Only when oil goes for $ 500 a barrel will we get serious about giving it up . Yes? - Page 2

06-14-2005, 08:21 AM

is water, Dunce!!! H is hydrogen.
what i also do not get, is why everyone is so attached to internal combustiuon as a process to generate energy. it is primitive and outnoded.
Tesla made a car that ran on static electricity, with an electric car with a normal 80 km radius for 800 km. that is the stuff you all want, while the horse eats grass that grows for free and drags a cart for 12 hours, if you let him. Gratis!!!!
electro engines cost emissions to make and maintain. Horse emissions are good fertiliser too.
VdK.
PS Sp said SIMPLE living, otherwise where do you get the time for high thinking, running after your machines?

krsna · 06-16-2005, 05:44 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4092928.stm

krsna · 09-15-2005, 10:27 AM

By James Andrew Cahill

The transition promises to be wrenching, but to delay the inevitable is a sure invitation to a global disaster
The greatest challenge our society will face as it moves forward will be to manage energy wisely. The 20th century was powered by oil. It was an era that saw remarkable innovations and the development of new technologies that have greatly improved our quality of life. But we are rushing toward the end of the oil-driven era, and so the challenge before us today is to consolidate the gains achieved with fossil fuels while moving beyond this finite resource.

In order to do this, we must act now. But we must also be careful not to weaken our economy or stifle innovation unduly.

It is a difficult dilemma. Our current technology relies so heavily on fossil fuels that their use cannot be significantly curtailed without highly detrimental effects to the economy. Furthermore, we can assume with certainty that energy demands will only increase as the U.S. economy grows and people in other countries seek to better their living conditions. But the more oil that we use to meet these rising demands, the sooner we will exhaust this precious resource.

GOVERMENT MUST LEAD. Thus, immediate action is essential to develop new energy sources so that technology's advance can continue without impediment. Although action by both the public and private sectors would be more efficient, until there are greater profit potentials, the public sector must take the short-term lead. The government must formulate policies that provide strong incentives for private-sector investments.

With a concerted effort from all parties, it should be possible to curtail the growth in oil usage -- and ultimately end it -- by supplying future energy needs with other, more environmentally friendly sources. Developing alternative energy sources with less of an environmental impact than that from fossil fuels would address another long-term problem: global warming. The accumulation of greenhouse gases, if not counteracted, may eventually result in almost catastrophic costs of both an economic and human nature. Our civilization and, indeed, humanity's very well-being depend upon a stable climate.

In the current geopolitical situation, many of the leading oil-producing nations are controlled by authoritarian governments. To the extent that the world reduces its need for this commodity, it will weaken the ability of these governments to undermine the advance of democracy and human rights. It is only rational to believe that the people of these nations desire freedom and, if given the opportunity, will move toward representative government and greater self-determination.

IN IT TOGETHER. However, it is human nature to fear the unknown -- the end of cheap oil -- and to want to delay its arrival for as long as possible. In this case, though, procastination could be disasterous. The sooner we take intelligent and decisive action, the less traumatic will be the effects of the shift away from oil, and an ecological catastrophe will be that much less likely.

Every nation will decide its own particular approach to this historic transition, of course. But no nation can stand alone, aloof from stark reality -- not even the U.S. International cooperation to alleviate both the energy and environment issues will hasten the day when a new world economy emerges, bringing with it unprecedented benefits for all countries and peoples.

krsna · 09-17-2005, 02:45 PM

Material Fanatic
BY: MAYESVARA DASA

Sep 16, USA (SUN) —

Karma: Action = Reaction

When I studied Industrial Design at the University of Kansas in 1974, one of the most important things we discussed a lot was the future of gasoline powered vehicles. This was a hot subject because earlier in that year, the people of the United States had experienced a brief, but unforgettably bitter taste of what it might be like if Mother Earth no longer yielded up enough oil to keep fueling our insatiable gasoline demands.

For about two months that year, car owners had to wait in line for over an hour to purchase gas. All you could do while you waited patiently for your turn to fill up was hope that the tanks supplying the fuel pumps at the station would not run out. Prior to that fuel crisis, petrol cost about 30 cents a gallon. By the time it was all over, the price of gas had increased by a dollar a gallon. (300 %!)

We are now again experiencing run-away costs for petroleum products. Nobody knows where the cost of a barrel of oil will stop, but the recent disaster in the Gulf has some saying it could shoot up to over $4 per gallon before it levels off. The anxiety this is causing is compelling many people to "re-think" their driving habits, but it is too late for many to change the way they consume gasoline. The real question that should have been asked a long time ago is: "Why are we so obsessed with the need to drag 2000lbs of steel around with us everywhere we go?"

One of the reasons why we studied the life cycle of a car in my Industrial Design class was to better understand how the principal of "Action equals Reaction" would impact new products that we might be responsible for designing. The automobile offered a very dramatic example of the importance of forward thinking. As engineering wannabe's, it would be our responsibility to attract future consumers to purchase new products. The average shopper might not be fully aware of the inevitable packing, waste, social and environmental impact that comes along as byproducts with every new invention, but as conscientious designers we needed to keep those things in mind as well.

In retrospect, it’s not likely that Alfred Ford had any idea of how much his horseless carriage would evolve into one of the worst killing machines ever created. Nor did he probably realize that he would be the reason for huge junkyards in every city, mammoth regional oil refineries, and the proliferation of ugly oil wells in some of the world’s most desirable pristine locations.

To herald the path for the automobile we blanketed the earth with millions of acres of cement. The price we pay for today’s automobile fuel goes way beyond $4 per gallon. To feed our mobility habit we have also seriously jeopardized the air we breathe and the ability of the earth to produce the agriculture we rely on for sustenance. It has also compromised the space we need to grow the trees that give us fruits, nuts, paper, wood, cooling shade, oxygen, and many valuable medical by-products. Now the oil crisis is pushing nations dangerously close to territorial conflicts and some insist the war in Iraq is all about controlling oil supplies.

Will Karma Repeat Itself?

Has our co-dependence on the automobile taught us to rethink the direction we are rushing toward? It doesn’t seem so.

Now the high tech industry is clamoring to integrate the cell phone, e-mail messaging, I-Pod tunes, a Global Positioning Device, Personal Data Assistant and the Digital camera into one convenient pocket size device, powered by deadly cadmium, beryllium, antimony, lead, zinc, mercury and arsenic components. This becomes particularly disturbing when you consider that a Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition estimated that by 2005, 130 million cell phones will be discarded annually, totaling approximately 65,000 tons of trash over the first three years!
(http://environment.about.com/cs/ewaste/a/ewaste.htm)

Consumer advocates are also quite concerned about the dangerous impact cell phones may have on our health due to the non-ionizing radiation this device omits when used in such close proximity to the operator’s head! This is a controversial subject because initial research seems to indicate that the radiation is so low it couldn’t possibly hurt anyone. Yet even the researchers who make this argument will admit that nobody really knows just how much radiation the body can absorb safely when exposed over a long period of time! But has this ominous unknown factor enticed anyone into doing a study on the correlation between low-level radiation exposure and the memory crippling Alzheimer’s epidemic? I don’t think so.

Replacing the Sacred With a Balance Sheet

Thousands of years ago recorded in India’s great Mahabharata epic we learn of a conversation between the most honorable sage Yudhisthira and his warrior opponent the heroic Bhishmadeve. The fearless general Bhishmadeva also happened to be Yudhisthira's teacher from childhood. He was shot with hundreds of arrows during the first day of battle and lay waiting until the end of the day to leave his body at will, which was not uncommon for great yogis in those times. In the evening while he waited for the sun to reach the auspicious position in the Northern Hemisphere when sages chose to leave this mortal world, Yudhisthira approached the revered Bhishmadeva to ask about the essential principals of religion. Bhishmadeve answered all his questions at that time. One of the last things he shared with him was a landmark in India’s most sacred hymns: The Vishnu Sahasranama - The 1008 names of Lord Vishnu. Ever since then this highly revered mantra has been chanted by India’s most enlightened souls.

In today's world, the advice of corporate accountants and attorneys has replaced the wisdom of the exalted Bhishmadeva. Instead of vibrating mantras that glorify the pastimes of the Supreme Lord, which automatically raise the consciousness of all who hear them, these modern day pundits chant "Reduce, Recycle, & Reuse." Their sole motives are focused on improving stock earnings for corporate investors and nothing more. This is a bit better than the disposable marketing mentality that has prevailed in the past because it slows down the process of global entropy. However, it doesn't make us any less "Materially" Fanatical. As long we continue to believe that the purpose of life is to exploit all of the resources of the earth for pleasing our insatiable senses, we are setting ourselves up for slow, painful and inevitable environmental suffocation. The question is, how big and toxic does the junk yard have to get before we realize the prudence in what the great sages understood thousands of years ago?

"A materialistic person, thinking himself very advanced in intelligence, continually acts for economic development. But again and again, as enunciated in the Vedas, he is frustrated by material activities, either in this life or in the next. Indeed, the results one obtains are inevitably the opposite of those one desires."- Srimad Bhagavat Purana Canto 7"The Science Of God", Chapter 7 "What Pralada Learned In The Womb", Text 4.

Some people are beginning to question the prudence of gross material indulgence but that hasn’t slowed down the construction of the mega-homes that evolve into large monuments glorifying the vanity of the individuals who live in them. In this way the whole world races recklessly towards endless permutations of material sense gratification. That doesn’t deliver the promises to make us happy, but in many cases, people don’t even know what the long range intangible costs really are for our sensual fantasies in the form of consequences.

Race down the Spiral

Nearly everyone senses that Western society is leading the entire world on a downward spiraling path of excessive pride, misdirected ambitions, inflated expectations, and endless demands for faster, greater variety, more efficient, and less expensive permutations of sense indulgence. Yet despite these ominous intuitions and inauspicious signs, very few people will seriously consider the wisdom of the ancient Vedic Sages, which included the sobering advice not to pursue unwanted and unnecessary things:

"For this reason the enlightened person should endeavor only for the minimum necessities of life while in the world of names. He should be intelligently fixed and never endeavor for unwanted things, being competent to perceive practically that all such endeavors are merely hard labor for nothing." - Srimad Bhagavata Purana Canto 2"The Cosmic Manifestation", Chapter2 "The Lord in the Heart", Text 3.

Acknowledging the indentured relationship we have with our senses is what separates real transcendental knowledge from the recklessly indulgent effects so called "enlightened" teachers preach to naive followers. Charlatan gurus are more interested in filling the donation basket or selling seminar tapes than they are in teaching the less palatable, but more accurate simple truths, so eloquently expressed in the Bhagavad Gita.

"The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them." - Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 2 "Contents of the Gita Summarized," Text 60.

The "Material" Fanatic is so obsessed by his relentless attempt to satisfy insatiable desires that he becomes completely delusional and truly believes that the very purpose of the material world is for him to enjoy it, if only for a few short years before impaird by the predestined inevitable effects of suffering from illness, disease, old age and death. Such individuals may even give some charity or volunteer philanthropic services in the name of "Spirituality." However, often such pseudo-religious sentiment is motivated by politically correct social obligations instead of a real change of heart. This very scenario is so common; it is described in noteworthy detail in the Bhagavad Gita.

"The materialistic person thinks: 'So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have eliminated him, and my other enemies will also be removed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none as powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.' In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance." - Bhagavad Gita as It Is, Chapter 16, "The Devine and Demoniac Nature." Texts 13-15.

For these reasons it is virtually impossible for the "Material" Fanatic to comprehend that there is another reality, which lies beyond the gross senses and is not subjected to the observable defects of this world - namely: "Birth, Death, Disease, & Old Age."

"Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is." - Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 8 "Attaining the Supreme," Text 20.

What Type Of Fanatic Are You?

The "Material" Fanatic does not have the personal integrity to acknowledge the limitations of their ability to figure anything out properly on their own. Instead of surrendering to the impeccable advice of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they attempt to prop up their own flawed conclusions primarily because they are more conducive to the pursuit of material gratification. Unfortunately that often includes deriding the more sober Vedic advice that guided ancient India for thousands of years far better than mankind has faired since the advent of Lord Christ.

"That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Partha, is in the mode of ignorance." - Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 18 "Conclusion the Perfection of Religion," Text 32.

One of the most obvious symptoms of a "Material"Fanatic, is that they give more credence to the perpetually changing conclusions of speculative science, and the whimsy of public opinion, than the more stable, reliable, and historically accurate wisdom so clearly presented in the Vedic Literature. Yet despite these ill-founded viewpoints "Material" Fanatics arrogantly defend their beliefs as emphatically as those they pejoratively refer to as "Spiritual" Fanatics.

"Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, those bewildered by material sense gratification become envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion." - Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter 16. "The Devine and Demoniac Nature," Text 18.

krsna · 09-27-2005, 07:50 AM

I have a confession to make—I love my bike. I feel blessed. Every morning and every evening, rain or shine, I ride my bike from home to town, and then back again. As soon as I swing my leg over the saddle, and begin to pedal, I feel, well, happy. Maybe it’s the freedom to travel relatively long distances by my own physical power, on a machine of relatively simply technology. Maybe it’s the fresh air or the exercise, or simply the thrill of going somewhere…I am not sure. Sometimes I wish others would love their bike too.
Why would I wish such a thing? Because the world would be a nicer place if more people biked to school, to work, etc. For one, we would all be a lot healthier. Bike-riding is great for your health: it exercises your muscles, heart and cardiovascular system. Doctors tell us that even 20 minutes of light exercises does the body wonders, and using a bike for transportation is a practical way to get those 20 minutes in each day.

Bikes—unlike cars, buses, and trains—are good for Mother Earth. There are no harmful by-products from biking, and an old bike is disposed of easier than an old car. Imagine how much more quite and peaceful our cities would be if there were less cars and more bikes. Unlike the manufacture of cars, buses, and trains, bike manufacturing is a fairly simple process. It is a far less expensive process and does not require huge factories which trouble the minds and hearts of those that work in them, and also create harmful pollutants. Perhaps if we rode more and drove less, we would not be so dependent upon Middle Eastern countries for oil with all the added difficulty that brings.

And riding a bike is healthier for the soul. Practically every city I’ve visited has a major traffic problem, but I’ve never heard of or been in a “bike-traffic jam.” Nor have I ever had a terribly hard time parking my bike, even in busy cities. Yet being cramped up, bumper-to-bumper, in a metallic machine and then finding a parking spot is frustrating. A short bike ride, however, leaves the mind refreshed, while traffic jams cause so much stress and even “road-rage.” The slower pace of a bike allows for self-reflection and contemplation. Being exposed to the natural elements keeps one in tune with nature’s rhythms.

The passion of car driving, as opposed to the peace of bike-riding, may have far deeper implications than that of mental and physical health—it can have spiritual implications. Spirtual life requires a tranquil mind. The life-style involved in car-driving can work against the emotional and intellectual sensibility required to practice spiritual life.

So a simple bike ride may have benefits that reach to the very depths of our being! Not every one can do it, but if you can, I urge you to find the joys of biking too.

Jonathan Edelmann

Jonathan Edelmann is a DPhil student at the University of Oxford. His area of research is the relationship of Vaisnava conceptions of nature and creation with contemporary evolutionary theory

krsna · 10-03-2005, 08:39 AM

javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2005/09/23/magazine/20050925_CARS_SLIDESHOW_index.html',%20'750_630',% 20'width=750,height=630,location=no,scrollbars=yes ,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')

krsna · 10-08-2005, 04:27 AM

in.rediff.com

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, October 7, 2005: It might sound nuts, but two engineering students in New Zealand claim that coconut oil can be used as an alternative to diesel, providing a possible answer to rising fuel cost woes. Samoan Dominic Schwalger and Penaia Rogoiumari from Fiji, both students at Auckland University in northern New Zealand, demonstrated on Friday how a diesel engine can run on a blend of diesel and coconut oil, or on pure coconut oil alone. "What we have shown is that without any modification to either the pure oil or the engine you can use it as an alternative fuel,'' they said in a statement released by the university. The budding engineers said they have analyzed engine performance and exhaust emissions as part of their research. Their findings could help reduce fuel prices, especially in southern Asia and the Pacific Islands where coconuts are cheaply grown and plentiful. Schwalger said producing coconut oil for use in standard diesel engines is a simple process, unlike some bio-diesels, which require complex equipment and chemical reactions. "The combination of a ready supply of coconuts, rising fuel prices and ease of manufacture makes this a real option for villagers who need to run equipment like generators or boat engines,'' Rogoiumari said. At that point, it is ready for use and is utilized already in various ways such as cooking oil and suntan lotions,'' he said, adding that experiments involving coconut oil as a fuel substitute have been carried out in Asia and the Pacific Islands in the past two years.

10-22-2005, 12:58 AM

I would absolutly agree on these findings. I wish United States Researchers would be vey interested if this project is already be proved by these young men. With all the related problems that the American gas been raised to $3.00 per gallon. It is very frustrating because, if gas is produce this way by using our own productive coconuts were being saved.. Why spent a lot of money buying Oil from other countries when you actually grow the product.

Student of Leone Midkiff School
Imelda Luisa Aiono...

10-25-2005, 01:19 PM

bikes are the transport used world wide
better to bike than b-tch about oil dependancy
you can ride a bike anywhere accept for in like the songs
or, you can rollerskate .....even in a buffalo herd

10-25-2005, 01:23 PM

7 time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor
pretty heady stuff - you go L
should get people off their duffs and out on a bike for health and economic benifits

10-26-2005, 07:03 PM

can you chant hare krsna on bike rides

krsna · 11-10-2005, 02:17 PM

by Diamond Organics

Posted November 10, 2005

MARSHALL, CA - Completing a 5 year process, Straus Family Creamery, California's cutting-edge organic dairy, created electricity today from its new methane digester. The digester captures naturally occurring gas from manure and converts it into electricity.

With this new system, Straus is expected to generate up to 600,000 kWh per year, saving about 6,000 dollars in monthly energy costs. This process will also eliminate methane, a natural by-product of manure. According to the 2003 U.S. Department of Energy Report on Greenhouse Gases, agricultural sources, primarily animal waste, account for approximately 3 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Funded by California's SB5X alternative energy grant program, this is the first system to take advantage of regulations of net metering law which effectively allows the entire Straus operation to run meters in reverse as excess electricity is sent back into the grid.

Managing manure in a way that protects the environment has always been a goal of Albert Straus, farmer and owner of Straus Family Creamery. A cow can generate 120 lbs of waste per day, which translates to 40,000 lbs. per year per animal. While all waste at Straus dairy is composted and reused as fertilizer, this system provides additional and far-reaching benefits.

The project was funded in part with grants from California's Energy Commission (CEC), Marin County Resource Conservation District (RCD), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, the U.S. EPA and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Other support came from Sustainable Conservation, a non-profit environmental group, which was instrumental in helping farmers get credit for the electricity they send to the grid. Western United Resource Development helped make the grant money available to buy the generator. Williams Engineering Associates designed and managed the project.

"This is one more step towards my goal of having our farm become completely self-sufficient in energy, with minimal environmental impact," Albert Straus stated.

*This methane digester is a model solution for one of the greater challenges of the dairy industry. *

"The Straus Dairy has again demonstrated leadership to the rest of the dairy community by adopting one of the most environmentally beneficial renewable energy technologies," according Allen Dusault of Sustainable Conservation. "It provides a triple win producing cleaner air and water and a new source of renewable energy."

The Straus dairy has been in operation since 1941. Straus Family Creamery just celebrated 10 years of processing and recently introduced their all organic ingredient Super Premium Ice Creams which are available in natural food and specialty stores throughout the western U.S.

Tarun · 11-17-2005, 03:50 PM

One SP ziSya tried chanting with beads while biking.
Having been caught within spokes:
"Beads were flying everywhere, I left without my Swami Hat"
I chant while riding my 6 wheel bike? trike? quadri-psyche? pentacycle? quintessential? hexabykle? one heck of a bike, indeed.

JaiSacinandana · 11-21-2005, 06:38 PM

I think some of you guys need to look at this website, it's not that simple to change, we need oil otherwise there's chaos....it's called Kali Yuga....

...http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/...

Lifes not as simple as it is made out to be on the media, just bring in hydro car's, yeh right who ya trying to kid.

With even a small reduction 10 to 15 percent of oil production it would have massive effect's on the stabilization of the economy, a global recession could incure. Basic principle of our modern civilization is that everything is reliant on oil, mainly being transport 2/3, energy and our ability to produce products food etc.

Anyway an indepth analysis by Matt Savinar is an eye opener and a must to read for anyone interested in the coming events of... Life after the oil crash.

A must read...http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

krsna · 05-28-2008, 04:44 PM

It's gonna happen folks: gas is going through the roof, soon gas will be sold at $500 a gallon and you'll all be sorry for being gas addicts. Shame on you!