FREE ENERGY COMMENTS (top)  

Dear Readers,  It is time to pay attention.   This is far more important than the Y2K bug because this matter is poised to collapse civilization as we know it.   This issue is also one that won't happen on any particular day, it is progressing every day and will gradually choke millions of people (living in FIRST world countries) to an extremely low standard of living.

There is still time to mitigate the effects to you and your loved ones. The time to prepare is NOW.   The issue is ENERGY. Don't take it lightly. Look around and pay attention. EVERYTHING we take for granted takes energy to make and operate. Our civilization (with it's associated standard of living) cannot exist without huge volumes of easily acquired and inexpensive energy.   To put it in perspective: "one person power (PP) is 0.25 hp = 186 watts = 635 Btu/hr. If we paid people $5/hr to produce the energy available in one barrel of oil, we would pay $45,000... The average American uses 8000 pounds of oil, 4700 pounds of natural gas, 5150 pounds of coal and 1/10 pound of uranium each year." 'The Hydrogen Economy' by Jeremy Rifkin.   We live in a time of 'bloom'. In nature there is occasionally a situation when an organism will have a huge food (easily available energy) supply and no environmental limits to reproduction. Typically they bloom, constantly growing until they use up the energy supply, usually polluting their environment as they do it. Once the energy runs out, they die.   We are blooming but, unlike most other organisms, we also have the ability to regulate ourselves.   The Y2K bug ended up as not a big deal because the people who owned the computer systems (collectively) invested billions of dollars to prevent an easily seen and preventable disaster. Unaddressed, Y2K would have cost all of us (collectively) trillions of dollars in damages.   The energy issue is staggering in its size, so big that most people ignore it because they can't even conceive of what they can do to change it. They go on with their lives, ignoring the dwindling supply of the energy that keeps the lights on, home warm and food available.   I hope I am a good enough writer to open your eyes to the impending disaster that is going to affect our lives in the next couple of decades. It's started already and is growing to completely change everything we now 'know'.   One thing is absolutely certain. For many reasons, the world as we know it is going to seriously change. Since the 'powers that be' are unwilling to mediate the change (the last hope was Jimmy Carter), your path through this will very much depend on your personal choices, specifically making yourself as energy independent as possible.   I hope you'll feel a bit of panic because you'll need it to keep you motivated when everything around you seems normal and people are telling you that you are paranoid.   Some Quick Energy Facts (out of hundreds) are:  

• The USA now imports over 50% of its oil. It has become increasingly dependent on international sources of oil and has proven that it will take military action to acquire and sustain oil supply.  

• China and India are becoming 'first world' energy gobbling civilizations. Their nearly explosive growth is causing a worldwide strain on all resources. They are also competing with the USA for oil. This presents global war scenarios. Note that 'modern' war uses huge amounts of energy.  
• 'Peak Oil' is predicted to happen in Fall of 2005. That is THIS year. So far, advances in oil finding, drilling and recovery technology has held off Peak Oil. Now, with a large percentage of the planet wanting a higher energy standard of living, the use of oil is outpacing supply.   We can expect technology to continue to mitigate the immediate consequences of Peak Oil and we can expect that as fuel prices rise (due to demand), that previously unviable sources will be tapped. We will also continue to develop more efficient ways to use the energy available.   However, in the next 10 years energy demand is expected to at least double and there simply aren't the resources to fill the demand. Thus, we are all going to feel the consequences of energy limits.
 
• There are NO viable alternatives to oil as an energy source. All the alternatives combined, including nuclear, cannot cover but a small fraction of the energy provided by oil.   Energy alternatives take energy to develop. As oil supplies diminish, the cost to produce energy alternatives will increase. We shouldn't expect energy alternatives to become significantly more viable as the oil price rises; because their cost rises too.  
• Worldwide oil transportation is seriously fragile. There are long unguarded pipelines (and many more proposed). Huge ships travel specific routes through areas of terrorist activity. Like our unprotected power grid, oil supply is fragile, easily 'broken' with low 'terrorist' investment. You need to prepare for the results of such potential disruption.   'Protecting' the energy transportation is unviable because it would take more energy than is being transported.   A 5% shortage of oil is calculated to bring back '70's style gasoline lines. This time, the oil shortage,will be permanent.
 
• A small reduction in oil supply will seriously affect our economy. Example: We already have truckers that must choose between routine maintenance on their trucks or putting fuel in the tank. Since nearly everyone will put fuel in the tank (to keep making money) this choice reduces the life expectancy of the truck AND makes a safety issue.   The only solution is to raise the cost of all goods and services as the price of fuel goes up. It took 50 years for fuel cost to double, then 25, and now it has doubled again in the last 10 years. The price was already rising faster and faster. We've now reached Peak Oil. Our cost of living is about to spiral upward.   The effects of diminishing oil availability will happen slowly at first, then increase in intensity. This next (very few) years is our last chance to use 'cheap' fuel to implement personal energy alternatives.   I feel it is our individual responsibility to strive for energy independence, to help ourselves and to be an example for others. My advise is to examine how you can become energy independent NOW. Then plan and implement steps to actually becoming energy independent.   Obviously, my first advise is to structure your life to:  

• Use less energy. Review your life and identify the things you can change to eliminate excess use of energy and then to make the energy you do use as efficient as possible.  

• Become independent of 'public' energy. I know this is not easily done and I wish that I could personally help you all. We have a good team here that is working very hard to come up with viable solutions to help you; but you'll need to do the work yourself.   I highly recommend realgoods.com. They constantly do the work of finding energy efficient solutions for you, put them on their website and print them in the 'Alternative Energy Sourcebook' along with a complete course (with forms) to help you do your personal energy audit. 

For your home, I recommend 'The Renewable Energy Handbook for Homeowners' by William H. Kemp. ISBN 0-9733233-0-2  

For your vehicles, I recommend Eagle-Research technology. I do think it is the most practical on the planet. Some people who applied our technology 10 years ago have saved many thousands of dollars in fuel.   Paying attention now will save you a lot of expense and trouble in the future. As is said 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'.