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But the average homeowner in the US would definitely have to adjust their electrical usage and become a bit more conservative.
I performed an energy audit on my mother's home recently. I determined that approximately 70-80% of her electrical usage stems from two things: heating water and central heating and cooling. In a scenario where energy conservation is paramount, the central heating and cooling system could be replaced by point solutions. This would entail space heaters and box fans, which could dramatically cut energy usage while actually performing better at the same task. We are talking about 90% or more reduction while actually enjoying greater comfort because of its focus. Water heating, on the other hand, can be slashed dramatically by either switching to a hybrid tank-electric system operating on timers that could see 2/3rd of 3/4th of a reduction in energy usage. After all is said and done, she could stand to drop her energy usage by around 50-60% from alterations to those two things.
In the mid 1950's I attended a boys' camp in upstate New York. It was eight weeks every summer for five years. I was 9 to 13 years old. We lived in five man tents on wooden platforms. Only electricity was in the mess hall. Kerosene lanterns and flashlights; no hot water.
We had just about every activity you could think of, from water sports, baseball, horseback riding and markmanship to extended three day pack trips and canoe excursions. At the end of each summer after "adjusting to home" again I can honestly say that a hot shower felt good, but I did not miss not having the conveniences that much. Of course this was well before any modern electronic devices were even thought of. Like most families at that time, a black and white tv was the most advanced thing in most houses.
As a side note: this was considered an exclusive camp, but military style disipline was the format. If you misbehaved and needed correction, hard labor was meeted out. Today such places would be considered "abusive". Best five years of my childhood!
If there is no more electricity in the world, what would the average home owner do? I guess we would have to go back to prairie life style.
When I lived in Yugoslavia decades ago we had planned electricity outages to conserve energy (each day a different zone of the city would have different 8 hours of no electricity). I actually liked it (could read by candle light etc...). I lived on the 8th floor of a 30+ story building and the elevators were out for those hours but I did not mind walking up and down the stairs. I doubt that many people minded the whole no electric thing, you just planned around it...
If there were no more electricity, I actually believe after some "withdrawl"... another generation of do'ers would get **** done again.
I have always been interested in some of the really interesting hand powered tools I have come across in the past, Thinking back... What would've happened if electricity was still very mysterious to us like how gravity works at this point... I think we would still have come a long way in the past couple hundred years without it. I think we would still make better inventions and improvements to what we already made.
I think we would have really interesting transportation if we didn't invent the electric/gas motor, I don't know what that would be but it is really interesting to me to think about it.
If there were no more electricity, I actually believe after some "withdrawl"... another generation of do'ers would get **** done again.
The thing is, it is not that hard to generate electricity. All it takes is a simple armature and a prime mover. With all of the crap we have strewn around us, all one would have to do is scavenge around a bit for the parts. AC to DC isn't hard to do either. You just need a simple commutator. Size your load and you are good to go.
If there is no more electricity in the world, what would the average home owner do? I guess we would have to go back to prairie life style.
I think what the globalists are planning is to ban natural gas and force everyone to use electric and with the smart grid technology they can control how much or little we get and naturally will charge 10 times the price. It's all part of "sustainable development" a/k/a Agenda 21.
I think what the globalists are planning is to ban natural gas and force everyone to use electric and with the smart grid technology they can control how much or little we get and naturally will charge 10 times the price. It's all part of "sustainable development" a/k/a Agenda 21.
Paranoid much?
Shell and BP have had their chance and if we have anything left of the planet after the fracking folks are done with it, yeah, I would like to see some reasonable energy choices. Even cloudy Germany is covered in solar panels - why can't we cover United States in solar panels too? I think the government here should subsidize heavily every household and business to go solar, in fact, they should mandate it on all new construction. Why burn coal or drill for gas or oil when you can get it for free from the Sun? I'll tell you why - 'cause Shell don't make solar panels.
Solar and wind work for small scale limited usage power generation, but don't produce enough for normal energy needs of a country. Solar cells are notoriously inefficent, (usually less than 20%) and the battery storage for the electricity, and the back up generator are still expensive and require replacement.
Plus, batteries are not "green". They require lead, copper, arsinides, cyanides, nickle, and other heavy metals that can't be recycled.
The batteries usually are rated for a 5 year life and must be replaced when they don't store energy anymore.
Boron Germanium photovoltaic cells are the most efficent, but are super toxic.
Most of the current cells are made from silicon, but is still such a dirty process that most are made in China or other places with relaxed environmental standards.
For an individual home or camper, solar or wind are expensive to set up if you want to have full usage as you do in an average home, but can be feasible if the energy usage is seriously controlled for a limited usage single residence.
For those going off grid, it can work by using different heating sources for instance, using more root cellar and dehydrating/canning for food preservation instead of refrigeration, and even heating water.
My cabin has a generator, but that is for the tools. Kerosene lamps provide light, a wood range for cooking and it has a reservoir to heat water for dishes ect., a wood heating stove for warmth, a solar shower takes care of that problem.
I can make fuel to run the generator, but at the location I will be putting in a water wheel because that is the most efficent means of producing the energy if I decide to put in lights.
Natural gas can be produced easily and cheaply, filtered to remove the H2SO4, and you have natural gas.
The big problem with natural gas is keeping it below 3psi when you try to store it.
Currently there are large anaerobic digester projects at hog farms and dairy farms using the gas from the manure lagoons to produce significant amounts of electricity.
Even some Septic Treatment plants in some towns are producing electricity from Methane. U.S. Anaerobic Digester Status: A 2011 Snapshot
Bio-gas, and Bio-diesel in combination with existing coal reserves look to be the best for long term energy needs, and as anybody with a septic tank can make bio-gas, oil companies have no control on it.
As for me, if the power goes out, no big deal. I am already set up so that with the exception of my computer and TV, I would hardly notice if it wasn't there
Last edited by MTSilvertip; 09-09-2012 at 11:20 AM..
I've considered a world without electricity for the purpose of writing a novel, but never as something that would seriously occur. More recently I've started to take being prepared a bit more seriously though. I haven't taken the steps to live in the wilderness or anything, but I've begun stock piling foods. I think in perhaps 3 or 4 decades from now there may very well be a situation where living without electricity for an extended period of time is required. Of course I'm just going off a hunch...
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