The problem with no time is that you lose track of what anyone else is doing or how they perceive what time may pass for them. So, it occurs to me that you have had time pass in some substantial amounts while for me, it is no time except that which I create. Let us review the events as they occurred in the last letter. I had discovered a mysterious space. Created new forms of matter and patterns of energy, and sought out my sponsor. I stopped reporting as I entered “his” domain.

Onward....

The space I enter is antebellum. Old south. Something in Georgia, U.S., Some Planet Earth. A spiral staircase sweeps up along the wall to my right and left. Ahead of me is a butler in tails, coming nearer and behind him is a hallway leading into the house proper. The butler stops before me.

“Welcome, Sir,” he said in formal tones. “Please walk this way.”

He turns on well-maintained heels and strides through the foyer and along the hallway. I internally shrug and follow. We pass three doors on the left and one on the right. They are teal against white with lighting on the wall at periodic intervals. We enter through the fourth door and I find myself in a library. A woman in flowing gown is standing stately against a hutch at the far end. She sweeps toward me with an air of authority and, oddly enough, comfort.

“Welcome to my abode,” she says with hand held out. I take it in confused fashion.

“Excuse me, Maam,” I say. “I am looking for my sponsor.”

She laughs politely and takes me by the arm, guiding me to a divan upon which we sit.

“We make little effort to keep up with norms. Out in the public space, there is a certain convention which is maintained. Inside our own domains we can appear as anyone or anything we wish. You could spend a life as a nautilus, a bit of primeval ooze, whatever you wish. Any visitors would have to deal with that. Today you find me playing the part of southern belle, however, I am indeed the participant you are seeking.”

She gave orders to the butler for drinks, he departed, and she looked at me.

“So, what's on your mind? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

I explain. “After you departed the hallway, I went through the door you indicated and discovered, quite by accident, that I was not in my space but in an entirely different space. I was not floating but felt like I stood on something solid. It was completely dark. I don't know what the place was. Then I framed out and discovered another door that had no emblem either and surmised that must be the door to my space. I went through and found I was correct. Maybe you can help to explain this mystery.”

At that point the butler returned bringing a tray with one bottle and two empty glasses on it. Inside the bottle was a sparkling blue “water”.

“I hope you like it,” She said. “I've just created it and don't know what to call it. Maybe you can help me pick a name.”

Glasses where poured and handed out. I sipped mine. What struck me most was the refreshing feeling it left in my mouth (funny, eh? All the functions I was used to were there).

“Well,” she said running her hand through long tresses, “Clearly the space belongs to you. Otherwise, you would not have been able to enter unbidden. The fact that it appears to have a solid surface indicates it is some kind of energy storage space. If so, you have a treasure trove left by a benefactor. I suggest we travel thence and investigate.”

I agreed and we made ready to depart. After framing out to the hallway, we turn left and make our way to the blank door with its mysterious space behind. We stop.

You will have to open the door”, my sponsor said. “She” has become a “he” again and I'm left feeling vaguely confused. I open the door and allow him to enter first, following behind him. The door closes.

We find ourselves in the matrix form of the hallway and I look over at my sponsor. He has an odd look on his face, almost of discomfort.

“What's wrong?” I ask.

He smiles faintly and says “I seem to have walked into a trap. This space is collecting my energy and breaking down my identity. I'm feeling faint and need to leave this place. Do you intend to destroy me or let me go. I cannot frame.”

He starts to slump and if I could have felt panic now, I most certainly would.

“I'm sorry sponsor.” I did not know what else to call him. “What can I do?”

“You have the ability to frame directly to your S-T from here.”

I did so and dragged him through the frame. We disappeared and my island snapped into place as I quested for it. The sponsor returned to form and stood up. We found ourselves “on” the island but as I had no form it was not as noticeable. I pulled the beginnings of a form together, with hands, and formed my interface. I constructed a more adequate body and some matrices with which to breath and form expressions.

My sponsor took a breath and spoke.

“Well done recipient. That was close. I can see that you have indeed discovered a find of tremendous value. Perhaps you should have held that secret as I may be in a position to benefit from my knowledge of it to your discomfort.” He smiled. “But that is for future events to decide. What matters is that you now have an incredible amount of energy, source unknown, and can add to it by placing matrices or pure energy into it. I suggest you use some to pay off your debt as that debt is very expensive and, now, not necessary.” He turned to go.

“Thank you,” I said quickly. “How can I thank you for these kindnesses?”

He turns back. “There is no need. What good is a participant here who does not know the rules and capabilities of the Continuus.” You would not make a worthy competitor or cooperant. Farewell for now.” He framed and walked out.

I thought about his suggestion to pay off the loan and wondered how that could occur when a flash came into my space and the Banker was there.

“You wish to pay off your loan?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered. “But how did you know?”

“That is of no consequence,” he replied. “Shall we sit and complete the paper work?”

 

“Yes,” I answered and form a small hut with table, one large, sturdy chair and one small chair on each side of the table. The Banker sits in the large one and I sit in the small chair. He pulls papers out of thin space and lays them before me.

“Please sign here, here, here, and here, “ indicating where I should as he speaks. He hands me a pen.

I sign, he picks up the papers, and with another flash, disappears. I am feeling weak but still myself. My debt is cleared.

I began to think of what would come next and wondered how I could do with without a sequence of time to match it. Clearly there was more here, in these spaces, than I was at first aware and I felt I needed to make more queries of my (former) sponsor. I framed and departed.

I must apologize again for leaving you in suspense (or mild anticipation) for my next little adventure must wait. More clarity will be forthcoming upon my return to these pages and I bid you wait, not so long I am hoping, for the next letter. Until then

Letters of the Continuus # 5 My Treasure Trove and A Re-Formation

Hello Patient Reader,

It's been a time for you, I'm sure (and NO time for me of course) but I did promise to write about the treasure. When last we met, I was explaining how I was about to enter my Space-Time (or S-T, Domain, Place, My Place,...). The door I was to enter had no symbol and that was how I was to know it was the correct door. Everyone else (?) had symbols on their doors. So, here I am, the door, brilliant blue without a door handle or knob, the wall next to it coral, and glowing sconces on the wall. I entered...

...It's dark. Not the dark of night. The dark of all absence of light. Yet, it is defined. The space is constrained by a floor that “I” can feel as something wholly real. I feel it without the use of feet. The feeling, though, gives me a sense of direction. There is an “up” and “down”, although no left and right. My being “hears” a sound; a sound of energy; a sound of placeness. Although I know it is not MY place, it feels like it belongs to me. I cannot account for it as I am sure I went through the right door, the door without symbol. How can this be? Resolving the matter will require the help of another participant – the only one I know in fact. First, though my ST requires attention. I frame out....

I have returned to the hallway. I looked to the left and right of the door I had just entered. That door is, again, without symbol. The door to the right, is also without symbol. Hmmm.... Clearly my sponsor had picked the first door without a symbol when, in fact, I really wanted the second door. I pushed it open and entered.

It was dark again but this time, there was no floor. My mind was floating. The images appeared again but settled down to the island. I concentrated. The island expanded. It seas surrounded it. They curved in and around. A globe appeared. White sand. Blue seas. Blackness all around. The loan was clearly useful. I pulled myself closer to the orb. It was a conversation, you might say, between myself as mind, and myself as a planet. How odd to be dually conscious. In I went. The white sand came closer. It spread out before me. The “down” and the “up” became more recognizable. Not all was right, though. I needed a “me.” Something that could relate to what I created. Something to feel the grains of sand, wind on a face, and glare of the sand. More concentration resulted in a body of sorts. All this concentration took effort. Trying to keep everything in mind was taxing. I needed an interface to take care of the details. Something that would allow me more freedom of thought (and thought was movement here).

I formed a panel. It was rectangular. I like the coral color on the outside so that panel color. Buttons formed; Create, Save, Edit, Animate. Then the screen. There. My very own creative interface device. It needed a port for input. That formed on the outside. I allowed the planet to disappear. I made a platform to stand on. I was still “Me” so that I could work the device. But how to input? Mind-to- panel seemed the best way. How about a headset? It plugged nicely into the panel port. I concentrated again. The view screen lighted. The planet appeared there. The white sand beech. The blue ocean. But what's was it made of? I magnified the image. One must have grains of sand, molecules of water, atoms of silicon, a conversation of matter. The talk was energy. Back and forth went the chatter. Circles were the paragraphs of dialogue. The dialogue became a trialogue, a quadrilogue. The chat became a torrent of conversation with every part wanting it's voice to be heard and acknowledged. I created the Law of Conservation. All chatter must happen with the least amount of expression. The roar diminished and the chatter became a chat again. I de-magnified and the planet was there again. Enough for now. I hit the Save button. The planet appeared into my mindfulness and I pulled myself closer. I now stood on the sand. The sand bunching up beneath my feet. My toes curled in and down. An improvement indeed. The island needed some variety though. Returning to the panel, I formed the island. The headset connected to it. I concentrated and the island raised up on one side. A rocky cliff formed. Trees formed on the plateau. Saved again. I stood on the beach. The cliff towered above me with the top almost out of sight. I realized that I would have to work on scale in the future. Enough for now.

I wanted to find out about the strange space. I framed out and returned to the hallway. How was I to find my sponsor? I remember he told me. Persistence of memory must have some gaps in it. Ah. I remembered. His symbol, which he showed me. I concentrated on the symbol, framed, and appeared before his door. I pushed on the door and it refused to budge. Odd but understandable. I knocked and the door opened. I entered....

Here I must leave you yet again. I'm sure you have something to do or someplace to go. Come again and I'll describe how I learned about the Trove and relieved my debt. 'Til then...

CP

Letters from The Continuus #4 How I Came to be Registered and Found Myself in Debt

Waking life, as you well know, is full of continuity. Space and time progress and unfold together, smoothly, to those of us experiencing it. This differs from the dream state. Dreams are prone to jumpt from one set of action and circumstances to another set. Most of us are able to definitively separate dreams from waking.

Well, is there a state in between? Or, is there a reality that seems like dreaming? My experience suggests to me that this is so. Not so much in my movements. After the “Framing” motion was fairly normal. The head space I came to inhabit as I was led from blackness to hallway to court was challenging my notion of reality and continuity.

The court I have already described. The building where Banker held forth was, well, terse. It was ornate but in a most utilitarian fashion. If you recall, last time I related how we entered the office complex. The door was stainless steel, without windows, and the hallway beyond had white walls and teal carpets (who thought of this design? went through my mind). We moved down the hallway, straight as an arrow, and doors passed by us on the right and left. I had fully lost count when we stopped in front of a door numbered “1” (in crisp, black print). The other participant opened this door, entered, and I followed him.

A woman in a three-piece suit was sitting behind a large desk and facing us. She was talking on a headset. I heard the words “default” and “collection” before she looked directly at me and motioned that we should sit in the chairs in front of us.

Have you noticed, with my descriptions, the stereotypical imagery involved in my adventures. It is entirely possible that some force or perceiving mind was creating an illusion that would fit some portion of my expectations. At that point in time (?) I was in the dark as much as you are now.

Anyway, there we were, sitting in front of the banker, as if this were all quite normal. She took the headset off and spoke.

“Please state your business need.”

That was it. No pleasantries. No words of welcome. Obviously a busy woman with no time for small talk. The other CP spoke on my behalf.

“We have come to open a new account for this recent addition to The Continuus. I shall be guaranteeing his loan.”

The banker handed over a sheaf of paper, forms in quintiplicate.

“Please sign at the bottom of each page. You, “she looked at me, “sign here,” and pointed.

I looked to where she pointed and noticed below a page of very tiny print, the line so indicated as applicant. That was on the right. The sponsor was to sign on the left. We signed ten pages in all.

Now, I know what you're probably thinking. How could he sign all those pages without reading each one? I did think of that. That thought was brief but scrutinized very carefully for its brevity. At some point you've got to just throw up your hands and accept fate or trust in something greater than yourself. This was the moment when I decided to do that. Besides, the print was so small, I would need a magnifying glass to read it (all ten pages? Phew!).

So, I signed the pages, and as soon as we were done, I felt a great surge of clarity, perception, and energy. I asked my sponsor about that.

“What just happened?”

He replied with “You have been loaned a standard block of energy. You will want to start paying back as soon as possible. The interest is quite high.”

We stood up and shook hands with the banker, then departed.

The other CP led the way back through the court, down the hallway, through a Frame, and to my door (I had assumed, correctly, that was the case). All the other doors had symbols on them and since mine was blank, I wondered at the difference. My sponsor clarified for me.

“Each CP creates a symbol unique to his/her Space-Time. You must do the same when you are ready. Do it sooner rather than later since it will be a way to Frame the correct distance from the court.”

He stood back and bowed.

“I must return now to my own Space-Time. When you need to contact me, Frame to this symbol (a symbol coalesced before my and I grabbed it) and knock at the door. Farewell for now.”

He Framed and disappeared. I turned again toward the blank door and entered.

Here I must leave you for the next writing, when I come across a treasure trove. Stay tuned, good reader.

CP

Hello,

The following monologue is part of an analysis I have done regarding our petroleum usage and how we, as individuals may ameliorate it.  It is geared toward Americans but if you feel you are using more petroleum (or fossil energy) than you would like, you may avail yourself of this analysis.  I have put the first two parts on this blog.  Encouraging comments will result in more sections being added, so, please feel free to comment.  If you wish to work on this project, let me know.  Co-intelligence rocks!

______________________________________--

The Petroleum Patch

(A first level analysis)

Humans use a lot of petroleum; over 84 million barrels a day. People of the United States used the lions share in 2004 at around 20.5 million barrels a day. That amounts to around 3 gallons of oil per person per day. That amount includes products made from oil as well as energy feed stocks. The remainder of the world is trying to catch up with the U.S. in development status, thereby requiring a larger amount of petroleum. Many of the world problems today result in part from the availability of petroleum including climate change, offensive actions in the pursuit of oil, production constraints,…the list goes on.

Many people who live in a developed society find it very difficult to live without oil and other fossil fuels. We are at a loss when the power goes out, or impatient on those rare occasions when there are lines at the gas pump. We spend much time working to maintain the trappings of personal civilization. Americans work harder than any other society, even the Japanese, to keep our standard of living at its current level.

For those of us who feel or know there is a better way to live, this program is set up to wean us off the current level of petroleum consumption. Using the current flow of oil, we can set up better ways of living that require less oil. That is why I have dubbed this work the Petroleum Patch. It uses bits of oil to ameliorate our use of it; much as a nicotine patch is said to decrease a person’s need for nicotine over time. We will use a combination of mathematics, economics, and fun ideas to get over the OIL ADDICTION!!

Americans, taking the lion’s share of oil are in the best position to wean off it. We have the energy throughput to make great and profound changes to our society using this energy but we have to act quickly. There are very specific steps required to walk away from this addiction. First, we must recognize our need. Then, the following steps apply:

1. Recognize the depth of our need (how much oil we use as individuals)

2. Determine how we use this resource

3. Look for more intelligent ways to use this resource

4. Find replacements for oil (social, cultural, infrastructural, and technical)

5. Iterate steps 2 – 4

In 2004 the average American used 3 gallons of oil per day. Of course some of us used less and some more, but collectively, that was the norm. In 2003, on average, Americans used 338.6 million BTU’s per person or 3.57 x 10_­­­­¹¹ Joules (that’s a BIG number). So, the first question is, with all this energy available for each of us, are we using this energy to its optimal effect?

According to the EIA, in 2004 each American (including those that didn’t drive) burned 1.53 gallons per day of gasoline. Each American would therefore use 20.24 Million Joules of energy (in gasoline consumption) per day (hefty).

So the following questions present themselves.

1. Is this energy being used at its most optimum?

2. What amount of this represents petroleum consumption?

3. How can we use the current levels of consumption to decrease that level?

4. What feedback mechanisms can be created to decrease oil consumption?

Let’s take each question in order.

Is this energy being used at its most optimum?

Nature uses feedback mechanisms and vertical integration (trophic organization) to use energy at various scales. Most activity occurs at microscopic levels and an incident “packet” of energy will move upwards and downwards through both trophic levels and biotic scales.

Corollary questions we may ask are related to the optimal human condition. Do all humans benefit from this large use of energy? Equitably? How does this energy re-enter the Earth Sphere once we are finished with it? Once we define what it means to “benefit” from the energy, we can answer the first question. Clearly, given the gap between poor and rich, the use is hardly equitable. The entry of this energy to the Earth sphere manifests itself as global climate disruption. In terms of climate stabilization, the way we use this energy is not in keeping with laws of nature.

What amount of this energy represents petroleum consumption?

In 2004 we used 7.5 Billion Barrels in the US. That comes out to 25 Barrels/person/per day. Of course, these are collective figures, not individual figures. How many Btu’s is that? 1 barrel = 5.8 million Btu’s. Ergo; 25 barrels = 145,000,000 Btu’s (per person per year).

Now, let’s look at the way we use this resource.

• Energy used to make other energy available

• Energy used to keep milk cold in the supermarket until we arrive to pick it up

• Energy used to transport raspberries from Chile to NY restaurants

• Energy used to take timber to Japan and to return finished lumber or furniture to the U.S.

• Energy used to create balloons for our birthdays

• Energy used to support the accountant who keeps track of the sales of balloons

• Energy used to keep city lights on, even when no one is there is see by them

• The list goes on and on and on and on…

How is this energy represented financially in our life?

• Subsidies – we pay the government to make certain operations “economic”

• Taxes – the money we give to the government for its operations

• Sales – the money we use to pay for goods and services

• Donations – money we pay to non-profits or organizations that we support

Money that is in our direct control goes to sales and donations. Some donations can take the place of taxes. So, the choices we make when buying or donating have a large effect on what our energy footprint is. Taxes have an effect on what is done for us (or in our name) by the government but there is less control of the way they are spent. That is most controlled by who we put into political office and how much pressure we put on them to address certain issues. Subsidies are currently (and largely) out of our control and sometimes beyond our knowledge. This is money that goes out of the government offices and into the pockets of “whomever.” “Whomever” usually turns out to be large companies and corporations because they can convince legislators that this expenditure is critical to economic health of the nation (or the next election). The average person does not have this clout but we can gain it by grouping together and hiring an advocate to speak on our behalf. So, lets look more closely at financial energy flows as listed above and see where analysis leads us.

Sales

What we spend our money on has direct bearing on our independence or interdependence. There is also the matter of temporal dynamics. Will the money we spend now benefit us in 5 years time? 20 years time? 50 years time? If I have 25 gallons of crude oil, per day, at my disposal, how will the energy stored in that crude be best used so as to benefit myself (and my community) 50 years down the road? And, if that amount of energy decreased, how can I make up for it.

There are three options to address the last issue.

1. Find another source of energy

2. Use less energy with technical conservation measures

3. Change habits to decrease energy use

If the time element is of concern, use the oil that you have to create energy sources that will last longer than the oil itself. Let’s start by looking at a typical solar panel.

Part 1 Solar Electricity

Basically 1 sq meter is approximately 10 sq ft.

10 sq ft supports 100 watts of PV

100 sq ft of panel yields approximately 1 kW

so 10 sq  meters yields about 1 kW of PV

The efficiency of the PV is typically around 14-15%

Therefore, the total real Wattage is 150 Watts of power.

Using tables available from NOAA and NREL that show sun hours by the hour for various degrees of tilt of a panel we find that for northern U.S., the daily annual average is about 3.5 sun hours per day (about 5 hours in summer and 2 hours in winter).

And so we calculate:

3.5 * 365 * peak Watts = Annual Watts

3.5 * 365 * 150W = 191 Kwh/year

Now,

1kWh = 3413 Btu

so the total Btu output of the modules… before the efficiency losses from various hardware and other conversions along the way as we use the electricity... is

3413 * 191 = 651,883 Btu per year (about 652 kBtu’s per year) or 0.1124 bbl

Photovoltaic Efficiency is based on a number of factors and include angle of tilt toward the sun, solar tracking, ambient temperature (PV arrays work better in colder temperatures), and clarity of atmosphere.

It takes 2 – 6 years of solar activity to create the amount of energy that went into production of the solar panel. To keep life simple, let’s say that after 4 years, all energy is net. The typical solar panel will last around 20 years. So, for 16 years you are creating net energy. This information will be used later in the program.

Now remember, we use 20.5 M-Btu’s per day. That included internalized amounts from your refrigerator and HVAC and externalized amounts like the cappuccino maker at your favorite café (which is just waiting for your daily arrival) and the roads that you might use at any given time.. In one year we use 145 M-Btu’s. That’s 121 billion Btu’s. So, based upon the calculations given above, we have the following. With 10 m² of PV array producing 4.5 M-Btu’s per year, how much oil does that represent? In 1 gallon of oil there is 138,000 Btu’s (there are 42 gallons of oil in a barrel). Crunching the numbers gives us around 32 gallons of oil or 0.75 barrels. A summary is below.

Daily Use: 397,260 Btu’s

Yearly Use: 145 M-Btu’s

PV Supply: 4.5 M-Btu’s/yr

Balance: 145 M-Btu’s – 4.5 M-Btu’s = 140.5 M-Btu’s/yr (don’t worry – we’ll get there)

Balance w/ 50 m² PV: 122.5 M-Btu’s/yr

Part II Solar Water Heater

Let’s add a solar water heater. Heating water is a major energy consumer.

The calculations for energy conversion are the same as above. Therefore, if we use a 100 m² collector, we arrive at the following values:

Eff. = 25% – 45% (we’ll use 30%)

Area = 10 m²

Nominal Btu’s = 12,700,000 Btu’s/yr

Real Btu’s = 38,100,000 Btu’s/yr (3.81 M-Btu’s/yr)

But what does that give us?

It takes 1 Btu of energy to heat 1 pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit.

1 Pound of water = .125 gallons

A 120 gallon water tank holds 960 pounds of water (water weighs 8 lb/gal)

To raise one tank of water 1° F, we would need 960 Btu’s of energy

To raise one tank of water from room temperature to 120° F we would make the following calculation:

(50° F) x 960 Btu’s = 48,000 Btu’s of energy

One 10 m² solar panel would give us the following:

(3.81 M-Btu’s / 48,000 Btu’s) = 79 (that’s the number of tanks of water we could heat)

79 x 120 = 9,525 gallons of water @ 120° F per year

The DOE (Dept. of Energy) website ¹ states that American household hot water use, in 2001, was 15,800,000 Btu’s per year for hot water (15.8 M-Btu’s).

So, if we need 15.8 M-Btu’s per year and we are collecting 3.81 M-Btu’s per year we have a shortfall of 11.99 M-Btu’s per year. We have two options: Add more panel or decrease usage. Adding enough panel would require 5 x the area or 50 m² (that’s an area of 5 m x 10 m or 15 ft x 30 ft)

Summary

Daily Use: 335,616.44 Btu’s

Yearly Use: 122.5 M-Btu’s

Solar H₂O: 3.81 M-Btu’s/yr

Balance/m²: 122.5 M-Btu’s – 3.81 M = 118.69 M-Btu’s (better and better)

Balance w/ 100 m² of panel: 84.4 Btu’s/yr

Part III Space Heating

In 2001, an American household used 47.1 M-Btu’s for the year ². In petroleum usage that would be:

(M-Btu’s) x (Barrels/Btu) = 47.1 M-Btu’s x (1/(1700 kWh x 3413 Btu’s) = 8.12 bbl per year per household.

Let’s look at three ways to replace that energy source: Wood, Passive Solar, and active Solar.

Wood

In places with an adequate supply this is an excellent option. For analyses sake, let’s use a typical wood stove.

First, wood has an energy content of 18 M-Btu’s per cord ³. The average house built last year was around 2400 ft^{2 4}. 54.9 M-Btu’s were used in 2001 for a house of 2400 ft² for space heating.

Therefore, 3.05 cords of wood for a stove of 100% efficiency or 4.5 cords at the standard efficiency of 70% will produce 54.9 M-Btu’s. Now we have to factor in the energy needed to build a wood stove. For a cast iron stove, the iron has a process energy of 14,891 Btu/lb. If the stove is 400 lbs in weight, the stove will take roughly 6.0 M-Btu’s of energy to build. If the stove lasts 20 years intact, the embodied energy/per year will be 300,000 Btu’s per year. Add the energy to cut the wood: 1.85 M-Btu, and we get 2.15 M-Btu’s. We must subtract this number from the energy liberated in operating the stove. That will give a final answer of 52.75 M-Btu’s generated per year.

Now let’s use a tile stove. Tile stoves are more popular in Europe but slowly gaining popularity in the U.S. Common bricks have an embodied energy content of about 13,570 Btu’s/kg ⁵. A tile stove has around 36,093 Cubic Inches of material. That is 1,337 yd³. Some of it is brick, some is concrete. 1 common brick is 53.61 in³. We can start the analysis at 50% for each material. So, brick will total 18,046 in³. Now we need to convert cubic inches to Kilo-grams. For that we need the density in kg/in³. Let’s start with converting kg to pounds. 1 kg = 2.2 lbs. Common brick has a density of 120 lbs/ft³. Multiply 120 by 2.2 and 1 ft by 27 (3³)to get the final value. That is 264 kg/27 in³ or 9.77 kg/in³.

So, multiply density by total mass and we get 176,309 kg of brick.

Now for the concrete.

Concrete has a density of 148 lbs/ft³ or 12.05 kg/in³

Ergo, density is 12.06 kg/in³

If there is 18,046 in³ of concrete, then we will have 217,621 kg of concrete. Concrete has an embodied energy of 817, 600 Btu’s / ton. ⁶ 1 Ton = 907.18 kg.

E_brick = 176,309 kg * 13,570 Btu/kg = 2.346 x 10⁹ Btu’s = 2,346 M-Btu’s

E_concrete 217,621 kg * 901.25 Btu/kg = 196.13 M-Btu’s

Add the embodied brick and concrete energies together:

2,346 M-Btu + 196.13 M-Btu = 2,542.13 M-Btu.

Divide this energy by the lifespan of the stove: 28.25/90 = 0.3138 Btu’s / yr

Heat Output = 6500 Btu per hour per 30 lbs of wood. Hard Wood density averages around 680 kg/m³. That is 42.45 lbs/ft³. The volume of 30 lbs of wood therefore is

30 lbs/42.45 lbs/ft³ = 0.70 ft³ or 0.0262 yd³ (an average value) and

1 cord of wood = 128 ft³ or 4.74 yd³

1 Cord of wood = 18 M-Btu’s and 4.74 yd³ ergo,

There are 5,433.6 lbs / cord so,

If I put 30 lbs of wood into a tile stove per 24 hour period, I will have enough fuel for 181.12 days or enough wood for 6 months.

The total energy output in that time period is 6500 Btu/hour/day x 181.12 days.

Total then for the year, where the year only has 6 months of heating needed, is

28.255 M-Btu’s (call that 28 M-Btu’s for a years supply of space heating).

Calculation for cutting the wood = 411,428 Btu’s/cord

Add to embodied energy of stove: Total = 411,428 Btu

Subtract the embodied energy/year from this amount and we get

28 M-Btu’s – 411,428 Btu’s = 27.59 M-Btu’s / yr (good deal, eh?)

Subtract from total heat needed: 54.9 – 27.69 = 27.01 M-Btu’s per year as the remaining need. Consider that the energy GAP. We can fill in that GAP by using Passive Solar heating.

Passive Solar Space Heat

A properly positioned double-glazed window will net about 70,000 Btu’s per square foot per day of sunlight. ⁷

Now we need to determine the embodied energy per square foot of a window used in collection. Let’s choose a window 4 ft x 6 ft. The thickness of the glass is 0.25” and therefore the volume of the window glass is 864 in³.

Window glass will last at least 10 – 15 years (we will use 13 in our calculations).

Glass has an embodied energy of 31.5 MJ/kg. Its density is 2580 kg/m³.

864 in­³ = 0.014158423 cubic meters.

So, the embodied energy in MJ is (31.5MJ/kg)(2580 kg/m3)( 0.014158423 m3) = 1,150 MJ = about 1.1 M-Btu’s. Of course, this is for the glass itself. If we add in transportation, the embodied energy will increase.

The window is 24 square feet or 87.78 m². Therefore, the Btu’s produced in one year will be 24.5 M-Btu’s. This is for one double-paned 4ft x 6ft pane of clear glass. Now we need the efficiency of the glass and how much energy will be retransmitted at night or in cloudy weather. For that, we use the U-Value (opposite the R-Value for insulation). For clear windows, the value is 0.46 and for low-E is about 0.25. The U-Value is measured in Btu/hr-sq ft-°F or W/m²K and that is Btu’s per hour-square foot-degree Fahrenheit. Therefore, a window that is Low-E and has an U-Value of 0.25 is losing 0.25 Btu/hr-sq ft-°F.

If we take averages of U.S. temperatures to be 57.44, we can determine how many Btu’s are escaping through the window.

Btu’s / hr = (U-Value)(Area)(T_inside - T_outside ) = (0.25)(24)(75 – 57.44) = 105.36 Btu’s / hr

Because we are using averages, let’s assume the window is losing this amount at all times of the day. Sometimes it will be less, sometimes more. The total for a year will be 922,954 Btu’s. We need to subtract this from Btu production. That gives us 23.6 M-Btu’s of energy transference.

Dividing embodied energy by Btu’s generated per day of sunlight, the result will be 0.0467 years or about 2 weeks or about half a month. That is the time needed to pay off the energy of production. This number will rise as we include the frame in embodied energy costs.

So, after 2 weeks, the energy received by the window is net. Therefore, in 13 years, we will generate (23.84 M-Btu’s/yr)(12.5) = 300 M-Btu’s.

Summary

Yearly Use: 122.5 M-Btu’s

Annual Space Heat Use: 47.1 M-Btu’s

Balance w/ Wood Heat: 122.5 M-Btu’s – 27.69 M-Btu’s = 94.81 M-Btu’s

Balance w/ Passive Solar: 94.81 M-Btu’s – 23.84 M-Btu’s = 70.97 M-Btu’s

Onward…

For those of you who have taken time to look at my vision boards, my appreciations for your time and energy in doing so.  Here, for those who prefer written clarity of what those visions mean for me, I have created this left-brain listing of what I am traveling towards.

In Creating 4 vision boards, I have defined, therein, what I would like to see in my “Ideal” community/life. They are all taken to be representative as I know details will change, life is not a snapshot, and creation unfolds – it doesn't spring forth. Here, I am listing what those boards represent to me.

Overarching Ideas

• Being able to visit other communities
• Places to hike, walk, and bike
• Alternative building materials
• Large stock of books and other multi-media
• Dancing with life
• Surrounded by positive people
• Being able to kayak nearby
• Having an educational component
• Being of positive value in the world

Social Vision

• Lots of hugging
• Being able to converse in depth
• Engaging together in the work of community
• Engaged in camaraderie
• Constructive ways to deal with conflict

A Vision of Nature and Landscape

• Gentle Slopes and Southern Exposures
• Good supply of Trees, Forest
• Fields and open spaces
• Streams, brooks, and other bodies of water
• Nature's workers (beavers, bumblebees, ibexes?,...)
• Living Landscapes
• Edible Landscapes

The Built Environment

• Alternative building Materials (strawbale, cob, cordwood, timber-frame, etc)
• Sculpted buildings in harmony with the landscape
• A Commercial kitchen for creating common meals
• Passive and Active Solar
• Integrated Greenhouses
• Living Machine Constructs
• Permaculture systems
• Diverse energy systems (food, wind, biomass, solar, water,...)

Other Parts to the Vision

• Car co-op
• Solviva style structures/systems
• Biking Co-ops and biking clubs
• Many common spaces
• Dance night
• Movie night
• Drumming circles
• Health Center

Some new Envisioning:

 

• Radical conservation
• Harmonious Living
• Planting Resilient Seeds
• Holding a Deep Retreat
• Watching the World Pass by Momentarily
• Creating a Hopeful Future
  

 

What would you like?  We can work together to create something.  Remember, life unfolds and so do communities.

Thank you for reading

Letters from the Continuus # 3 I Enter Continuus Central

Did I leave you yawning? Merely curious? Or, sleepless with anticipation? I hope curious only for I know that corporeal beings such as yourself need sleep. Imagine not sleeping, not even needing to sleep, or wanting to. I never thought about why we sleep or need to as corporeal creatures when I was one. That thought enters my mind now as I transmit this information. Let me now, though, return to where I left off before. As you recall, I was looking out onto a huge space. I suppose, given the restrictions of the written language, that I will not be able to do the experience justice but this is what we will have to live (?) with.

Before me, for as far as I could see, and farther, stretched a long garden. The path we were on (remember, I was with another participant) meandered through this garden. Near at hand I could see other “people” walking or sitting, sometimes in pairs and sometimes alone. Tall shrubs, hedgerows, and canopy trees were interspersed with grassy plots and benches, some empty, some occupied. Butterflies were flitting and fluttering in a breeze that wafted through. If one word could describe this site, it would be “idyllic.”

On either side of this garden (park? atria? hmm...) the ground sloped up and, running parallel to the garden, were tremendously long buildings. They looked like office buildings and seemed to be about 16 stories tall. From where I was standing, the path branched with left and right pathways curving around to these buildings. I looked up and saw what I would expect to see; blue sky with puffy white clouds scudding across. Each path had a sign next to it; on the left signpost I read “Offices”, center was “Engagement,” and right read “Tellers”. The whole area was brightly lit but from whence came the light, I could not tell.

The other participant was standing next to me and hadn't spoken a word since his brief greeting. He spoke again, here, briefly.

“Welcome to Continuus Central. You may register here, manage your account, and meet other participants to initiate game unions. Registrations are done in the offices. We must find a Banker to get you started.”

He started off again, this time to the left, toward the office. We walked along the upper path and came abreast a wall. The wall towered the 16 floors above me and had windows on most of that side. There were doors periodically interspersed along the first floor and we walked to one that was without description and entered it.

You must understand; I am describing everything as being quite normal. Doors, windows, paths, gardens, and tellers, etc. Remember, though, that this was no walk in the park. The most surrealistic aspect to this place was its reality. I cannot express in words what this is like. To be wrenched from all normalcy, thrust into darkness and then, through inexplicable means, taken to a place so normal? I don't know the basis for psychology, whether it is mind or chemistry or something beyond these concepts, but my psychology was being battered from right and left through the experience.

What awaited me beyond the door was again quite out of the ordinary for its expectancy. I fear, though, that its description and my experiences there must await the next letter in answer to you curiosity.

For now,

In Spirit and Matter,

CP

Letter # 2  I meet another Participant

..I'm back, ready to describe this unworldly experience I find myself in. I hope I have painted a clear enough picture for you. Just imagine. No sense of self. Complete darkness. Without an external reference, where must the mind wander to. Flights of fancy become commonplace. Chaos.

 

Nevertheless, as I continued to assert my imagination, the forms and visions that arose became more orderly, organized. Clarity of thought increased. There is an underlying force of order to things, it would seem, in all universes. I don't know if it is a force of mind or of energy, but the effect it had on me was undeniable. Because I had the ability, I started to organize the space around “me” into something recognizable. I was quite satisfied with creating small forms at first. That thought culminated in creation of a small tropical island with a small amount of ocean around it. Lack of further clarity resulted in the appearance and disappearance of detail. Palm trees, grass huts, seagulls, appearing out of thin air. Anything larger seemed beyond me. At this point, I met another Participant from the Continuus.

 

A frame formed on the island. From within its confines, A shape emerged and turned out to be humanoid.

 

You may ask yourself at this point, how I knew all this. I have no clear answer. I might even counter with the query, from whence does awareness spring? Is it the result of senses, a result of mind, or something that transcends both of these possibilities. In any case, I know not what the answers might be. You are welcome to make your own conclusions to these inquiries.

 

So, this fellow, of quite average appearance, came up to me, smile on his face, and spoke.

 

    “Welcome to the Continuus,” he said.

 

I spoke not, and in fact, had no way to do so. His lips moved and yet I could swear that we spoke directly to my mind.

 

    “Follow me if you wish,” he continued.

 

Then, he turned, walked through the frame and disappeared. I stood there a moment but as there did not seems any alternative open to me, I followed him through the frame and to what awaited me on the other side...

 

***Formal Entry into the Continuus (and the adventures therein)***

 

I emerged into a long hallway. Long? It seemed to stretch on to infinity. On both sides were doorways placed every few yards. People were walking up and down the hallway in front of me. Me? I looked down. I could see shoes, pants, shirts, and hands. It would seem that I had something corporeal attached to my mind. How did that happen? Powers unknown must have made this possible. There was no way to see my face.

 

I looked out again and noticed something strange. All the people walking, appearing and disappearing, looked the same. Everyone was identical in dress, face, and height. I was going to ask my guide about this but he had turned on his heels and was walking briskly down the hallway to my left (left and right, imagine that?). I hurried to catch up with him and when I did, a frame formed in front of us and we walked through.

 

There were no words I could use to describe, adequately, the sight that met my eyes. Even now, the memory remains engraved in my mind, but it is a memory of vision, not of thought, nor of language. Therefore, I will leave you here to cognate on what words to use and return next time to give you a description of what I found.

 

In spirit and mind,

 

Continuus Participant, (CP)...

Letters from the Continuus #1    How I enter the Continuus

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a participant in what is customarily referred to as “The Continuus.” I have no name and no title other than “participant.” This letter, and others are being written to you for I believe myself to have originated in the place you call Earth in the place you call The Universe. At this point, I must dash the hopes that you may think there is only one universe (a block of space-time). In fact, they are multitude and may even be infinite in number. That being the case, there may be so many Earth's that I may have the wrong one. Even so, I will give you a description of my experiences that there is a record for posterity.

I might have had a life such as you, the reader, except for the intersection of fates. Many of the details remain opaque to me. Here I was, as a happy as any homo sapien, when, in the blink of an eye, my perception is whisked into darkness. My mind is devoid of any form and completely segregated from any notion of reality except itself. I was in fact, disembodied although other scenarios approached my mind when “it” first found itself there. Was I dreaming? Did I unknowingly ingest a drug and start hallucinating? Was I dead. The last did not feel to be the case but how could one know for sure?

In any case, where time is at the behest of the entity in charge, I “floated” for an unknowable length of it. The human mind, though, was meant for thinking and it will do so constantly, even without an environment to do so in. Images floated in “front” of me. Images of loved-ones, of knowledges gained, of people met in travels, peers, personal possessions. They came quickly and departed as fast.

Fortunately, I have something of an organized mind (as most people do if they stop to recognize it) and very “soon” (how soon in infinity?) brought my raging imagination into focus. An environment started to shape itself. It was small at first but grew to where I could perceive it (myself?) as a place. How can one perceive without senses. I do not know, even now, but I can assure you that it did happen. I have heard that life is self-organizing. So it must be for I felt myself organizing into a form. Imagine yourself being a piece of land, a rock, a grain of sand, a multitude of objects, each distinct yet tied to the whole.

Of course, to perceive truly, there must be an exchange of energies, of particles, and of forces. Being a product of reductionist thinking (I struggle against it even now) and trying to transcend those boundaries, I thought it best to organize from the least complex to more complex. I created tiny bits of matter (?) and lumped them together. The process of creation is very exciting yet very complex. Without experience, a mind will stumble a great deal. So it was with me. A lumpy universe was the only way to go for me but how lumpy? And where should the lumps go?

Well, events ran on. I would say also time but who was I to know. At first I was a total klutz at creation. That was to change but it would take much practice. I would have become very discouraged but that is a complex emotion and I hadn't created the means of expressing them.

I could go on and on with my story but I have much else to do and your time is finite. I will therefore leave you with this beginning and the promise of returning to continue the story.

In spirit and infinity,

Continuus Participant

__________________________________________________________

In just over a week I will commence on my travels.  Via either Newark, NJ or Philly, I will make my way to VA.  I am busy disencumbering myself of material possessions that have accrued over the years.  I am also setting up logistics for various parts of my early travels.  These travels will take me to Conferencing in Louisa, VA and Housing Rehab work in KY.  Stay tuned for more details.

I will report more from VA...

...How the road weaves.  VA did not provide a long enough period of time to find a Blog Update Location (BUL).  The conference on intentional community there was adequate but lacking in some respects.  For all that it had decades of experience behind it, my thought was that its organization and implementation could have been more practiced.  Still, the food was good, hob-nobbery was more than adequate, and making potential connections, as always, valuable.

I and my car then made our way, without incident to Jenkins, KY to visit an eco-village start-up.  That turned out to be a red-herring.  With too much drama and an otherworldly feeling to this born-and-bred New Englander with progressive roots.  My decision to move on was made.  But where too?  Admittedly, I did not think to have plan B in place and making such plans while on the road are not always possible.  One cannot visit intentional communities, usually, at the drop of a hat, hood, or balaclava.

With word coming down from the North that my family home had just been sold (after three days on the market, yet!), and my parents struggling to clean out and pack up 47 years of life in a month's time, my path was laid.  Back to Huntington, a month of cleaning out and reformulating, and a quick relocation to Belfast, ME.

So here we are.  I, temporarily, again, in the house of my parents while searching for my path again.  Belfast is a nice community.  Easy to walk to places.  The library is particularly close.  Making "friends" is facilitated by a vibrant progressive community.  While here, I have gotten involved with the Belfast Peace and Social Justice movement, standing out on a street corner on most Sundays with a placard.  I am also involved with the Waldo Community Exchange group where time dollars are used to facilitate service.  I have also found my first job with the Changing Maine Organization.  I am helping to edit their directory.   Check it out.  Its full of valuable info on other organizations doing progressive work in the state.

So, here I am.   I am looking for ZAADZ activity in the Mid-Coast region of Maine, so, if anyone knows of any, please let me know...


... (2/17/08)  As I continue to experience Belfast, ME, I keep coming back to the concept and celebration of LIFE.  Books I've read, events I've participated in, have all had that concept embedded in them.  Where must that concept lead me?  Is it the Great Shift that I can see at the periphery of my vision?  Life is energy made manifest at the edges of chaos and order.  Is energy Life made manifest at the edge of chaos and order?  And where does spirit and soul come into play?  How are spirit, soul, life, and energy connected?  In space?  In time?  In space-time?  Across the void?  For those who have watched Zeitgeist, would you say that we are in the process of discovering Life in a new way or is the Life being squeezed out of us?  Will we respond with an affirmation of Life that was not foreseen by those orchestrating the Zeitgeist?...

...(2/27/08)  I am now planning another foray into the world away from Belfast, another community tour, if you will.  I don't yet know where it will take me.  I am in communication with several people interested in Intentional Community.  My inclination is to do a train trip and depend on the kindness of fellow humans and my own feet for local travel.

In my experience here, another concept has come to mind that I resonate with; veriditas - known in the past as the "greening power of God's spirit" and which I have relanguaged to mean "The Greening Power of Life.  To that end, and because I am curious about the word, I have started a new Group here called "Veriditas" and hopefully I can get people to join in and create its identity....

...(3/28/08)  Dreams have spoken to me of a place out west, a retreat of my making which seems to involve geothermal activity.  I sense, in hope correctly, that it is in a place called Oregon.  I have used Google Earth to try and locate it using that means.  So, "nomadism" calls me to travel out there.  I feel the need to prepare for something like this so am working strenuously on various projects to see their incubation completed.  It feels like a place in which I could plant myself as a seed and blossom.

(Another Blog from MySpace - This is a better place)

This is a play on words.  ERG is the metric dimension of energy and since I am an energy guy this title makes sense.  The universe is full of energy, constantly moving around.  I am using energy to type this blog, energy to view it on the screen, the computer is using energy allowing me to see what I'm doing and to process my inputs.  I'm using about 2.08 watts per minute to do this blog.  That is about average.  It might be a little less since those figures are average over time and include more strenuous activities.  It won't be much less, though, since the brain is the largest user of energy of any organ.

By and large, our use of energy has increased by leaps and bounds over the past 150 years, largely because of an increase in the availability of petroleum.  In the past, we used a lot less.  Now we are using the maximum amount of petroleum energy that we will ever use.  Whether we find another source of energy in as great an abundance as what we have now, that remains to be seen.  In the meantime, get ready for a wild ride to the bottom of the rollercoaster....More later...

...11/25/05   The roller coaster has started.  Hurricane Katrina (how odd to name a swirling mass of air as a person) topped our petroleum prices and with the help of Rita, made mincemeat of our refining capacity and ability to import oil.  This new topology has led to the belief (quite justifiably) that we will go through these boom and bust cycles before the final collapse.  Will Washington be able to keep up with these cycles and keep us stable.  I would like to find a local way to smooth out the ripples while preparing for the final drop...Any ideas?...