Give me power!!

[bulldogeagle]

if we want to stuff this planet then by all means go nuclear, but the more nuclear plants that are built means more nuclear WASTE to be stored somewhere and this stuff has a shelf life of thousands of years so i dont think your children and grandchildren will thank you.

As someone who has worked in the industry, nuclear is very clean and safe now, we are not talking 1950/60's designs anymore. Waste is minimal and can be reprocessed into other useful items, what can not be reprocessed can be stored underground. Its the cleanest practical form of power available today.

well the nearest reactor to me is Hinckley Point and thats about as near as i want one, i dont trust nuclear and i never will.

[lasttruebreed]

If the SHTF the last thing on my mind is going to be electricity. Everything that you need to live and survive don't need electricity. Anyone who has practiced using a bob knows this. Look at it this way "when the power goes out and your lights are still on where do you think people are going to go?".

[metatron]

If the SHTF the last thing on my mind is going to be electricity. Everything that you need to live and survive don't need electricity. Anyone who has practiced using a bob knows this. Look at it this way "when the power goes out and your lights are still on where do you think people are going to go?".

could always get a BioLite CampStove for a bob, fire + power

[bulldogeagle]

If the SHTF the last thing on my mind is going to be electricity. Everything that you need to live and survive don't need electricity. Anyone who has practiced using a bob knows this. Look at it this way "when the power goes out and your lights are still on where do you think people are going to go?".

how true, we can all live without power post SHTF its just getting used to a different way of living.

[daylen]

If the SHTF the last thing on my mind is going to be electricity. Everything that you need to live and survive don't need electricity. Anyone who has practiced using a bob knows this. Look at it this way "when the power goes out and your lights are still on where do you think people are going to go?".

I agree that you CAN survive without electricity but just because TSHTF I don't feel a need to abandon everything that uses electricity. Some of what we use electricity for is nonsense - why have electronic kitchen scales when you can have balanced ones that last longer and use no power? But there are some things that could make surviving any situation a lot easier. For example a simple power source that would recharge a set of walkie talkies could be invaluable.

I would also see our role post SHTF as a key one in our communities. If we've got the ability to keep the lights on it hopefully means I've got the ability to enable that for others too!

[bulldogeagle]

the problem with electricity after TSHTF is it will have to be provided by generators, you need fuel to run them, if no mains power, the pumps at the filling stations dont work- hence no fuel! also if you can find fuel, they make one helleva racket which can be heard for miles, alerting the "have-nots" to your location.

[daylen]

I agree that anything approaching our current requirement and you're right - large, noisy generators are the way forward.

But power generation can be both quiet and small - for example PV or micro generation such as TEG - we don't need huge generators for a basic energy supply.

[bulldogeagle]

I agree that anything approaching our current requirement and you're right - large, noisy generators are the way forward.

But power generation can be both quiet and small - for example PV or micro generation such as TEG - we don't need huge generators for a basic energy supply.

oh sure, we have a friend who lives in a straw bale house, she has 1 small solar panel and a small domestic wind turbine and its just enough for her computer and telly.

[jansman]

I think Ian's post earlier is spot-on here. We need to work out how to do WITHOUT energy ad we know it now. Not how to maintain current usage if the grid goes down.

[preppingsu]

I think Ian's post earlier is spot-on here. We need to work out how to do WITHOUT energy ad we know it now. Not how to maintain current usage if the grid goes down.

I agree. Have a read of this book

http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Off-Off ... ael+bunker

He is very into his religion so you sort of have to filter out all the god comments but having said that he speaks a lot of sense about learning how to do without the power not just replacing mains electricity with solar/wind/hydro power.

Start small but stop using your electric toothbrush, return to maual, stop using hair dryer/straighteners/curlers etc, hand mix cakes instead of using an electric mixer. Just basic steps but it's a start.