|
PERMATOPIA a graceful end to cheap oil |
|
| Permatopia highlights solutions to Peak Oil, Climate Change and ecocide. The companion website OilEmpire.US is focused on understanding the politics behind these problems that prevent implementation of the solutions. Road-Scholar.org examines the rush to massively expand highway systems as the world passes Peak Oil, and offers some tools to thwart these plans. |
|
|
PERMACULTURE permaculture for nine billion Permatopia dictionary: documents: environmental patterns Permatopia topics energy
beyond oil? oil depletion protocol climate change Greenwash transportation
food water shelter: community
money: health: permaculture: waste: forests:
biomimicry detoxification: primitive technology homesteading eco-cities
|
Peak Forests Peak Oil is likely to create simultaneous separate incentives for slower and faster liquidation of forests. An economic disruption caused by Peak Oil would probably reduce construction projects, which would make lumber less needed and valuable. However, economic disruptions would also create an incentive for those who own forests to speed up their obliteration to generate cash flow. This would exacerbate the current trends for clearcutting versus selective forestry -- the practices that create the most short term return are those dominant in the industry, while those that create more board-feet in the long run are rarely practiced by corporate forestry. In addition, cutting could accelerate if biofuels made from tiny trees becomes widespread. Several generators have been built across the United States that burn wood chips to create steam to generate electricity -- which create a market for trees too small to process into high-quality boards. There are also technologies available for transforming tree farms into liquid fuels for internal combustion engines, which pose severe threats to forest integrity due to rapacious demands. The environmental movement has largely ignored the environmental implications of Peak Oil. Perhaps the most important question is what will we use the rest of the oil for -- for solar panels or for battleships, for more overconsumption or for relocalization of production? The answer determines the future of the human race. |
