tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post8623345319651027313..comments2024-03-12T18:37:16.548-04:00Comments on The Easiest Person to Fool: Responding to collapse, Part 15: shortages of diesel fuelIrv Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08030800457536589003noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post-42314196220760168572019-12-01T16:54:06.024-05:002019-12-01T16:54:06.024-05:00@ Anonymous
You're right, I do discount elect...@ Anonymous<br /><br />You're right, I do discount electric trucks. They are getting a lot of hype lately and many people who aren't aware of the details of the problems are being fooled into thinking that battery power trucks can replace diesel powered trucks for long distance heavy hauling. Briefly, the physics just doesn't work out--batteries have an energy density about 100 time less than diesel fuel and as a result would displace most of the cargo. For short runs within urban areas where they can be recharged frequently electric trucks could be quite useful. But that wasn't the subject of my blog post.<br /><br />In the big picture, the value of electric vehicles in general is to replace transportation powered by fossil fuels with vehicles powered by electrical power generated from renewable resources, thus cutting back on our releases of greenhouse gases. That's the dream, anyway, but there are some serious problems with it. Partly to do with the intermittency and low EROEI of wind and solar. But also to do with the number of solar panels and wind turbines we'd have to build to replace fossil fuels at our current rate of use. That construction program would have to be powered with fossil fuels and the extra greenhouse gas released would very likely push us past any of the numerous tipped points we've been warned again by climate science. Irv Millshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08030800457536589003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post-27792508435570980732019-11-28T02:58:22.574-05:002019-11-28T02:58:22.574-05:00You seem to discount the change in technology that...You seem to discount the change in technology that electric trucks bring, add a big enough home, or farm solar charging system, and battery storage, like the Tesla power walls. Which would give you enough power storage even in the northern latitudes to power a reasonable transport system. The beauty of going electric, and storage systems, for local communities is that you can take advantage of hydro generation in large areas of the country. For smaller communities solar, combined with wind and hydro where available, with battery storage, give a decentralized grid, that will power electric trucks for local uses, and supply runs. Building that decentralized infrastructure makes more sense then relying on the long tail of a diesel infrastructure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post-89895991940785628142019-11-27T22:45:06.162-05:002019-11-27T22:45:06.162-05:00Hi Irv,
As you know, I'm interested in the spe...Hi Irv,<br />As you know, I'm interested in the speed of collapse and my favourite metaphor is a rock slide. The Frank Slide in the Crows Nest Pass in Alberta is my favourite. It was a sudden collapse and likely preceded by other small unremarkable events yet all preparing the conditions for sudden, rapid failure. It is telling that the portion of Turtle Mountain, just east of the original slide has a large and gradually expanding crack. No one can tell when it will suddenly fail but it appears to be a certainty. I think we have been seeing that cracking in our centralized system for many decades driven by the ever-increasing cost of resource extraction. Those are the precursor, the slow part of the collapse.<br />Greer's powers that be working to avoid collapse have been fighting against that developing failure, mainly by throwing more debt at the problem.<br />I think Orlov leaves out the failure of resource supply ( mainly food) in the five areas mentioned.<br />We could likely see this massive tipping point, and I think the mitigating responses will have to be local.Don Haywardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10229684724312837788noreply@blogger.com