X-Message-Number: 29254
From: "Mark Plus" <>
Subject: Re: Fullercrap
Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 21:31:50 -0800

In Cryonet #29236, Keith Henson writes,

>Correct me if I am wrong, but as I recall the poor Mexicans have been fed 
>on corn shipped south from Iowa in exchange for Mexican oil.

Lately Mexico faces the worst of both worlds: Collapsing domestic oil 
production and risng corn prices. Mexico's Cantarell field, the second or 
third largest in the world, has started to decline at double-digit rates and 
has gotten our southern neighbor's politicians increasingly alarmed:

Mexican leader acts to increase dwindling oil production
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4598957.html

This represents a nontrivial amount of oil, approximately 2 percent of the 
daily world production that can't seem to break through a ceiling of 85 
million barrels a day or so, despite massive investments into extracting 
increasingly difficult oil resources. At this rate of decline, and in the 
absence of enough new supplies from marginal fields with those strange, 
non-Spanish names to take up the slack, Mexico will have to stop oil exports 
to the U.S. in a few years.

I could also point to evidence of a possible collapse in Saudi production, 
but that would require another post.

>>Desperation for the energy to perpetuate human genes also turns on the 
>>warrior program in male human brains, as Keith Henson has pointed out.

>That's not exactly what I said.

>Bleak prospects seen society wide turn up the gain on xenophobic memes.  
>The xenophobic memes eventually synch up the warriors to an attack on 
>neighbors.  Google evolutionary psychology memes war, it's the first link.  
>What is amazing it that the mechanism works from 50 person tribes to
500 million nations.

Thank you for the clarification. I stand corrected.

>There is no lack of energy, just a lack of engineering and investment.  One 
>of the two methods for non-carbon central power, nuclear reactors has an 
>unrecognized potential for abuse.  (Next post)

>The other SEPS (space elevator-power satellites) is an early nanotechnology 
>project that could easily meet all energy requirements for humanity.

Yes, plenty of people have armchair solutions for solving the energy crisis, 
none of which seems ever to get implemented. (Progress porn like Wired and 
Popular Science publish these kinds of fantasies several times a year.) I 
haven't seen a new nuclear power plant go online in the U.S. lately, and 
I've already had to wait 30 years to see an orbital power satellite run as 
much as a terrestrial lightbulb, much less a city. (Talk about a 1970's view 
of "the future"!) Our civilization has entered an era where nobody with 
power and resources wants to solve big problems any more. The ruling elites 
try to ignore them, and nothing gets accomplished until the problems turn 
into huge scandals and embarrassments, like wounded Iraq veteran's 
healthcare. Even then, despite the intial displays of indignation and 
solicitude, the problems usually don't get much better.

I don't offer any solutions. You might as well ask me how to apply 
"engineering" and "investment" to stop a hurricane.

Mark

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