The Glass Revolution

Today anybody can see that carbon resources have to be shared amongst more and stronger parties. At the same time most people are aware of the arrival of the ‘End of Cheap Oil’. Tar sands oil now makes up more than half of the US supply, it’s a type of fuel that can only be derived from the tar by burning a large part of it. The ‘carbon overhead’ of carbon is increasing. Because we are told money is the key to access anything we fail to see (in sufficient numbers) that money today is used to deny access to raw materials : Don’t create the money (absorb it using the immense ‘debt’) and you won’t have access. This in short means we are facing a raw material crunch, not a credit crunch, and the response to the crunch is delayed as long as we keep bickering over who owes what to whom and why. Money is a means of exchange, you need stuff to exchange, not money.

So in the near future there will be no carbon/oil/coal there may be gas, but considering the climate problem using that gas is suicidal behaviour. As there will be no oil there will be no mining or logistics. Maybe there will be in areas with large coal reserves, or if one makes oil out of coal (besides gas). But there will be little reason to waste it as we do today. How likely is the abundant consumer society if the main reason for it’s existence (cheap and potent liquid fuel) is removed?

So here’s the quandry : How to build renewable installations, anything to counter the ecological degradation, anything to keep humans alive in a carbon depleted society? So many processes depend on carbon, coal, oil, gas because in every step the carbon industry saw an opportnity to replace labour with fuel expenses. Carbon dealers put a margin on everything. Now we need a way to construct and counter the damage on a massive scale. It can’t be done! Say some and look at nuclear, thorium or population reduction (Bill Gates).

The constraints are:

1. No mining (unless  renewable powered)

2. No logistics (unless  renewable powered)

3. No big machines (unless renewable powered) 

4. No plastics, glues or other chemical products

5. Parts and repairs be made where they are used

6. Renewable power sources be made where they are used 

The answer is simple : Glass 

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