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Brian Ruckman

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We will NOT find an alternative to energy dense, easily transportable conventional oil in time to sustain indefinate economic growth.

All alternative energies have one or more disadvantages that do not let them compete with cheap conventional oil.

Given our industrial civilization depends on massive amounts of cheap energy, the reliance on conventional oil is enormous.

The only quick solution I see is a drastic downscaling of economic activity.

Topics: energy

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John Moonstroller 30+
- +1
Feb 12 2013: I agree with this idea and we need to do it now. I'm doing it in my home with very little problems. It's much easier than i thought, but the bills just keep growing larger to keep up with my declining energy use.

The only real win, win situation is total, off the grid living.
Check out the youtube videos. People are doing it more and more and enjoying it more, also. It's doable.
- Tify Ndanoboi 30+
  - 0
  Feb 14 2013: Welcome to Africa, John. :)
  
  Interestingly I was watching a video on here the other day, with kids (7-10) playing in the streets, no iphones, no ipads, and yet amazingly they were all happy and smiling. Who knew?
  
  Sadly and disappointingly I dont see that on the faces of kids in NY.
  - John Moonstroller 30+
    
    0
    Feb 15 2013: Who knew what Tify?
    
    I guess smiling faces depends on where you look Tify.
    
    Here's a like to some smiling faces of kids in NY:
    http://www.thejellybeanblog.com/2012/10/natural-smiles-from-dream-big-i-heart.html
    Here's a whole multitude of them: http://mommypoppins.com/newyorkcityfamily/new-york-city-kids-summer-activities-guide
    
    http://www.ymcanyc.org/association/age/youth
    http://rangers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=649822
    
    You can find more if you really look around.
    
    Of course if you want to see some really smiling faces, check out the Florida beaches during the summer.
    
    Welcome to America Tify. :) cheers.
    
    Children smile for some reason. That could mean that the life of many African children is not a bad as played out in the charity ads.
    - Mark Blofield
      
      0
      
      Feb 23 2013: Soldiers in the trenches make jokes and smile as well. Does that mean the Somme wasn't as bad as the history books make out?
      
      Creating momentary happiness can be achieved in dire situations, and is often done to help make the situation more bearable.
      
      If you actually travel to places where people are on the poverty line, you may find, as I have, that they are very generous and high spirited. And yes they smile.
      
      Of course you'll see the smiles fade when the situation becomes more dire, but often, even then, they'll try to raise their spirits.
      
      It is part of our survival mechanism.
- shawn disney 10+
  - 0
  Feb 15 2013: John: Living "off the grid" means more or less like living like the Amish do. While you and I might be up to that,it is a certainty that billions of people in the developing world are not at all interested in going back to being Peasants. And efforts to talk them into "Carbon Caps" etc. are doomed to fall flat.
  But finding pollution free energy "Cheaper than Coal" could enable a civilised life for everyone. Look up Thorium Liquid Fueled Reactor" (LFTR). It has already been demonstrated to work..
  - John Moonstroller 30+
    
    0
    Feb 15 2013: I think the Amish don't use electricity as a matter of choice.
    
    You can live off the grid anyway you like. I will be using electicity, natural gas, and have cooling and heating. Off the grid can mean using 25k watt fuel cells to produce home size electical power. It is the coming thing. Most poor Africans won't have this luxury of course.
    
    I don't really think there is a solution for Africa.
    
    Of course you can live like a peasant if you like; in America you are free to choose.
    
    Thorium is an exciting idea. I've read some interesting writeups about it. It makes you wonder why it's not being used, but, we know why....
  - timothy schlotter
    
    0
    Feb 16 2013: The Amish don't all live off the grid. They use Gasoline, and oil, they are even starting to use electricity and phones. They also have been corrupted.
    - John Moonstroller 30+
      
      0
      
      Feb 23 2013: All life is corruption. You either learn to live in it or you are doomed.

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