Solar batteries

Thanks to “anonymous” for the comments below and the DailyKos today for pointing out what seems to be a new development in storing solar energy more efficiently. The process uses concentrated sunlight and a carbon source to split zinc oxide into zinc and oxygen. With raw zinc, you can produce two useful products easily. When recombined with oxygen it will produce electricity and zinc oxide, which would be recycled into the initial process. On the other hand, when zinc is combined with water, the result is hydrogen gas and again, zinc oxide to be recycled.

Essentially, the Sun does the work to break a chemical bond, and we get to reap the energy reward of rejoining that chemical bond in one fashion or another. (Ultimately, this is how we came have so much petroleum laying around underground).

We could use this in large-scale electric power plants with coal as the carbon source, but any biomass would do. We could also use this in cars. Here is a Shanghai ad for taxis, scooters and busses already using the zinc-air battery technology which has been around since ‘97; so you see there is already a small infrastructure in place for this. Thirdly, hydrogen gas could be used in the production of ammonia for fertilizer (I know, how dare I suggest such a non-organic thing). In addition, hydrogen gas could be combined with carbon monoxide, one of the byproducts of the solar process, to produce methanol, an excellent fuel.

The author of the Ergosphere goes into much more detail. Here is a schematic of the process.

Excellent news!

Nuclear Fusion

Finally they have chosen a country, France, to host ITER the first prototype FUSION reactor. Full scale electrical production may be far down the road but, what the hell, we're on the road.

For those of you that may not know, scientists have achieved small scale self-sustained hot fusion reactions, like what goes on in the sun, using the Tokamak model.

What has been holding up further development for years now was the bidding war among other things, among the six countries vieing to host the next, full scale research model. At least that part is over.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a simple concept. Plants have oil in them. To get the oil out, you squeeze them. This oil, just like petroleum, is combustible and can be made to operate cars, lawnmowers and all the machinery we like in our 21^st-century western world, yes even those nasty Hummers. If we could get enough of this plant oil, we could say good-bye and best-of-luck to the Saudi’s and the air would be full of the smell of French fries and donuts.

Some of the pro’s from singer-turned- (plant) oil baron, Willie Nelson’s website:

• Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide exhaust emissions by up to 80%.
• Biodiesel produces 100% less sulfur dioxide than petroleum based diesel, and sulfur dioxide is the major component of acid rain.
• Biodiesel reduces exhaust smoke (particulates) emissions by up to 75% so the usual black cloud associated with a diesel engine can be eliminated.
• Biodiesel is much less dangerous to put in a vehicles fuel tank as the flash point of biodiesel is ± 150°C (300°F) as opposed to petroleum diesel which is at ± 70°C (150°F).
• Biodiesel degrades about 4 times faster than petroleum diesel after spillage, with most of a spill broken down after just 28 days.
• Biodiesel provides significant lubricity improvement over petroleum diesel fuel so engines last longer, with the right additives engine performance can also be enhanced.
• Biodiesel does not require any changes to the existing storage infrastructure so can be used in any tank or storage facility right away.
• A diesel-engined vehicle does not need to be modified in anyway to use biodiesel.

So what’s the hold-up? The problem has been that, depending on the plant, it would take a crop size larger than the country in question to meet the energy needs of that country.

From the translated article by Olivier Danielo, An Algae-Based Fuel[pdf], in the French Biofutur, No.255/May 2005. “Marc Jancovici, an engineer specializing in greenhouse gas emissions, [said] it would require a sunflower field 118% the size of France to replace the 50Mtep of petroleum consumed each year by the French for their transportation needs (104% of the size of France for rapeseed, 120% for beet, 2700% for wheat).”; not very practical.

That is, unless you consider algae-based biodiesel. Some of the benefits of algae:

• They grow fast; therefore have a much faster turnaround time compared with terrestrial plants. “It’s possible to complete an entire harvest in a few days..” (Danielo, p.2.)
• Being unicellular, they have much more surface area exposure, allowing greater access to each cells’ juicy interior.
• Floating in their nutrient bath of water, CO₂, minerals and sunlight, they are much more efficient than terrestrial plants at producing oil. In fact, these “…microscopic algae are capable according to NREL scientists (John Sheehan, et al), “of synthesizing 30 times more oil per hectare than the terrestrial plants used for the fabrication of biofuels.” (Danielo, p.2.)

So how much less land space would we need to replace all the oil we use in the U.S. with algae-based biodiesel? The U of NH Biodiesel website has a good summation:

“…to replace all transportation fuels in the US, we would need 140.8 billion gallons of biodiesel, or roughly 19 quads (one quad is roughly 7.5 billion gallons of biodiesel). To produce that amount would require a land mass of almost 15,000 square miles. To put that in perspective, consider that the Sonora desert in the southwestern US comprises 120,000 square miles. Enough biodiesel to replace all petroleum transportation fuels could be grown in 15,000 square miles, or roughly 12.5 percent of the area of the Sonora desert (note for clarification -I am not advocating putting 15,000 square miles of algae ponds in the Sonora desert. This hypothetical example is used strictly for the purpose of showing the scale of land required). That 15,000 square miles works out to roughly 9.5 million acres - far less than the 450 million acres currently used for crop farming in the US, and the over 500 million acres used as grazing land for farm animals.”

On the other hand, the arid regions of the country provide the sunlight needed for maximum algaeal growth and these lands are relatively impractical for any other use other than as a nature preserve. (Boy, that sounds exploitative doesn’t it?)

I will have more to say about this as I learn more. You know, it’s not that there are no options for us to overcome Peak Oil, it is just that, like Kunstler and others have been indicating, we need to move now. While petroleum is still relatively cheap, we can build the infrastructure for biodiesel manufacture and the host of alternative energies sources out there.

Rusted automobiles

(© 2001-2002 Maggie Sale - All rights reserved)

In all this Peak Oil hullabaloo, what has become clear to me is that the fabric of our particular civilization is woven from fibers that look alarmingly like interstate highways. Anything that inhibits our ability to get from point A to point B in the time and ease to which we have become accustomed, will cause great discomfort. Like it or not, we have crafted a way of life that requires the transportation of ourselves or the items we need for daily living across great distances.

The energy sources for heating and electricity will not be as severely affected by the Peak Oil phenomenon. Most of our electrical energy comes from coal (53%) and we have and plenty of it. From the EIA website, “Total recoverable reserves of coal around the world are estimated at 1,083 billion tons¹¹—enough to last approximately 210 years at current consumption.” I say unfortunately, because when push comes to shove, we will use coal - a dirty, environmentally destructive fuel - as if our lives depended on it. Coal will be made to fill many gaps that petroleum will no longer profitably fill, of that we can be sure. Let us just hope our environmental regulatory agencies are fully functional when that happens.

The Energy Information Administration site has a good breakdown of how the energy pie for the United States is sliced.

Electricity

For the electric power sector,

• coal-fired plants accounted for 53% of generation,
• nuclear 21%,
• natural gas 15%,
• hydroelectricity 7%,
• oil 3%,
• geothermal and "other" 1%.

Oil

The United States consumed an average of about 20.4 million bbl/d of oil during the first ten months of 2004, up from 20.0 million bbl/d in 2003.

Of this,

• motor gasoline consumption was 9.0 million bbl/d (or 44% of the total),
• distillate fuel oil consumption was 4.1 million bbl/d (20%),
• jet fuel consumption was 1.6 million bbl/d (8%),
• and residual fuel oil consumption was 0.8 million bbl/d (4%)l.

As you can see, 72% of the oil consumed was for transportation, therefore, the transportation sector will be the hardest hit by Peak Oil. I am no economist, but it makes sense that we will experience this as a kind of inflation. The price of everything we buy has its transportation cost embedded in the sticker. If gas prices go up, retail prices follow. If gas goes up dramatically, retail prices will too.

The devil is in the drama. A long gradual increase would give people time to adjust their lifestyles while sudden increases could be devastating. The pressures on the average tight budget household being hit by increased food prices and increased expense of the commute, may be too much for many to bear. The effect on businesses, all of which rely on transportation, particularly non-essential, dispensable income businesses, will be devastating. The lights will be on though.

Despite my dismal prognostications, I am actually feeling optimistic lately. I have been doing some reading on biodiesel. I had been hearing that the amount of biomass needed to produce enough biodiesel fuel to replace petroleum would be enormous – billions of acres - making it seem impractical. However, I came across a great article in the Energy Blog which is making me rethink this; biodiesel from algae. I will be focusing on biodiesel for a while because I want to understand it better and I am tired of thinking about how I will survive TEOTWAWKI. Do not worry though, I will surely have a great article to share soon about how to snare and prepare pigeons for dinner.

[UPDATE I: Armando at the DailyKos poses the question, "Why the hollywood box office slump?" There is a poll and hundreds of comments. Many of the commenters list 'increasing gas prices' as a primary reason for not going out to the movies. Have a look.]

[UPDATE II: Don't forget to take a look at the illustirous Jerome a Paris's segment, "Countdown to $100.00 Oil (3) - industry is beginning to suffer."

Independent World Television

Watch the quicktime video. I just sent them $50.00.

98 Tons Of Plants Per Gallon

I just read this fascinating article. I have always wondered how much of the original prehistoric plant life was needed to produce a barrel of oil or a gallon of gas. It seems that someone has figured it out - 98 tons of prehistoric plants per every gallon of gas. For imagination assistance, the flying machine in the above picture weighs 100 tons - unbelievable.

Also, from the article, the author"... calculated that the amount of fossil fuel burned in a single year – 1997 was used in the study – totals 97 million billion pounds of carbon, which is equivalent to more than 400 times 'all the plant matter that grows in the world in a year,' including vast amounts of microscopic plant life in the oceans

An interesting point is made at the end of the article in showing how much existing plant matter would have to be converted to replace the oil we burn up each year. It seems that “…we would need to harvest 22% of all land plants just to equal the fossil fuel energy used in 1997.”

Bad news for the biodiesel movement? Hmm, I don't know, it seems that there are some new developments on the horizon. Stay tuned...

Cushioning

To the rare traveler that has actually asked my advice on how to live, I have always mentioned two things; #1: live as simply as possible and #2: build up a minimum three month financial cushion. This axiom has stood me well over the past ten years since I became more reality based. It is the very reason that I can afford these two years of marginal employment while I get through the CCSF Nursing program. Picking up the thread I was unspooling the other day, I would add a third rule: #3 store up three months minimum of water and nonperishable food.

We are a week’s worth of groceries away from starvation. Living in towns on the eastern seaboard, I know first hand what even the rumor of a storm can do to a grocery store. Even so, out there in hurricane alley as well as here in earthquake, fire, flood, mudslide prone California, we do not think about putting food and water in storage except tokenly. I have a friend who has a gallon of water in the back of her closet. “What’s that for?” I had once asked, “Oh, that’s for emergencies.” One gallon. The body’s minimum daily requirement is a half a gallon.

This is not just a Peak Oil issue. When I first came to San Francisco seven years ago, I listened with fascination to the stories of those who lived here during the Loma Prieta quake of ‘89. Apparently, there was no electricity or gas for cooking for several days; it could have easily been longer. If the disaster is large in terms of geography or time, it might be weeks before help arrives and in the case of global disaster, help may never come.

The following accounts are reprinted from the Walton Feed website and portray what I am trying to say fairly well:

“…from the preface to Ms. Geri Guidetti's book, Build Your Ark! Book 1; Food Self Sufficiency, where she experienced first hand the "Blizzard of 96" on the East Coast. MS Guidetti is the founder of The Ark Institute.

...The bread, milk and snack aisles of all the local grocery stores are empty. All of the other food aisles are decimated... Ground travel is paralyzed...

Day 3, post blizzard: [There are] fights for a shipment of milk from a local dairy. Stores... have reportedly hired armed guards...

Day 5: I stood with a shopping cart in aisle after aisle, watching and listening to folks' reactions to depleted stocks...

Woman: "No bread... I can't believe there's no bread." Store Manager: "Well, Ma'am, we're sorry, but the delivery trucks can't get through. But we do have flour left to make bread." Woman: "Oh...is that how they make it...flour? But I don't do that."

Man: "I can live without everything else, but I can't live without my chips." ...[He] removed every bag off the shelf into his cart as I watched.

Another woman: "What do you mean you don't have dinner rolls? I don't want bread, I don't want milk...all I want is my dinner rolls. It's the only kind of bread I'll eat."

Man: "No milk!! What am I supposed to tell my kids? They live on milk." Store manager: "Well, Sir, we're sorry, but there are a few boxes of powdered milk left over here." Man: ..."What do you do with that?"

Angry woman: "But you have to have Kellogg's Raisin Bran; it's on sale this week. Don't you honor your sales?"

Woman looking scared: "I can't believe this! Look how they're pushing at each other. People are like animals!"...

Other images of Americans faced with a sudden loss of food and water are still vivid after several years. Just hours after the Northridge Quake in Southern California a few years ago, a television reporter and cameraman for a national news network... were summoned by the owner of a neat little suburban home that was now without power. With his two little children in tow, the man gestured toward his refrigerator. "Look, look!" Inside, the camera focused on ...three cans of Coke. "This is all we have, and they're warm `cause of the power outage. We always go to the store for dinner, and now the stores are closed. What are we gonna do? Somebody has to help us. Tell the President!"

I found myself flooded with questions. Why on earth would parents of two young children, people living in earthquake-prone Southern California, keep no food in their home? ...Do they really believe that their government will always be capable of responding instantaneously to a natural or manmade disaster ...to save them?

What if the devastation was so enormous that government and disaster relief agencies were too overwhelmed to respond effectively? We have already seen this happen when Hurricane Andrew leveled whole counties in Florida. I'll never forget the angry woman shouting at a television reporter, "Where's George Bush?? We're starving down here!"...

The three month minimum cushion gives you room to think. It keeps you from being one of those people in the above story. It gives you a chance to implement plans B, C and D (which we will be covering in future chapters). It is not a solution in itself, any more than having a financial cushion could liberate you from ever having to work again (unless of course, that cushion is at least a million bucks and you are near retirement age; that’s a horse of a different color.)

The reason I walk

[cross-posted from 'On A Personal Note...']

This is a nice summation of the premise behind the Paleolithic diet.

“From the emergence of the genus Homo, over 2 million years ago (MYA), until the agricultural revolution of roughly 10000 years ago our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, so the adaptive pressures inherent in that environmental niche have exerted defining influence on human genetic makeup. The portion of our genome that determines basic anatomy and physiology has remained relatively unchanged over the past 40 000 years. Thus, the complex interrelationship between energy intake, energy expenditure and specific physical activity requirements for current humans remains very similar to that originally selected for Stone Age men and women who lived by gathering and hunting.”

[From the abstract : Cordain, L., Gotshall, R.W. and Eaton, S.B. Physical activity, energy expenditure and fitness: an evolutionary perspective. International Journal of Sports Medicine 1998; 19:328-335] [PDF to entire study]

Over the millennia, our crafty little monkey ways have lead to more and more inventions, techniques and access to resources which have made our lives “easier.” The authors of this article, renowned for their work in this field, do not go into the reasons that food became ever more abundant to us with little personal effort to produce it. However, it is my contention (and that of others) that the advent of cheap and easily transmuted fossil fuels have allowed us to achieve this state. My primary motivation for exploring these primitive ways, the ways we were designed to live, is my lack of trust in the sustainability of this ‘way of life’; these fuels are running out.

But on the subject of walking, and Paleolithic exercise in general, the authors point out, “Overall, the Paleolithic rhythm involves days of fairly intense physical exertion which alternate with days of rest and light activity..” But how much physical exertion? In our modern world, “… physical activity for most people has become an extraordinary activity largely separate from other daily tasks and engaged in specifically to improve fitness variable such as endurance, strength and or flexibility.”

The activity per day guidelines recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine are, “participating in physical activity 3-5 days/week, at 50-85% maximum intensity, continuously for 20-60 minutes” along with “accumulating 30 minutes of physical activity over most days of the week…” However, when compared with the activity levels of the modern day hunter-gatherers, the Ache, !Kung, Agta, Hadza and Inuit, these guidelines fall far short, for their daily activity levels are much higher.

Evidence gained by observation of these modern hunter-gatherers, suggests that we were meant to walk as much as nine miles a day, along with the fairly strenuous daily activities of the community. This is significant. For millions of years our closely related families of primates and even modern hunter-gatherers have had to walk a long way nearly every day to get something to eat. We are programmed to burn off far more calories each day then any of us in the west would ever dream of burning, even the athletes among us.

The difficulty with fitting this level of activity into our lives is not in retraining ourselves. In fact, what I have noticed is that one can quickly become conditioned to walking. After two weeks, eight miles does not strain me any more than three. What can become problematic is the amount of time it takes to do this. Three and a half hours of walking, the equivalent of ten miles at three miles an hour, is not a lot of time, unless you are committing yourself to doing it every day. Three and a half miles, six days a week, is 21 hours; that is a part time job. If it were not for my being marginally employed this summer, I do not know if I would have had the energy to do all this.

Nevertheless, I will continue at least until the new semester begins. The answer to regaining the balance may lie in increasing activity level in combination with intentional calorie reduction. Hmm, that sounds like most modern diet plans.

Oil pushing $60.00 a barrel

Interesting and informative comments from a Dkos diary by sipples pointing this out this morning.

Merlin Farms

(from the movie Excalibur)

Well, it is done. I placed my order with Walton Feed today for the basic one person- one year supply of emergency food and two empty 55-gallon water drums. So am I turning into some loony Ted Kaczynski type? Maybe. Somehow, though, I feel a bit liberated. I feel like I took a stand and put my money where my mouth is (literally). I feel like I would have made my grandparents proud. I feel like, in my own small way, I am beginning to return to what was a way of life only just a few generations back. Sadly, at this point two full generations of us have only heard of the Great Depression, so stable have our lives been. A line from the movie Excalibur, spoken by Merlin the Magician, always comes back to me - “…it is the doom of man that they forget.”

The entire premise of the 20,000-year Agricultural age was to grow things during the season and put them in storage for the off-season or for hard times. We have lost that way of thinking. We have allowed the perpetual abundance of the grocery shelves to lull us into complacency. Grocery stores only have about three days to one week of food inventory on their shelves if they are run well. In fact, all the way up the line, through distributors, warehouses and manufacturers it makes sound fiscal sense to let the next person up the line hold most of the inventory while you carry as little as possible.

Today I have broken that rule, and honored those that lived through the Great Depression by ‘putting up’ one years worth of food for one person, or three months for three or four people. (Sorry, San Franciscans, I already have these folks picked out and they have never heard of an ‘internet’). What did I get for my money? Just the basics; 600 pounds of wheat berries, beans, rice, powdered milk, corn, sugar, yeast and salt, all packed in 13-six gallon buckets with oxygen absorbers inside; oh yes, and a manual grain grinder. The life expectancy on this food is between ten and fifteen years and I hope I never have to crack a lid. I hope I wasted my money. We will see.

I have nothing on many of those out there already living the alternative back to the land life. Near to where my folks live, near the ocean in Southern New Jersey, there is a little organic farm. On this farm is a large electricity generating wind mill, big water storage containers out back, and solar heating panels on the south side of an old house. The sign out front says, “Organic Produce for sale.” That is the goal; my goal at least.

For now, I live in a studio apartment in San Francisco only a few miles from downtown, and for the next few years, it will be here that I make my stand. I will buy my emergency rations from wherever I can, rather than grow, can/dehydrate and store them. That will suffice. Being the building manager here, I have access to a few storage areas, but even if I were not, it would all fit in this studio, including the water drums. They would make for great conversation pieces don’t you think?

Interview with J.H. Kunstler

For you Long Emergency fans, here is a recent interview with the author.

Saving thine ass.

image courtesy: Copyright © 1999, Don Baccus(dhogaza@pacifier.com)

The theme of this site is obviously Peak Oil but more to the point it is how we can cope with its effects. The way I see it, it could pan out in two different ways. The more optimistic yet still painful scenario is, that there are regional shortages, and more of a slow crash, as Ran Prieur, wrote in his essay. In this case, there is time to adjust, again painfully, to a severely restricted and conservative lifestyle as compared with the one we have now. Furthermore, remember that this country is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and that there are ways to turn this substance into liquid fuel. The process is expensive and environmentally destructive but if people want it, then by God the people will have it; damn the environment, full speed ahead!

Obviously recovering with some modicum of our present lifestyle is appealing. I recently had a friend tell me that she thought I wanted the world to end. Truthfully, there was a time that his was true. I have always been disgusted with the western world’s hyperconsumerism, and lack of attention span and sense of stewardship of the Earth; “Let it all crash and burn,” I said. Today, though, when faced with this potential calamity, I am less sure. To witness the deaths of those I love to starvation is not what I had in mind. Also, as I have gotten older, I don’t feel so angry. I guess I’m feeling a little more compassion. When I let my guard down, it is easy to see an ad for a car and think, “Hmm, now that is a sexy car, I’d like to own that,” or simply to know that at the end of my life, I will still be able to walk down to the convenience store and get a can of soup.

If people like Kunstler are wrong, and we are able to pull ourselves out of this pathological dependence on petroleum for damned near everything in our lives, then great. To try to predict how this would happen would be impossible but interesting; there are so many combinations of variables. As you can see from the bloggroll over here, there are many of us tying to predict the future.

If Kunstler and others are correct and there is a catastrophic collapse, then there are some definite things that we can do right now, within our own lives, to prepare and be among the survivors. I wrote a few weeks back about how even survivalists lose in the end, because when their rations run out, they will be like everyone else, starving. A well-stocked survivalist retreat works well in a regional disaster on the theory that there would be assistance from the outside world and eventually a restoration of order and former ways of life. No one would be coming to the rescue in a global disaster; we would be on our own.

That said, does that make the survivalist retreat idea wrong? No. Having several months of provisions, especially food, set aside is no different from having six months of mortgage or rent in the bank in case of lay-off. It only makes sound fiscal sense. It is a stopgap solution, but it would give you an edge. You could feed yourself and your family while you figure out the next step. It is my intention to do this personally, and hopefully, be an example to my small audience. First stop: Walton Feed, Inc.

Energy conversion

Did you know that it takes 14 liters (3.5 gallons more or less) of liquid hydrogen to equal the energy in one gallon of gasoline? So much for it being an alternative fuel. However, biodiesel and gasoline are about the same energywise. How do I know this? Why, with this nifty little energy conversion calculator.

On second thought, take a look at the rest of this site, they are using focused sunlight to liberate hydrogen gas from water....I like the sound of that. And furthermore, evidence indicates that it was the skin of the Hindenberg that was the most flamable thing, the hydrogen gas inside only assisted the burn. So there.

Paleo Experiment - Day 2

Paleolithic diet

I am going to begin an experiment. My studies In the Peak Oil phenomenon, like many of us willing to think about it, have lead me to contemplate what it would be like to experience a complete collapse of everything; economic, societal, food distribution etc. What would it be like to suddenly find ourselves existing, in not only a pre-industrial world, but even a pre-agricultural world. This is how we lived, anthropologists and others, say for 99% of our existence as a species.

This curiosity, combined with the end of semester/vacation excesses, weight gain, lethargy etc are compelling me to find out the effects of applying a Paleolithic diet and activity level.

I know I am being extremely vague, but I am figuring this out as I go along. I have taken the before photos and will be tracking various biomarkers over the next ten weeks before the new semester begins.

Today I will eat what you see in the above photo and will walk about five miles. On the theory that Paleolithic people walked a lot, my daily walking goal will eventually be ten miles, with spurts of upwards of twenty. If I need it, I am also going to allow myself one day a week to follow the ‘normal-early 21^st century-urban-American man diet (minus the booze).

In addition, since this is only marginally about Peak Oil, I am going to create yet another blogsite to chronicle this experiment and will post a daily invitation over here at Gone to Croatoan.

BON APPÉTIT

Sister site

I am starting a sister site to handle the overwhelming number of links to great articles and information concerning Peak Oil. I'm gonna call it Post Petroleum Clearinghouse

About the DailyKos

Aside from the fact that the DailyKos is a premier liberal blogsite, what makes it so dynamic is the sheer volume of readers and posters that visit every day. With many a ‘we’re not worthy!’ bows to the talented Markos Moulitsas, the site’s founder, much of this phenomenon originates from beyond his efforts. By opening the front page to all who want to post a diary or a comment, the Daily Kos allows anyone to express themselves to a wide audience. This means that on well-viewed diaries, you are likely to see several hundred comments, some silly, but many that will provide an alternative viewpoint, or further information. Some 'Kossacks’ have even become collaborative and have been quite helpful, for instance, in the ongoing investigation of Jeff Gannon/Guckert - the homosexually inclined fake reporter and escort of an, as yet unnamed, high ranking member of the Bush Cabinet(IMHO). This volume has created brand recognition that some well-known left-minded politicians are coming to appreciate; Sen. Barbara Boxer, Rep. John Conyers and Rep Louise Slaughter regularly post diaries and yesterday we saw Senator Edward Kennedy post a dairy on the Downing Street Memo.

Because of its volume, the DailyKos bleeds into areas beyond politics and to areas where Mr. Moulitsas himself, is not necessarily interested. ‘Have at it,’ he says, ‘Write your own diary or even start your own blog.’ Springing from the DailyKos is a collaborative political encyclopedia and a page devoted to restoring democracy to the house. Many of the more prolific diarists have gone on to create their own sites.
(Booman Tribune, Liberal Streetfighter, The Next Hurrah, Steve Gilliard, Bilmon)


Among the many categories at the DailyKos is the category of ‘energy’, which collects and preserves the various diaries pertaining to the Peak Oil phenomenon and alternate energy posted to the site before they vanish from the screen. It is here that you will often find me when I start day.

I'm back, I'm back..

It's a rainy day today in the City. Today I will be tweaking the blog template a bit and creating a few other blogs as well.

It's a bona fide addiction.