Letter Re: Storing Ethanol Blend Gasoline?

Jim, Here in the DC area the gasoline supplies are by law blended with (I think) 15% ethanol. I’m familiar with the requirements for storing standard gasoline, but have no idea if the ethanol blend poses any problems for long term storage. Do you have any advice or knowledge that you can share with your readers on this? – Shawnee JWR Replies: Sorry, but that goes beyond my expertise. Perhaps some of the blog readers would care to comment.




Letter Re: Australian Podcast on Peak Oil

Jim, There’s an excellent, very recent Peak Oil multi-part podcast at the Australian ABC site listed below. I found it informative, and also a good way to brake the news to my wife. She’s a type A personality that works ALL the time, but she doesn’t particularly keep up with world events. (Yes, it’s my fault. I should’ve brought her into the fold long ago.) It brought her to tears. Now I feel bad because I didn’t expect that…but, it had to be done. Since she’s a survivor, and smarter than I am, it’ll be good to have her help …




Thinking the Unthinkable, By Norman Church

Editor’s Note: The following lengthy speech was given at the “Peak Speak 2” Peak Oil conference, held on July 15, 2006 at Bedzed, Wallington, UK. Introduction Oil depletion is just the first of a series of resource crisis humanity is about to face because there are just too many of us! This century we will face peak resources, period. There are many fascinating and exciting renewable energy developments. Wind turbines, solar energy, geothermal, biomass, wave and tidal power schemes which are all important energy sources for the future – and could at least help keep the electricity grid going to …




Letter Re: James Kunstler at Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

Jim, As a regular reader of Survival Blog, I thought others might like a “field trip” report from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s (MREA) Energy Fair held this past weekend. This is an annual event hosted in central Wisconsin and it has had a growing number of attendees; last year’s fair drew over 10,000 and this year it was expected to draw ~17,000 people over its three days. In my mingling, I encountered people who had traveled from as far as New mexico, southern Oklahoma, Kansas, and many from Wisconsin and bordering states. The fair is a collection of vendors, …




Letter Re: Salt Blocks and Free Firewood

Mr. Rawles: I wanted to say what a great and informative site you have, I just recently found it, and have started reading the archives. I haven’t read much but I haven’t seen anything on putting out salt or trace mineral blocks to attract deer. I think it would be helpful to have several on hand.Ours is in the pasture behind the house and many mornings we could have shot from the deck. I think it’s a good idea to put them out now so the deer will have established a routine of visiting them. Also concerning firewood, my husband …




Letter Re: Do-it-Yourself Ethanol Stills

James, Check out this link: http://www.dogwoodenergy.com/. It’s for a company that manufactures stills for producing ethanol. Ethanol can be used for use as a diesel fuel extender. The downside is that the still must be registered with the BATFE, including the street address and the location [of the still] on the property. As an aside on diesel fuel: I worked for an earthmoving company in Florida and they maintained diesel fuel tanks on the premises. One of the problems they had with diesel that they didn’t have with gasoline was that bacteria would grow in diesel and clog the filters. …




Letter Re: Untapped North American Oil Reserves are Providential

Jim: Regarding US dependence on oil, and all of our concerns about it, I have done a little research on it.  My conclusion is that the liberals inadvertently saved us some reserves by blocking the removal of oil in some of our largest reserves; the US also has 77 percent of the world’s oil shale reserve.  This along with the reserves in Canada (the second largest oil reserve in the world) should put the US in good field position for years to come. See:   http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=17270 http://www.news10.net/video/player2.aspx?aid=27196 http://home.earthlink.net/~oilandyou/ http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872964.html If there is a collapse it won’t be based on the lack of this natural resource.  I …




Letter Re: Source for Reflux Still Building Plans

Sir: In the letter titled “Stocking up on Copper Tubing/Pipe”, the writer mentioned wanting to build a still. For those interested, here is an excellent step-by-step guide to building a reflux still: http://designer-drugs.com/pte/12.162.180.114/dcd/pdf/still.pdf I would be interested in hearing of any potential uses for a still other than making alcoholic drinks. I don’t use alcohol or any other drugs, but I am fascinated by the reflux distillation process and its potential uses [for fuel, disinfectant, chemical/formulary processes, et cetera] following a collapse. <>< – Stephen




Letter Re: The Importance of Firewood or Coal Storage

James: My brother in law in New York uses a coal pot belly stove to help keep his heating bills down. He usually buys a ton of coal in june of every year and stores it in his garage in a coal bin that he built. He buys it in June because the price of coal in cheaper in June, imagine that. As for storing a three year supply of coal, why couldn’t someone dig a trench, fill it with coal and then put something like two inches of dirt on top of it. It’s not like the coal will …







The Importance of Firewood or Coal Storage

I cannot over-emphasize the importance of having a large supply of fuel for home heating on hand. Ask anyone that has ever been through an ice storm in the northeast. Big ones happen  on average once per decade. These can be really nasty, knocking down hundreds of power lines, inducing power outages that can last for weeks. Those that heat their homes with natural gas, propane, or home heating oil furnaces find themselves out of luck when the power grid goes down. Even if they can keep their heater’s main burner on, there is no electricity to run the circulating …




Letter Re: How to Find Ethanol Compatible Vehicles

James: I enjoy your blog and its part of my daily reading. I have a 2004 GMC Yukon XL that is a flexible fuel vehicle. We recently had a station start selling E85. This last fill up was at $1.66 per gallon versus the $2.08 of unleaded. Nice savings even with the station being a little out of the way. You can go to several of the ethanol web sites and many have complete list of vehicles that can handle E85. Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas. – "SEMO"




Letter from “Hawgtax” Re: New Years Resolutions

Merry Christmas All, As 2005 draws to a close, I look back and ask myself “Am I better prepared than I was at this time last year?” Quite honestly, a lot of what I accomplished was attributable to “SurvivalBlog.com”. A fine bunch of folks who trade practical information. Anyway, here’s what I did/added during 2005: 1. Installed a wood burning stove in the house. 2. Insulated and dry walled the outbuilding which functions as reloading area, ammunition storage and shop. A separate room within a room provides climate controlled food storage area. (8 below zero this morning outdoors, but in …




Letter Re: Guidelines on Storage of Various Supplies?

Sir: I would like to know:  Some things should be stored at “0” degrees. Other things at “70” degrees. Some can tolerate light, some requires dark.(Some medicines, batteries, et cetera.) Anything you could mention would help on this subject. THANKS, VERY MUCH. Survival Minded, – Brother Slim JWR Replies:  I see a FAQ coming!  I’m sure that a number of SurvivalBlog readers will have a lot to add to this (and please do!), but here is a list of guidelines, for starters: 1.) Gardening seed should be stored in the dark, above freezing, in low humidity. The refrigerator is ideal. …




Letter Re: Aviation Gasoline (100LL) and JP4 as Alternative Fuels

Jim: It should be pointed out that AVGAS should NEVER be used in a car or truck engine or for that matter anything powered by similar engines. This fuel will destroy an automobile engine in short order. Will also clog the catalytic converter as your other writer stated. I only recommend getting Jet-A [JP4–to be used in lieu of water clear kerosene] from an airport, not 100LL [100 octane leaded "avgas"]. Get yourself a battery operated pump or hand pump for this purpose and allow a stand off of at least 4 to six inches [distancing the pump drawing inlet …