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FAMILY POWER PLANTS: THE ONLY
SOLUTION TO YOUR ENERGY CRISIS
©1976 By KURT SAXON
The Text
For This
Web Page Was Taken From
THE SURVIVOR; Volume
1: pages 36 through 39.
While there is oil in the Middle East or coal in Appalachia, energy alternatives will only be a popular dream. When oil and coal run out or become too difficult and expensive to get from the earth, the populace will expect alternatives. But the promises of development will. prove to have been empty.
The news media has been putting out greater amounts of propaganda about proposed government and industry backed energy alternatives.
Hitler's promises of secret weapons in the offing kept the people hopeful long after the war was lost. In the same sense, alternative energy propaganda is calculated to stave off the panic which would arise if the average Joe knew his way of life was going to grind to a halt within about five years.
When President Ford tells the public that energy alternatives are being developed, he is only passing on the wishful thinking he and other cloddish politicos have been given by our industrialists. Even intelligent politicians are willing to pass on these myths. They know that unless industry continues to monopolize the development and sale of energy, their brand of government cannot endure.
In their case and that of industry, dependence is the name of the game.
A handful of coal, oil and natural gas companies selling us all our energy ensures the centralization of one of the greatest blocks of wealth in Western Civilization. They are the sun around which we all revolve.
Without centralization, Industrial and Political power is impossible. The Politicians know this and will do their best to keep energy centralized, even if it means discouraging private adoption of alternatives.
On the one hand, Politicians talk of Industry's efforts to develop alternatives. Industry's efforts in this line are impractical at best and stupid at worst. One worst example is atomic energy. An example of impracticality is the proposed plans for utilizing geo-thermal energy, feasible only in certain areas which have hot springs, volcanos, etc.
Then there is the much publicized mountains of oil-bearing shale. This is located mainly in dry areas with hardly enough water for agriculture. Extracting oil from shale takes vast amounts of water. No water, no shale oil.
No matter what their proposals, Industry has no interest in developing energy they can't sell. Nor will one major industry put out a product which would ruin another major industry. This is not because of ethics but because of the interdependence which keeps the Industrial structure together.
Take the auto Industry for example. They are stuck with the internal combustion engine. It is dirty, inefficient and dependent on fossil fuels. (Methane is not encouraged.) Without the internal combustion engine, Standard Oil would have never become a major world power.
The only suggested alternative to the internal combustion engine has been the electric auto. Such a beast uses much of its energy carrying all those heavy batteries. If you want to go farther than about fifty miles you must either change the batteries or wait a few hours for recharging. And don't forget; the recharge energy would have to come from somewhere, probably from fossil fuels. The electric will not replace the internal combustion engine.
The internal combustion engine could be adapted to use Methane. That would just about put the oil people out of business unless they tapped every cow lot, sewer and garbage dump in their respective states. It still would not be economical for them or you (unless you generate your own methane) so don't expect it.
The auto industries could bring back and improve the Stanley Steamer if they had tne billions to retool, which they don't. The improved steam car would be clean, cheaper to buy and run. It would be easier to maintain, putting most auto mechanics out of business, and last longer, since the steam engine is not subjected to the internal battering that plagues the internal combustion engine.
Steamers would not use gasoline or any other high-test fuel. Kerosene would do fine but Standard Oil wouldn't last long selling kerosene to Steamer owners, especially those who preferred Presto-Logs for fuel.
Now we come to the power needed to maintain private homes.
Wind power would save every householder quite a bit over a year. However, only a few areas are windy enough to provide all of a household's constant needs. So the investment by the householder in a commercial wind system is limited by its price, which is seldom low enough to compete with the Utility Company.
A firm In Australia puts out a fine wind-power plant which will electrify your home and store energy enough, hopefully, to last through calm spells.
This wind-plant costs about $5,000. Although it is probably worth it, the cost is too high and will not go down to where the average householder can afford it.
Yet, this Is the only wind system publicized by the media. It is also the only type the Politicians and Industry recommend.
Then there Is the solar water heater to be installed on the roof of your home. This would supply up to 40% of your heating needs, both for your rooms and (or hot water. The prices quoted are from 20 to 30 thousand dollars. The media often describes this cozy home of the future.
You will see in the above two examples of privately owned energy sources that the prices are described as high. Too high, in fact, for even the average fanatical survivalist to afford. These prices are certainly not to be considered by the general public.
But these are what the Establishment hacks tell us are the alternatives to their energy. It's their way of saying that we can't afford alternatives so we had better support them in their efforts to develop and sell us energy.
These inflated quotes on privately owned energy alternatives effectively discourage the public from planning their own systems. At the same time, they give the impression that help is on the way as Government and Industry will finally shoulder the burdens we paupers could never cope with.
There are several reasons why neither Government nor Industry can Implement alternative energy systems. First is cost. Prices quoted on the Australian wind system and the solar roof heater are for Union Labor and new materials. These costs would be mandatory on an official level.
A Government project would include about 20% loss from theft and another 20% loss from inefficiency. Since no private industry could finance a system which would supply energy to a sizeable town, it would have to be backed by a Government contract awarded to a private company. So it wouldn't matter much if the prime contractor considered himself an employee of the Federal Government or a self-employed contractor.
Our Government project would cost as much as such a system could possibly cost. I'm sure you can remember the great plane boondoggles where the estimates started with millions and climbed to billions by the time the planes were in the air, if they flew at all.
Then there Is the cost to the user of the energy. Abundant fossil fuels are the cheapest sources of energy and are already too high for many. There would be no discussion of alternative sources of energy if fossil fuels were still plentiful and/or easily recovered. It doesn't matter who supplies your alternative energy. It would still cost you about double what you're paying now, if not more.
Climate and weather are very important in alternative energies, whereas with fossil fuels, this is not a consideration. Installations supplying whole areas with power would have to have a climate where the weather was consistent. This would make wind and/or solar energy systems impractical in many parts of the United States.
Even methane gas production depends on climate. The one-celled organisms which turn waste matter into methane must be kept warm. Without supplementary fuel or cannibalizing methane already generated to maintain the needed temperature, the output would be too low to be worth the trouble. Commercial methane production would be greatly reduced or far more expensive in winter.
Public services, hospitals and larger businesses must have constant energy. A city can't just shut down because it's been drizzling and windless for a week or so. Nor can cities have backup systems to provide energy when weather is uncooperative. You have to keep your petroleum powered electric company on all the time or close it down altogether. You've got men working there who won't be employed by solar or wind power systems. They're professionals. They don't work part-time, being on call for when the wind stops and the clouds gather.
So, forget alternative energy systems which supply whole areas with power. To the private householder, however, alternative sources of energy are cheap and eminently practical, no matter where you live. The cost of the materials would be about a tenth of the inflated quotes given by Industry.
This is because you are expected to scrounge your materials from the city dump. There, you can get most of what you need free or for less than half the cost of new materials.
Instead of paying $5,000 for that undoubtedly fine Australian wind system, you can make one yourself for about $500. The main cost would be for batteries and electrical components. These can be picked up at any auto junk yard for very little, along with the needed gears. If you prefer a propeller type rather than a series of wide slats, you can pick up blades from your friendly used aircraft parts store, situated near most fields serving private planes.
As for those 20 to 30 thousand dollar roof solar heaters, all they are made of Is 1/8th inch sheet plastic or glass, plastic tubing, plywood and odds and ends found at any junk yard. Two or three hundred dollars would pay for one just as good as theirs and only a millionaire half-wit would pay more.
For stove gas, three 55 gallon drum methane generators could be kept warm and odorless in the kitchen. They would supply all the cooking gas you would need with enough left over to power a generator on windless, sunless days.
You could feed one drum with all the garbage your family accumulates. Tap your septic tank, follow that cat, scoop up after the dog, use livestock manure, grass clippings, etc.
Use one drum for collecting. Let one sit with waste and warm water in it. Let the third one be used until its methane supply is exhausted. Then attach your stove hose to the middle drum and pour some warm water in the first drum.
The sludge from the exhausted methane drum is poured on the garden if you have one. Unlike new sewage, methane waste is all ready to provide plant nutrients without composting.
When the exhausted drum is emptied it can go to the end of the line and receive a new batch of waste matter.
My descriptions of wind, solar and methane systems are sketchy and not meant to be very informative on the subjects. What you need for the details is the Mother Earth News "Handbook of Homemade Power", $1.95 plus 50c for postage and handling from Mother's Bookshelf, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonvllle, N.C. 28739. This 374 page book is crammed with dozens of different systems harnessing every kind of power imaginable.
Most of these systems can be made from scrap and little new material. You can do the work yourself and you ought to. The reason is that you will have to maintain these systems so you might as well learn about them by making them.
With several systems installed at once, there is little chance you will be caught without energy. Since the systems are yours, you can activate or deactivate them at will.
And once you've bought the book on "Homemade Power" you'll understand that what is simple for a householder would be impossible for any government to implement. Government contractors don't use scrap. Nor do they work their men in their spare time without pay. Nor can they maintain these systems on an around-the-clock basis without pay. But to a householder, all these things would be a matter of course.
It's part of survival. You can do it but the Government can't. So when the Government and those who depend on it are gone, you will still be here.
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