I went to the petrol station today to buy my usual £5 worth of petrol. Why so little? Well, for short rides there is no point lugging around a full tank and so, to save weight, I buy just enough to keep the fuel tank level indicator happy.
Thankfully £5 goes further than it has done over the past few months. Last week the price of a litre of petrol went below £1 for the first time in a year. No doubt those who don't believe in peak oil will say, "We told you so!"
I haven't changed my stance on peak oil as I believe that we have reached the peak of oil production. The reason why the price of oil is less than half the price it was over the summer is because of a few factors. Firstly, the economic crisis is leading to investors ditching other currencies in favour of the dollar. The demand for dollars increases the value of the dollar and so the price of oil has to drop to account for the dollar's increased value.
Secondly, the economic crisis will result in a global recession. There will be less demand for goods. With less manufacturing, and transportation of goods, there will be less demand for oil. That leads to a glut of oil on the market and so the price of oil drops. We have a situation called demand destruction. There is less demand for oil and so the price of oil drops.
However, as soon as there is any recovery in the economy then demand for oil will increase and so the price of oil will start to rise again. By then there will be millions more mouths to feed. There will also be millions more who imagine themselves to be middle-class and demand rubbish boxed in plastic, a car, and a plate of meat. We will be back to the summer of 2008, only worse because there will be many more of us. The oil producers won't be able to keep up with demand anymore than they could over the summer and there will be competition for all, leading to much higher oil prices.
So, don't use the current cheapness of oil, and the sales on offer in the shops, to have one last gluttonous binge, use any savings to pay off your debts. Make your life leaner than ever. Some will probably lose their jobs in the coming recession. The rest of us should count their luck stars. This is just a temporary recession and when it is over the energy and food gap will be larger than ever.
Eating on just £1.66 per day
For the past few months I have drastically reduced the amount of food I am eating. Primarily to lose weight but also because the cost of food has gone up markedly. With food inflation pushing up the overall inflation level, the best way to save money is by reducing food intake, producing your own food and cooking from basic ingredients rather than eating ready meals.Over the summer I grew enough lettuce to supplement my salad eating. I also grew enough potatoes to last me until well into next year. During the summer the price of rice was accelerating so I invested in a 20 kilo sack of rice. The sack was actually 22 kilos in weight due to a 10% free offer and cost me £30. It will take me about a year to eat all of the rice.
I don't eat as much bread (the most expensive variety of starch intake) as I used to because I get plenty of starch from my potatoes and rice. Starch is just a kind of sugar and we don't want to be eating too much of that. Meat eating has been greatly reduced due to meat being rather expensive.
My diet has changed to a predominantly fruit and vegetable diet. In the UK and Ireland there is a tendency to prepare a big pile of starch and then wonder what you are going to add to it. Now, I reach for chopped lettuce and think of imaginiative ways of cooking with it. Recently I have been eating egg fried rice, consisting of rice, egg, chopped ham and lettuce. You can load any meal with lettuce as it wilts and gets incorporated into the meal.
I have never had much of a taste for tea or coffee so not buying them nor milk nor sugar lightens the shopping load too. Orange juice and water are my main tipples. Everyday I drink half a litre of the cheapest juice and a litre of tap water. Occasionally I brew my own cider, made from the cheapest apple juice from the supermarket, which works out at about £3 for 4 litres of cider.
All this means that I now eat healthily on just £50 (63 euros or $80) a month. A day starts with oat flakes with a fruit yoghurt poured over them rather than milk. I don't touch milk in its raw state. Name me an animal that drinks milk beyond infancy? Lunch will be an apple, juice, a cheap bag of crisps, some nuts. Main meal is a variation on the theme of potato/rice, vegetables, very small portion of ham/chorizo/chicken. Varying the meal with different herbs and sauces ensures that no two days are the same and never dull.
Snacking just doesn't happen anymore. Too often we mistake thirst for hunger. Drink water often and have a small meal only when the rumbles really start. A twinge is not enough.
Of course, I will eventually achieve my ideal weight. That probably means another stone (14 pounds or 6.5 kilos) to lose. Then I will have to slightly increase my portion sizes to keep my weight and not waste away altogether.
A momentous occasion
Last March I had become an obese person, with a body mass index of greater than 30. Since then I have worked my way through being overweight with a change of diet and lots of exercise. Today, I am finally of normal weight with a body mass index of less than 25.
I was always an ectomorph, essentially a bag of bones. In my early twenties I was a cycle racer. Though I was the same height that I am now, I was twenty kilos (40 pounds) lighter than I am today. There was little fat on my body. I consisted of a muscular pair of legs that powered me over mountain passes in cycle races. My resting heart rate was 30 beats per minute. I could not have been fitter.
I have always enjoyed cooking as well as the production of food. The end of my cycle racing days left me with too much time on my hands. No longer was I spending 6 hours on the bike and 2 hours in a gym.
There is a tendency now for us westerners to enjoy immediate satisfaction whenever we want it. The slightest pang of hunger and we start snacking. Too large a meal and the stomach enlarges, the metabolism increases to cope. Then you are stuck in an endless cycle of eating merely to retain the ability to eat large meals.
Saturated fats, sugars, too much starch. Before you know it you are overweight. Your body strains to carry the dead weight that is fat, causing muscular and circulation problems. I still have a bit of a belly and that will go by the end of the year.
I am lucky to be naturally thin. There are many who are naturally large people. They can eat healthily but get depressed when they don't look like a skinny model and so they find solace in snacking.
We all have to get the programming out of our minds. We are not all the same. Avoid processed foods, grow as much of your own food as you can, cook your own food from basic ingredients. Fill your plate with vegetables and add a little meat and starch as an after thought. Not only is it more healthy, it's also a lot cheaper, especially during these hard times.
There are those who say they don't have time. Well, I cook meals in about ten minutes. It only takes a few minutes to sow seeds and then to harvest a crop months later. No room to grow? Then grow in containers. I have another blog at Grow Your Own Vegetables that shows you how.
I was always an ectomorph, essentially a bag of bones. In my early twenties I was a cycle racer. Though I was the same height that I am now, I was twenty kilos (40 pounds) lighter than I am today. There was little fat on my body. I consisted of a muscular pair of legs that powered me over mountain passes in cycle races. My resting heart rate was 30 beats per minute. I could not have been fitter.
I have always enjoyed cooking as well as the production of food. The end of my cycle racing days left me with too much time on my hands. No longer was I spending 6 hours on the bike and 2 hours in a gym.
There is a tendency now for us westerners to enjoy immediate satisfaction whenever we want it. The slightest pang of hunger and we start snacking. Too large a meal and the stomach enlarges, the metabolism increases to cope. Then you are stuck in an endless cycle of eating merely to retain the ability to eat large meals.
Saturated fats, sugars, too much starch. Before you know it you are overweight. Your body strains to carry the dead weight that is fat, causing muscular and circulation problems. I still have a bit of a belly and that will go by the end of the year.
I am lucky to be naturally thin. There are many who are naturally large people. They can eat healthily but get depressed when they don't look like a skinny model and so they find solace in snacking.
We all have to get the programming out of our minds. We are not all the same. Avoid processed foods, grow as much of your own food as you can, cook your own food from basic ingredients. Fill your plate with vegetables and add a little meat and starch as an after thought. Not only is it more healthy, it's also a lot cheaper, especially during these hard times.
There are those who say they don't have time. Well, I cook meals in about ten minutes. It only takes a few minutes to sow seeds and then to harvest a crop months later. No room to grow? Then grow in containers. I have another blog at Grow Your Own Vegetables that shows you how.
Stop climate change by eating less meat and dairy
Every cow consumes a barrel of crude oil before going to market. The cow doesn't actually drink the oil but production processes consume oil during the cow's lifetime.The cow will receive food supplements and grains, in addition to pasture, and this consumes oil. Transportation of the cow to the abattoir, and then to a meat processing factory, packaging and distribution, requires yet more oil.
All this oil is burnt and sends carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Add to that, the cow burping methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and you can imagine the damage to our environment.
With governments refusing to consider human overpopulation but instead of ensuring a western lifestyle, for however many billion we can cram onto this planet, the problem can only get worse. A western lifestyle requires meat and dairy products and it's the first thing people in developing countries want on their plates.
The Food Climate Research Network wants us to cut down our meat intake to 4 moderate portions per week. Also that all animals are to be reared only upon grass and waste human food.
Personally, I have had to cut down my meat intake to achieve my weight loss target. I have averaged a one quarter of a pound weight loss per day since March. I could not achieve that by guzzling meat. This month will see me consume 800g of turkey mince, 500g of ham, 400g of chorizo and 200g of cheese. The rest of my diet is mostly vegetable, rice, pasta and flour. I have a 125g pot of yoghurt everyday but never drink milk.
Though I eat far less than I used to, I can say that I enjoy my food more. Preparing meals has always been fun for me and working out the best diet for me has been enjoyable. I am fitter and healthier than I can remember. Life is more enjoyable and will probably be longer than it was going to be.
Guardian - Meat must be rationed to four portions a week, says report on climat echange
This news story speaks for itself
That our "leaders" and their banker friends really have no clue what they do or say. We are told that we Europeans don't breed enough, that we should consume to keep the economy going and to give handouts to greedy bankers. At the same time we are told to reduce, reuse and recycle because there isn't enough to go round.
In a Sunday Express news article we are told to expect 50 million migrant workers from Africa because Europe's population is in decline. We are told that we need migrants to pay taxes to keep our public services running.
Hasn't anyone thought it through? If we have a lower population size then we don't need as much public service and thus less taxes to pay for them. A declining population size is perfect for a downsized, green economy. Halve the population size and you only need half the public health service, half the police and half the armed forces we have.
As I have said before, we should not import labour but export jobs. Do we think that emptying Africa of young people really helps Africa? Denuding Africa of labourers just worsens Africa's problems, forcing Africans to breed more to replace the youths they have lost. Give 50 million Africans a home in Europe and within a year 50 plus million more will have been born in Africa. Why can't Africans have jobs in their own homelands like we do? Why do Africans have to be shuttled around the globe like sacks of rice or other such commodities?
Two hundred years ago people were complaining that Africans were forced into ships by slavers, sailed across the globe, many dying on the journey and those that made it ended up in a hellish job with little reward. Today. Africans are herded into boats by gang masters, many of the boats sink on their way to Europe and the survivors end up in menial jobs or worse, drug gangs and certain death. How is life any better now than 200 years ago? The liberal minded care only that there is a maid in the parlour and not for those left behind, starving in Africa because there is no viable farming.
China is showing the west up by building infrastructure in Africa. Not for China the importation of African labourers. Chinese engineers are building roads, railways and more in Africa and with African labour.
The problem is with a greedy élite of bankers and politicians and their failed unrestrained system of capital. A system that keeps Africans poor and the banking and political élite wealthy through subsidies for western farmers. We have seen how intelligent bankers are. Trillions of dollars wasted on gambling. Our politicians are just as stupid, they can't see how to run an economy in a more responsible and sustainable manner.
Sunday Express - Secret plot to let 50 million African workers into EU
In a Sunday Express news article we are told to expect 50 million migrant workers from Africa because Europe's population is in decline. We are told that we need migrants to pay taxes to keep our public services running.
Hasn't anyone thought it through? If we have a lower population size then we don't need as much public service and thus less taxes to pay for them. A declining population size is perfect for a downsized, green economy. Halve the population size and you only need half the public health service, half the police and half the armed forces we have.
As I have said before, we should not import labour but export jobs. Do we think that emptying Africa of young people really helps Africa? Denuding Africa of labourers just worsens Africa's problems, forcing Africans to breed more to replace the youths they have lost. Give 50 million Africans a home in Europe and within a year 50 plus million more will have been born in Africa. Why can't Africans have jobs in their own homelands like we do? Why do Africans have to be shuttled around the globe like sacks of rice or other such commodities?
Two hundred years ago people were complaining that Africans were forced into ships by slavers, sailed across the globe, many dying on the journey and those that made it ended up in a hellish job with little reward. Today. Africans are herded into boats by gang masters, many of the boats sink on their way to Europe and the survivors end up in menial jobs or worse, drug gangs and certain death. How is life any better now than 200 years ago? The liberal minded care only that there is a maid in the parlour and not for those left behind, starving in Africa because there is no viable farming.
China is showing the west up by building infrastructure in Africa. Not for China the importation of African labourers. Chinese engineers are building roads, railways and more in Africa and with African labour.
The problem is with a greedy élite of bankers and politicians and their failed unrestrained system of capital. A system that keeps Africans poor and the banking and political élite wealthy through subsidies for western farmers. We have seen how intelligent bankers are. Trillions of dollars wasted on gambling. Our politicians are just as stupid, they can't see how to run an economy in a more responsible and sustainable manner.
Sunday Express - Secret plot to let 50 million African workers into EU
Another problem with compact fluorescent lights
Though lighting our homes is the least of our energy worries, we were all asked to replace our old incandescent lights with low power compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).Then we were told to take care when throwing away old CFLs because they contain small amounts of mercury. Dumping CFLs in landfills is as bad as throwing away batteries. Poisonous metals like mercury and cadmium will find their way into our water courses and poison us.
Now there is another problem with CFLs, ultra violet radiation. Some CFLs are not shielded adequately and being too close to a CFL, for too long a period of time, will expose us to levels of ultra violet above safe levels, and increase our risk of cancer.
We are recommended to stay more than a foot away from CFLs, especially those of us who have CFLs in desk lamps or reading lights. Personally, I would recommend an LED (light emitting diode) cluster bulb rather than a CFL for such lights. Eventually OLED (organic LED) lights will be powerful and cheap enough for us to do away with CFLs altogether. Of course, we will then have a big mercury clean up on our hands.
Food trouble ahead for England
Two reports highlight problems lying ahead for England. Not only the most populous part of the United Kingdom but England is now also the most populated country in Europe. On average almost 400 people live in each square kilometre. In the south east of England this figure rises to thousands of people per square kilometre.
The UK as a whole has not been able to feed itself for decades. Dependent on imports to supply more than half of its food. The problem is exacerbated by the loss of farms, turned into housing estates, far from jobs and shops.
Many UK inhabitants just shrug their shoulders and say, "We'll just import more food." That might be okay for now but we can't be dependent on others for our food in a world that is struggling to feed itself and will become more reluctant to export food in future.
Points to note are that we consume more food than we have land and sea to produce the said same food. This is due to wasting the food we buy and from being overpopulated.
To avoid future food problems we need to stop building on farmland, be more reliant of local food, reduce waste and then reduce the population to a sustainable level.
BBC - England 'most crowded in Europe'
Guardian - Food crises could swing future UK elections, says think tank
The UK as a whole has not been able to feed itself for decades. Dependent on imports to supply more than half of its food. The problem is exacerbated by the loss of farms, turned into housing estates, far from jobs and shops.
Many UK inhabitants just shrug their shoulders and say, "We'll just import more food." That might be okay for now but we can't be dependent on others for our food in a world that is struggling to feed itself and will become more reluctant to export food in future.
Points to note are that we consume more food than we have land and sea to produce the said same food. This is due to wasting the food we buy and from being overpopulated.
To avoid future food problems we need to stop building on farmland, be more reliant of local food, reduce waste and then reduce the population to a sustainable level.
BBC - England 'most crowded in Europe'
Guardian - Food crises could swing future UK elections, says think tank
If only Earth was a bank
Today the US House of Representatives passed the 'bailout bill', so $700 billion can be printed to help the fat cats through their short period of regret, due to their getting caught being greedy. Some say the true cost will probably be $2 trillion and all of that has to be paid for by hard working Americans.
Many things annoy me about this. Listening to politicians talking of helping out the middle-class but not once mentioning the poor. Middle-class people can take a break from holidays, reduce their number of cars to one, eat less and sell their second home. What can poor people do during these times?
The sight of greedy people in suits being bailed out by greedy politicians in suits annoys me. That all of these suits will drop everything when it comes to money and keeping greedy banks running. When it comes to saving the planet they will talk about taking action but years after climate change and human destruction of the environment was first reported in the 1970s nothing has actually been done. If only Earth was a bank.
But the Earth is a bank!!! For too long we have been borrowing from the future. We have borrowed from our children's wealth to pay for today. We have abused the Earth's finite resources so that little is left for the future.
Why else are we implored to recycle? Why do we cull other species whose populations get out of hand but the human population goes unchecked? It is only a faltering global economy that is depressing the price of oil.
What will we learn from these problems? Nothing. A few years from now bankers will invent new financial instruments with which to gamble our wealth away with. There will be hundreds of millions of more mouths to feed. There will be less farmland. Their will be fewer species. There will be more carbon in the atmosphere. There will be more stupid humans than ever. The world's biggest bank is on its knees. Called The Earth, it has been stripped of its assets and left for dead.
Many things annoy me about this. Listening to politicians talking of helping out the middle-class but not once mentioning the poor. Middle-class people can take a break from holidays, reduce their number of cars to one, eat less and sell their second home. What can poor people do during these times?
The sight of greedy people in suits being bailed out by greedy politicians in suits annoys me. That all of these suits will drop everything when it comes to money and keeping greedy banks running. When it comes to saving the planet they will talk about taking action but years after climate change and human destruction of the environment was first reported in the 1970s nothing has actually been done. If only Earth was a bank.
But the Earth is a bank!!! For too long we have been borrowing from the future. We have borrowed from our children's wealth to pay for today. We have abused the Earth's finite resources so that little is left for the future.
Why else are we implored to recycle? Why do we cull other species whose populations get out of hand but the human population goes unchecked? It is only a faltering global economy that is depressing the price of oil.
What will we learn from these problems? Nothing. A few years from now bankers will invent new financial instruments with which to gamble our wealth away with. There will be hundreds of millions of more mouths to feed. There will be less farmland. Their will be fewer species. There will be more carbon in the atmosphere. There will be more stupid humans than ever. The world's biggest bank is on its knees. Called The Earth, it has been stripped of its assets and left for dead.
Busy times
Sorry for not updating the blog as much as I used to (more than twice a day) but I am helping a 'significant other' to downsize her belongings afore the remainder is shipped off to Spain. And I thought I collected a lot of rubbish.
You would think women were centipedes with the number of shoes they have. My shoe motto is, 'One pair of feet. One pair of shoes.'
Mostly we have been looking for 'two offs' so that we can sell or freecycle the spare. Most of her books have no value at all so they went to the local Oxfam shop to raise a little cash for charity.
Well, I shall be down in London again this weekend to help out, regardless of the coming storms that do my high-sided vehicle no favours. I'll need a tail wind on the way down and a dramatic 180 degree reversal on the way home to help with the eco-driving. If you see someone in the slow lane, sitting behind a lorry at 55mph then it's me.
You would think women were centipedes with the number of shoes they have. My shoe motto is, 'One pair of feet. One pair of shoes.'
Mostly we have been looking for 'two offs' so that we can sell or freecycle the spare. Most of her books have no value at all so they went to the local Oxfam shop to raise a little cash for charity.
Well, I shall be down in London again this weekend to help out, regardless of the coming storms that do my high-sided vehicle no favours. I'll need a tail wind on the way down and a dramatic 180 degree reversal on the way home to help with the eco-driving. If you see someone in the slow lane, sitting behind a lorry at 55mph then it's me.
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