Social Responsibility And The Internet Social Media vs our Drain on the planet

[Indego_Media 1]

I've been wondering lately about the whole 2012 situation, fossil fuels and in particular Australia's abundance of natural resources. Being from Australia and having benifited for many years from this countries good luck with resources, if this country and indeed the planet will continue to function as the "Fossil Fuels" supposedly run out. I doubt that I will see this occur in my time but then again there have been many things that I didn't think I would see in my time.I beleive that the concept of alternative energy makes a heck of a lot of sense to me and I am currently researching solutions for heating and powering my new home in Tasmania, which I will start to develop in the next few years. But as much as I beleive this is the socially responsible thing to do. The several Questions remain.1. Would the earth as we know it continue to function with out fossil fuels or would the worlds populations come to a grinding halt if we suddenly ran out of oil and natural gas?2. Would our electrically powered divices that we all rely so heavily on become great boat ancors of the future, if the worlds fossil energy sources suddenly stopped?3. As users of this limited energy source, how much do you think society would be prepared to sacrifice to continue thier online habits, their flat screen TV's and thier constant need for bright flashy items?I know there is more then one answer to this posting and that there are polar oppisit opinions on the topic, however I also know that the concept of 2012 and the world changing as we know it is fast approaching, I also know that most people regardless of status if given the opportunity and the funds would prefer to take an alternate source of energy, so why is it that in a country such as Australia with such large expanses of land and above average exposure to sunlight on a daily bases that our government does not do more to assist in the developement of alternative energies as well as the implimentation of legislation that would encourage builders and developers to move towards ensuring that all new building were more self suffiecient and less of a drain on our current fossil fuel based power systems.My plans for the new house are two fold, firstly to ensure that the house can function off the grid so to speak so that we do not have to rely on government infrastructure, but as a source of income or at least to offset some of our other expenses I'd like to enable a conection with the local electric grid to sell back excess power to the power company. I know this can be done and is actually becoming a more popular solution with many Australians given our rising electricity costs. I also feel that the new home should be constructed in a manner that does not impact as much on the envirionment and as such feel that the McMansion solution seen here in Australia and also oversea's in the USA is not a feasable solution for my life or for many others concerned about the effects it will have on our resources globally.I'm leaning towards a composit construction of old and new technologies, I really like the concept of Straw bale homes however want the look of a modern open plan living space. I'm also investigating the use of Thermal energy to head the house taking heat from the earth's core and using it to heat the floor mass of the building again using an existing resource that have no additional polutants or draw on the environment at large.So I come to the point of this rant, I would really like some feed back on how you all think a modern home with all our mod con's and electrical components should be intergrated with the well established to be "Green" and sustanable. My partner is a clean freak so the end result must be a modern clean astecally appealing solution with out any quirky requirements. The aim is to leave as little a foot print during the build process and also once we begin to live in the structure while ensuring we maintain the level of modern convenience that we currently have.Your thoughts and idea's on this is greatly appreciated. I'll post some of the preliminary house desings in the comming weeks as well as any other relevant material for those of you who may be interested.really looking forward to your thoughts and feed back.Cheers and good health Jase

[sheepdog 10]

Very good post. You make some great points. I also perked up my little ears at the mention of straw bale houses. Haven't heard mention of them in quite a few years. They were all the rage awhile back. Been long enough now that I can't remember some of the problems related to them. I wonder if the preperation of the bales, for example, making them flame retardent, and structurally sound enough to be weight bearing and non rotting, would push the cost and practicality of this medium to the point where traditional housing materials would be a better investment?

But for the 3 of you other questions.

1. Would the earth as we know it continue to function with out fossil fuels or would the worlds populations come to a grinding halt if we suddenly ran out of oil and natural gas?

Well, yes, if it came to a sudden halt the world would be plunged into a considerable disaster. We are not yet prepared to make a major switch to alternate energy. We have no backups, or very limited back up to provide for our current rate of consumption of the things fossil fuels currently provide for us. Nearly 100% of us depend on gas to get to work, or fuels to run electric plants that run our computers and all the things we depend on to make our livings. How could I drive to buy dog food without gas, or sell my pups online with no power for my computer. Be pretty tricky! Sure if you live in town you can ride a bike to work, but lets see you haul 1/2 a ton of dog food 70 miles on a bike!

2. Would our electrically powered divices that we all rely so heavily on become great boat ancors of the future, if the worlds fossil energy sources suddenly stopped?

That is going to depend on the alternatives we discover to replace our current engery needs. If new discoveries are made for a different type of power our current devices are as you say, going to become boat anchours. But if we can find safe and effective ways to produce the same electric we now use, they will be fine.

3. As users of this limited energy source, how much do you think society would be prepared to sacrifice to continue thier online habits, their flat screen TV's and thier constant need for bright flashy items?

I don't see the vast majority of people being ready to give up much of any of the luxories they now enjoy. People are accustom to these computers, cell phones, tv's and all the conviences of modern life. They will not want to give them up without a fight.