best Specialist Blog section.
A few thoughts on overpopulation
I have been doing some reading on the Principle of Over Population by Thomas Malthus and Olduvai Theory by Richard Duncan. These are taboo subjects in the media and the less enlightened will shout you down for being a racist. I'm anything but a racist as all my relationships have been with ladies from other races. It's just that the majority of people aren't white and our liberal friends have a knee jerk reaction when you suggest that there are too many people on the planet.
Now, Thomas Malthus was a little ahead of his time. Writing at the beginning of the 19th century he could not have known about the coming petroleum industry or the nuclear age. Oil has permitted us to increase the population of the world from 1 billion in the time of Malthus to fast approaching 7 billion today. Still, Malthus said that any population is dependent on its resources. We learnt that at school using rabbits as our model. Why some people don't think it applies to humans too is a mystery to me.
Richard Duncan is a contemporary writer. His Olduvai Theory postulates that the oil we have used to increase our industrial and breeding productivity will soon decline and so too must industrialisation. The population of the world will retreat back to the 1 billion of the time of Malthus.
I was thinking over this again and although I agree with Malthus and Duncan I do have one spanner for the works. The more over populated parts of the world are those that have little to do with oil. In the industrialised west we are breeding at barely replacement, and in some cases below, replacement level. Lack of oil and industrialisation would appear not to be affecting the high population growth areas. Or so I think.
This post is just a bit of thinking out loud and I would welcome comments. It could be that the unindustrialised parts of the globe have yet to reach their maximum human capacity without oil. And, if they had industry and plenty of oil, they could probably exceed their population capacities. It could also be that we industrialised nations bail out under-developed nations with our oil based transportation of medical and food aid. Prolonging the life of a sick patient as it were.
The fact is that the current trend in population growth is not sustainable because it is currently sustained on finite resources. Unlike the time of Malthus there are no magic technologies yet to come. Bio-energy requires the land that we need to grow our food on. Other renewable energies are variable. Fissile nuclear energy is as finite as oil, especially if every country in the world started a nuclear programme. Fusion nuclear energy has yet to prove itself, if it ever will and in any case it just won't do all that oil does. How can radioactive material increase our farming productivity like oil does?
We need renewable resources that can be managed and we need a manageable human population. How we manage humanity and its disparate cultures and beliefs is a very touchy subject.
Now, Thomas Malthus was a little ahead of his time. Writing at the beginning of the 19th century he could not have known about the coming petroleum industry or the nuclear age. Oil has permitted us to increase the population of the world from 1 billion in the time of Malthus to fast approaching 7 billion today. Still, Malthus said that any population is dependent on its resources. We learnt that at school using rabbits as our model. Why some people don't think it applies to humans too is a mystery to me.
Richard Duncan is a contemporary writer. His Olduvai Theory postulates that the oil we have used to increase our industrial and breeding productivity will soon decline and so too must industrialisation. The population of the world will retreat back to the 1 billion of the time of Malthus.
I was thinking over this again and although I agree with Malthus and Duncan I do have one spanner for the works. The more over populated parts of the world are those that have little to do with oil. In the industrialised west we are breeding at barely replacement, and in some cases below, replacement level. Lack of oil and industrialisation would appear not to be affecting the high population growth areas. Or so I think.
This post is just a bit of thinking out loud and I would welcome comments. It could be that the unindustrialised parts of the globe have yet to reach their maximum human capacity without oil. And, if they had industry and plenty of oil, they could probably exceed their population capacities. It could also be that we industrialised nations bail out under-developed nations with our oil based transportation of medical and food aid. Prolonging the life of a sick patient as it were.
The fact is that the current trend in population growth is not sustainable because it is currently sustained on finite resources. Unlike the time of Malthus there are no magic technologies yet to come. Bio-energy requires the land that we need to grow our food on. Other renewable energies are variable. Fissile nuclear energy is as finite as oil, especially if every country in the world started a nuclear programme. Fusion nuclear energy has yet to prove itself, if it ever will and in any case it just won't do all that oil does. How can radioactive material increase our farming productivity like oil does?
We need renewable resources that can be managed and we need a manageable human population. How we manage humanity and its disparate cultures and beliefs is a very touchy subject.
Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
I have always thought that a simple way of accounting for our fossil fuel use is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rather than making our consumer society give up carbon use. One way is to plant trees. Another is to scrub the gas from the air using industrial processes. There are two chemical processes called the Bosch reaction and the Sabatier reaction but both require a large energy input.
Richard Branson today put up a $25 million prize for someone to find another way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The aim is to remove a billion tonnes of carbon from the air each year.
BBC - Branson launches $25m climate bid
Richard Branson today put up a $25 million prize for someone to find another way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The aim is to remove a billion tonnes of carbon from the air each year.
BBC - Branson launches $25m climate bid
Increased electricity in the UK from wind
The UK is now the seventh nation to produce more than 2 Giga-Watts (at maximum) of power.
This follows the announcement of a plan to put a hybrid power plant in the Irish Sea. It will produce electricity from wind turbines or when the wind isn't blowing from a nearby natural gas field.
BBC - UK wind power reaches milestone
Reuters - UK approves world first offshore wind hybrid plan
This follows the announcement of a plan to put a hybrid power plant in the Irish Sea. It will produce electricity from wind turbines or when the wind isn't blowing from a nearby natural gas field.
BBC - UK wind power reaches milestone
Reuters - UK approves world first offshore wind hybrid plan
Nigel Lawson is not convinced
I always thought that prevention was better than cure. Not according to Nigel Lawson though. Even in the face of all the evidence he would rather that we wait and see. Only then are we to clean up after ourselves. Of course, it could be too late by then.
Lawson was a previous finance minister in the UK Conservative party so we know where his affections lay. Spend no money on the public good unless absolutely necessary.
BBC - Stern assumptions 'implausible'
Lawson was a previous finance minister in the UK Conservative party so we know where his affections lay. Spend no money on the public good unless absolutely necessary.
BBC - Stern assumptions 'implausible'
So you want to sell up and move to Ireland?
Think again. The EU regards Ireland as one of the crime capitals of Europe.
A report by Gallup says that Ireland has the highest risk of crime in Europe with high levels of assault, sexual assault, robberies, thefts from cars and from the person.
A summary of a Gallup poll can be found here.
If you've decided to try somewhere else than reports for other parts of the EU can be found here.
Céad mÃle fáilte!
A report by Gallup says that Ireland has the highest risk of crime in Europe with high levels of assault, sexual assault, robberies, thefts from cars and from the person.
A summary of a Gallup poll can be found here.
If you've decided to try somewhere else than reports for other parts of the EU can be found here.
Céad mÃle fáilte!
European car manufacturers to cut emissions
There is still a lot of hope being put on bio-fuels though. Where it's all going to be grown, I don't know. The 18% cut will more than be made up by increased car ownership across the world.
BBC - Car industry facing 18% CO2 cut
BBC - Car industry facing 18% CO2 cut
Four men, a boat and a bottle
Four loonies took to the water today, in Finbarr's yacht. Beers for the other three and a bottle of poitÃn (English - potcheen) for this uber-loony. I had to take a two hour 'power nap' when I got back.The sailing was good, if a little chilly. Finbarr and I, as per usual, were arguing over who had the best hurling team. Finbarr had the misfortune to be born in Cork. Imagine that. Being wrong and born in Cork. What a life. Up the Cats!
Migrant boat awaits rescue
Two points to note about this article. One, the African nations closest to this drifting boat won't to have anything to do with it. Two, it's left to we Europeans to clear up the mess and presumably take these people in though they are nowhere near Europe.
Global warming will affect the whole planet. We in the west aren't going to just switch to renewable energy and leave it at that. As we have been told, things are going to get worse before they can get better.
At the moment we have a 'trickle' of hundreds of thousands of migrants. Rising sea levels and desertification could send hundreds of millions our way. The knock on effect is that we won't be able to cope and we will be dragged down with all the other failed nations.
BBC - Migrant boat awaits Africa rescue
Global warming will affect the whole planet. We in the west aren't going to just switch to renewable energy and leave it at that. As we have been told, things are going to get worse before they can get better.
At the moment we have a 'trickle' of hundreds of thousands of migrants. Rising sea levels and desertification could send hundreds of millions our way. The knock on effect is that we won't be able to cope and we will be dragged down with all the other failed nations.
BBC - Migrant boat awaits Africa rescue
There's a wolf!
I was going to berate the BBC for putting up a news article with the title 'UK vets battle to contain bird flu' but they have changed the title to 'Vets working to contain bird flu'. Maybe someone else complained.
It's the constant use of words like 'battle', 'fight' and other such words of aggression that I don't like. It creates a sense of a world out of control and a 'them and us' or 'them and it' mentality.
We could well be under threat but using these terms all the time in a sensational manner is just a way of getting your article to the top of the pile. Doesn't anyone remember the fable of the boy who called, 'Wolf!'?
BBC - Vets working to contain bird flu
It's the constant use of words like 'battle', 'fight' and other such words of aggression that I don't like. It creates a sense of a world out of control and a 'them and us' or 'them and it' mentality.
We could well be under threat but using these terms all the time in a sensational manner is just a way of getting your article to the top of the pile. Doesn't anyone remember the fable of the boy who called, 'Wolf!'?
BBC - Vets working to contain bird flu
We need a replacement for commies
Terrorists, anthrax, bird flu, peak oil and wars over water supply. We breathed a sigh of relief when the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union was dissolved.
Were there not terrorists, deadly bacteria and viruses, a knowledge of the finiteness of the world's resources prior to the 1990s? Sometimes I wonder if the news is not there to inform but to control.
Of course, I wouldn't be on the West Coast of Ireland if I didn't worry about sustainability or not wanting to work for the slave owning corporations in the cities.
I regard Islamic terrorism and resource depletion as a natural consequence of capitalism dehumanising the world. I hated working in the city and being referred to as a resource.
All I can do is live a wholesome life and hope that nature doesn't strike me down.
The Observer - Britain's bleak vision of the next decade
Were there not terrorists, deadly bacteria and viruses, a knowledge of the finiteness of the world's resources prior to the 1990s? Sometimes I wonder if the news is not there to inform but to control.
Of course, I wouldn't be on the West Coast of Ireland if I didn't worry about sustainability or not wanting to work for the slave owning corporations in the cities.
I regard Islamic terrorism and resource depletion as a natural consequence of capitalism dehumanising the world. I hated working in the city and being referred to as a resource.
All I can do is live a wholesome life and hope that nature doesn't strike me down.
The Observer - Britain's bleak vision of the next decade
Bird flu cases on the increase
Cases of H5N1 bird flue are on the increase, creating more opportunities for the virus to mutate into a human communicable form.
Medicine is more advanced than during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-20 so I am not overly worried about a mass die off. The world's population in 1918 was a fraction of what it is today and the population has more than bounced back.
Still, poultry farmers have to kill all their birds to prevent the virus being passed on to other farms. In the case of battery farms this results in tens of thousands of birds being killed.
Let's hope that the general bird population does not become highly infected and that smallholders aren't devastated. It's a good advertisement for less intensive farming when you see over 100,000 turkeys being culled.
When H5N1 or some other strain does mutate then there could well be many deaths but no mass extinction. This is just mass hysteria generated by the media. Islam, bird flu and anything else that can possibly harm us are just magnifications to keep us in a state of fear and controllable by the state.
The BBC - Experts play down risk to humans
The Observer - World braced for huge surge in bird flu cases
Medicine is more advanced than during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-20 so I am not overly worried about a mass die off. The world's population in 1918 was a fraction of what it is today and the population has more than bounced back.
Still, poultry farmers have to kill all their birds to prevent the virus being passed on to other farms. In the case of battery farms this results in tens of thousands of birds being killed.
Let's hope that the general bird population does not become highly infected and that smallholders aren't devastated. It's a good advertisement for less intensive farming when you see over 100,000 turkeys being culled.
When H5N1 or some other strain does mutate then there could well be many deaths but no mass extinction. This is just mass hysteria generated by the media. Islam, bird flu and anything else that can possibly harm us are just magnifications to keep us in a state of fear and controllable by the state.
The BBC - Experts play down risk to humans
The Observer - World braced for huge surge in bird flu cases
Too little and too late
Russia is offering to use 20,000,000 hectares of land for bio-fuel production. This would create 1 billion tonnes of bio-mass for the energy markets. However, it just isn't enough.
The UK alone would require 26,000,000 hectares of land for bio-fuel production just to power its cars. That doesn't account for electricity generation for our lights and gadgets. It doesn't provide for the oil and gas we use to heat ourselves. And therein lies the problem. Too little land and too many people.
Biopact - Green giant Russia to produce 1 billion tons of biomass for exports
The UK alone would require 26,000,000 hectares of land for bio-fuel production just to power its cars. That doesn't account for electricity generation for our lights and gadgets. It doesn't provide for the oil and gas we use to heat ourselves. And therein lies the problem. Too little land and too many people.
Biopact - Green giant Russia to produce 1 billion tons of biomass for exports
The Good Life - news and comment
I have split away news and comment posts to another blog at http://thegoodlife-news.blogspot.com. The purpose is to separate my own activities from news and comments I may have. I understand that some people would rather read what I do rather than read the news so have made this split.
Bird flu on UK turkey farm
The H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected at a Suffolk turkey farm. 26,000 birds died from the virus and a further 159,000 will have to be slaughtered to contain the infection.
BBC - Tests show bird flu is H5N1 virus
BBC- Bird flu virus is Asian strain
The Guardian - H5N1 bird flu virus found in UK
BBC - Tests show bird flu is H5N1 virus
BBC- Bird flu virus is Asian strain
The Guardian - H5N1 bird flu virus found in UK
We are to blame
The certainty may "only be 90%" but even so that means that we are responsible for most of the warming of the planet. Yes, the earth has been warmer and much colder but that was a natural process over many thousands of years. Tipping a balance this fast is a journey into the unknown.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has just been published and can be found here. It details a list of recommendations for curing the planet's ills. However, when a body is infected by a cancer the best solution is to cut it out. Whoever heard of a virus being trained to be good and left in the body? We are both the problem and the cure. That makes things rather difficult.
The sad fact is that nobody will do anything about global warming because it goes against "everything we believe in". We demand food from all over the world, no matter what the season. Travelling across the globe to infest a wholesome culture with our loathsome one in the name of holidaying/vacationing. At the whim of a capitalist jobs are moved around the planet without regard just to wring the last cent out of a profit margin.
Our politicians are laughable. Whilst jumping on the environmental bandwagon they constantly espouse constant (infinite) economic growth. It's this growth that is killing the planet. Growth requires resources. The felling of forests, the burning of fossil fuels. We are cutting down that which absorbs the carbon from the burning of the other. Without trees we fill the atmosphere with the greenhouse gases that are overheating the planet.
The fact is our population is at an unsustainable 6.5 billion. It is admirable for every country in the world to want for its citizens all that we in the west take for granted. But if that many people all want the same as the average North American then that American is going to be a dead person because we will all be dead.
Personally, I think it is too late. There is a dash for the last half of the oil. The rainforests of South America will soon be gone. Africa is close to unleashing its entire population as migrants upon the rest of the planet. Asia's population is sucking up the world's resources faster than they can be provided. North America and Europe doesn't know what to do.
BBC - Climate change: Time to get serious
The Guardian - Global warming 'will continue for centuries'
The Times - UN panel issues stark global warming warning
The Cat Mobile
So called because it is black and yellow like the greatest hurling team in the universe, The Kilkenny Cats!The scooter does about 100 kilometres per 5 litre tank (60 miles per gallon) and will be used for short runs to the village or to the town. I can also use it for nipping down to the pier to check for driftwood, which I did today.
Many trips consist of just one person making a short journey. Why waste a car on such a journey? I picked up this scooter for 600 euros and it should last a good few more years. If the engine fails then I shall consider installing an electric motor. For now, it is fine as is.
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