Why don't they get it?

[fifthcolumn]

I'm sceptical that wind and solar power can sustain the current world population at even a fifth of the West's current standard of living.

To be honest Ludwig, I consider that to be a straw man.
A Good standard of living is unevenly distributed and it's likely to continue that way.

An example is Oslo. I suspect they will continue to maintain close to their current standard of living even if the rest of us devolve to third world levels.

They have an all-electric transport system and their power source is hydro.

We have a very wasteful fossil fuel system which burns three quarters of the energy to move the same amount of people or product, with only a quarter actually doing the work.

Logic dictates that if we go all-electric then we don't need all the fossil fuel energy. With a combination of wind, solar, tidal, hydro, geothermal and nuclear and coal to bridge the gap, I'm pretty sure it could be done.

I say "could" though. I in no way mean "will" and in fact it looks to me like "won't".

Which doesn't necessarily mean that the entire world sinks, but it probably means the UK and other less forward thinking countries will.

[revdode]

One issue to keep in mind is the geography of Norway - not every country is quite so lucky.
Scotland could probably generate enough for it's own needs but I don't think it could power London with electric trams.
Also the population density of Norway if fairly low from memory less than 10% of the population in the UK, lower than the states I think.

[SILVERHARP2]

Scotland could probably generate enough for it's own needs but I don't think it could power London with electric trams.

With the usual proviso of woulda, shoulda, coulda, you could move people and freight around a city on an electric system backed up by nuclear

[goslow]

London already has an electric transit system, so they will be ok for getting people around, as long as they can buy in the power from somewhere. Or start up Battersea again!

[Andy_K]

Researchers showed rather upper class middle aged women a series of pictures and words rapidly, and asked them to remember them. Interspersed with “ordinary” words were foul language expressions of the sort these ladies would never use. Interestingly when asked, these subjects remembered all the ordinary words but were certain they never saw the foul ones.
Obviously they “saw” the words, but in terms of perception, like the natives on the shores of America, they did not “register” them.

Didn't percieve, or didn't admin they perceived? I bet they noticed them just fine.

Likewise, I bet the natives on the shores of America registered the ships just fine, and wondered what the hell they were. But what exactly would you expect them to do about it?

You have two choices when talking about Peak Oil.

1) Mention the possible dire consequences - This gets you dismissed as a nut because you'll be talking about something completely radical and unexpected, and babbling about the end of civilisation as we know it.

2) Mention just the resource depletion situation - This is 'perceived' just fine. But 99% of people won't know what to make of it (like the natives and the ships) and so won't do a damned thing, but will turn and get on their merry way with their lives, unaware of the impending change in circumstances.

[jonny2mad]

well Im a doomer ,a lazy doomer maybe , because If I had any sense Id leave the uk and get ready for a nuclear war, well actually a war with scaler weapons, weather weapons, race specific bioweapons , directed energy weapons military robots and cyborgs , with die-off and whole populations being exterminated .
thats what I ask myself why dont people get , I think the most logical outcome of all this is serious war .
I think jay hanson has a better understanding on whats likely to happen than most peak oil people .

[Vortex]

[RenewableCandy]

How's the rat situation in WsM (it made the Daily Mail the other day!)?

I have just killed one on our compost-heap, with the sharp edge of a spade. I blame all those idiots wasting food.