PeakEngineer's blog

Peak Oil and global warming are enormous problems, but are still only part of a network of impending disasters -- all of which appear ready to juxtapose at the exact same instant. Between the riveting news debates over Donald Trump’s hair and the wardrobe malfunctions of Britney Spears, there recently appeared one of the most frightening (and shockingly underreported) news stories in recent memory: populations of the North American Honeybee -- the workhorse pollinator of American agriculture -- are plummeting rapidly.

As sources like CNN noted casually, pollinator species (including honeybees) have been in persistent decline for decades due to factors such as an invasive parasitic mite. But the mite is now ruled out as the cause for the current collapse -- the main suspects include commercial pesticides, genetically modified crops, or an unknown pathogen. Given the past evidence of pesticides’ effects on bees, my money lies on careless commercial operations indiscriminately spraying killer chemicals.

LiveScience reminds us in an article today that there is quite a number of gases in the atmosphere that contribute to global warming other than carbon dioxide. Some are greater than 10,000 times more effective at trapping solar energy than CO2, and their role in the atmosphere is not as fully understood. (We have past proxies such as ice cores that can explain the historical effects of CO2, but nothing for exotic species like chlorofluorocarbons -- we can only observe the current havoc they wreak.)

From the article:

Other greenhouse gases make up an even smaller portion of the total greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but are more long-lived and less reactive than methane.

Chlorofluorocarbons, banned by an international agreement known as the Montreal Protocol because they eat up atmospheric ozone, are also greenhouse gases. While levels of this gas, formerly used in air conditioners and refrigerators, are no longer rising, the gas won’t completely leave the atmosphere for many decades.

“We just have to wait for the atmosphere to cleanse itself,” Shine said.

Other heavily fluorinated gases are very long-lived, almost permanent, in the atmosphere and are still being emitted. And their contributions to global warming still aren’t completely known.

Some of you may have noticed the recent addition of something called "POD Points" (PeakOilDesign Points). I'm experimenting with this point distribution system as a strategy to build online community and recognize those who contribute to this site. I was able to retroactively award points, so those users who have post comments or blog entries in the past were awarded credit for those writings. (Unfortunately, posts in the old forum aren't yet included in POD Points -- we'll figure out a system to transfer credit when I get access to those posts back.)

I'm still trying to figure out the right relative values for the actions listed below. If you see any potential for injustice or malrecognition, please let me know.

Tentative POD Point values:
Blog entry: 10
Comment: 1
Forum post: 1
Invite others: 1
Invitees sign up: 2

UPDATE: Blog entries are set at 5 points instead

This is the first of many such lists on useful items to have around for a Peak Oil homestead. This collection does not constitute a mandatory (or complete) list of what you need in order to survive -- rather, the idea here is to give you new ideas on how to use various items in ways which you might not have considered. This hopefully will give you some guidance on what items you should purchase if found cheaply or avoid discarding. Please feel free to tack on your own list of useful items or additional uses for something I’ve listed here.

I plan on posting similar lists for tools, chemicals, food, and so forth. Also, consider this just part 1 of the “Odds & Ends” list as I’m sure we’ll be adding to it.

Ball bearings Uses: reducing friction in machinery, weight sacks, projectiles
Bolts & nuts Uses: fasteners, paint mixers, makeshift wrenches, chain repair
Bottles/Jars Uses: food storage, chemical storage
Buckets Keep many; Uses: hauling feed, water, chemicals, dirt, manure
Cable ties Uses: fasteners, makeshift locks, handcuffs
Candles Uses: making wax paper, providing light, lubrication
Canning lids & seals Obtain as many as you can find; focus on the reusable seals and lids Uses: food preservation
Car hoods Uses: stone boat (heavy sled)

The newest member at PeakOilDesign, Dylan (Truthulist), has already started up a blog here! And to top it all off, he lives in my area and is starting an organic plant nursery.

I found a great resource referencing the state-by-state regulations on composting toilets at Weblife.org. It appears that our concern that most states have banned their use is unfounded -- my own state of Florida, in fact, encourages their use. It’s a touch out of date, so please post if you can find a more recent compilation. But, definitely good news.

An interesting report on LiveScience today on growing crops such as tomatoes using diluted seawater. Apparently, tomatoes grown using the method produce higher levels of antioxidants. From the article:

The researchers found that growing tomatoes in 10 percent seawater improved antioxidant levels significantly, findings they detailed in the April 4 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Terra Preta is an increasingly prominent term in the world of permaculture. Leanan at The Oil Drum posted a link to a good article from Discover magazine the other day introducing the suspected origins, composition, and benefits of Terra Preta soils. The article serves as a great first look at the complex nature of soil science.

Terra Preta (“black earth”) refers to certain dark soils found in South America dating from 500 to 2500 years ago. What is so exciting about these soils is their amazing (and persistent) fertility, which far surpasses any of the surrounding soils. They are characterized by high levels of carbon (150 gC/kg soil), high levels of phosphorus (200 – 400 mgP/kg soil), and soil depths of 1 - 2 meters. Researchers believe the prime contributor to Terra Preta soils is bio-char (charcoal) with important contributions from clay pottery shards and composted organic material.

I have attempted to recreate the Forums, which are now linked in the header and in the "Active forum topics" block on the right sidebar. Please let me know if you run into any problems or if I left any guilds out of the list. And above all, please post some questions and comments! :-D

Shelter -- one of the most basic human needs -- can be a very complex thing to construct. For the next installment of requirements development for the Peak Oil Homestead Project, we’ll explore how we should specify our housing needs to account for Peak Oil.

Many of the weather input requirements defined in Section 1.1.1 of the Objectives & Requirements Document (doc) have “child” requirements in the various subsystems. For the Structural Subsystem we have: