At the prep meeting last night we kicked around the idea of using the 1st Wednesdays at St. Francis for a reading circle/review for the book "When Technology Fails". It is a big book it will take a while to complete, but I think would be of value to long time PPOers and to folks new to peak oil if we start off the meeting with a brief review of the chapter and how it is relevant to Peak Oil.

So, what do you think?

FYI, here is the table of contents.

I An Introduction to Self-Reliance

An uncertain Future, Why This Book, Preindustrial self-sufficiency, Old-Fashioned Self-Reliance and Modern Sustainable Technology

II Present Trends, Possible Futures

Current Trends, Sustainability and Limits to Growth, Oil Reserves, Water and Food, What about the Weather?, Systems Modeling and Systems Response, Trees, Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming, Depletion of the Ozone Layer, Ozone and Plankton, Polar Ice Caps, Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Prophecies, What Can I Do?, Planning for the Future, The “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon”, Effective Action

III Supplies & Preparation

Are You Prepared?, Planning for the Short Term, Short-Term Preparedness Checklist, 72-Hour Survival Kits, First Aid Kits, Earthquake Precautions, Longer-Term Planning and Storage, Basic Supplies and Portable Equipment, Calculating a Year’s Food Supply, Storage Tips, Dry ice Fumigation and Vacuum Packaging, Shelf Life Guide, Tents, Clothing, Sleeping Bags, Insulating Sleeping Mats, Backpacks, Stoves, Cookware, Footgear, Planning for the Long-Term Future

IV Emergency Measures for Survival

Survival Strategies, Basic Strategies, Compact Survival Kit, Developing a Survivor Personality, Typical Survivor Personality Traits, Intuition: A Survivor’s Powerful Ally, Water Requirements, Dehydration, Conserving Water, Fire, Starting a Fire with Matches, Starting a Fire with Flint and Steel, Starting a Fire with Bow and Drill, Starting a Fire with a Hand Drill, Starting a Fire with a Fire Plough, Food, Basic Guidelines, Plants, Insects, Grubs, and Worms, Shelter, Squirrel’s Nest, Building on Fallen Trunks and Trees, • Scout Pits and Coal Beds, Snow Shelters, Emergency Snow Shoes, Cordage, Recommended Plant Fibers, Fiber Test, Preparing Fibers, Spinning Fibers into Cord, Simple Tools, Discoidal Stone Knives, Bone Tools

V Water

Water Requirements, Stocking Up for Emergencies, Guidelines for Coping with Disaster, Water Pollution, Types of Contamination, Disinfecting Your Water, Heat Sterilization, Portable Water Filters, My Filter Recommendations, Chemical Sterilization, Preserving Water, Using Silver to Preserve Water, Treating and Finding Water the Low-Tech Way, Wells, Modern Water Treatment, Chlorine Treatment, Ozone Treatment, Activated Carbon Filtration, Reverse Osmosis, Distillation,

VI Food: Growing, Foraging, Hunting & Storing

World Population and Food Supply, Agricultural Productivity, Irrigation Gains and Losses, Soil Health and Soil Losses, Sustainable Agriculture, “Grow Biointensive”, Double-Dug, Raised Beds, Intensive Planting, Composting, Companion Planting, Seed Propagation, Pest Control, Extending the Harvest in Cold Climates, Sprouting: Your Own Mini-garden on a Windowsill, Foraging for Food, Brief Guide to Wild Edible Plants, Poisonous Plants to Avoid, Preserving and Storing Food, Root Cellars and Other Cold Storage, Drying and Smoking Food, Preserving Meat, Dairy, Tofu, and Tempeh, Making Butter, Ghee, Yogurt, Cheese, Making Rennet for Cheese, Raising Animals, Hunting and Trapping, Bow and Arrow, Traps, Skinning and Cleaning, Fishing, Angling, Catching Fish by Hand, Spearing Fish, Fishing with Nets

VII Shelter and Buildings

Green Buildings, Rammed Earth, The Process, Basic Soil Test, Rammed Earth Forms, Wall Systems, Modern Adobe Methods, Adobe Blocks, Adobe Walls, Adobe Roofs, Cast Earth, Straw Bale Buildings, Load-Bearing Straw Bale Construction, Finishing Straw Bale Walls, Building with Insulated Concrete Forms, Pumice-Crete, Passive Solar Design, Passive Solar “Rules of Thumb”, Patented Solar Slab , Traditional Low-Tech Structures, Log Cabins, Timber Frame Construction, Tipis,Yurts, Wickiups, and Wigwams, Earthquake Resistance, Improving Earthquake Resistance

VIII First Aid

Initial Evaluation, Survey the Scene, Consent and Liability, ABCs of First Aid, Treatment Priority, Unconscious Victim, CPR, Survey for In juries and Control Bleeding, Pressure Points, Tourniquets, Wounds, Abrasions, Incisions, Puncture Wounds, Abdominal Wounds, Head Wounds, Chest Wounds, Choking, Heimlich Maneuver, Bandages and Dressings, Shock, Symptoms, Treatment for Shock, Fractures and Dislocations, Treating Fractures, Reducing Dislocations, Sprains and Strains, Animal Bites, Snake Bites, Spider Bites, Tick Bites, Stings, First Aid for Foreign Object in Eye, Moving Injured People, Clothing Drag for Single Rescuer, Multi-Helper “Stretcher” Rescue, One- and Two-Person Carries, Emergency Childbirth, Signs of Impending Delivery, Stages of Labor, Emergency Childbirth Supplies, Delivery, After Delivery

IX Low-Tech Medicine and Healing

The Holistic Health Movement, The Low-Tech Medicine Cabinet, The Essence of Healing, Genetics and Cellular Growth, Body Energy, Colloidal Silver, Healing with Herbs, Types of Herbal Preparations, Powerful Herbal Combinations for Better Health, Dr. Clark’s Herbal Parasite Cleanse, Kidney Cleanse, Liver Cleanse, Detoxification, Naturopathic Healing, Fasting, Supplements and Food, Homeopathy, Healing with Energy, Shamanic Healing, Hypnosis for Pain Control and Healing, Visualization and Mind- Body Healing, Mending Broken Bones, Egyptian Healing Visualization, Some Notes on Death and Dying

X Clothing & Textiles

Fiber Arts, Preparing Fibers, Spinning, Weaving, Knitting and Crocheting, Furs and Skins, Brain Tanning Buckskin, Dealing with Furs, Bark Tanning Leather, Patterns and Custom-Tailored Clothing, Footwear

XI Energy, Heat & Power

Shifting to Renewable Energy (RE), Why Renewable Energy?, Energy Conservation, “Negawatts” and RE, Net Metering, AC Versus DC, Batteries, Backup Generators, System Sizing, Photovoltaics, Insolation, Panel Orientation, Maximum Power Point Trackers, Wind Energy, Micro-Hydropower, Solar Hot

Water, Solar Space Heating, Solar Water Pumping, Steam Energy, Fuel Cells, Heating with Wood, Energy, Power, and Electricity Primer

XII Metal Working

A Brief Introduction to Metals, Casting Metal, Make Your Own Sand Casting Furnace, Forging, Low-Tech Heat Treating

XIII Utensils & Storage

Making a Simple Wooden Cup or Bowl, Basket Basics, Growing, Curing, Cleaning and Sealing Gourds , Storing Fluids in Skins and Other Animal Parts, Primitive Pottery, Pinch, Coil and Slab Pottery• Throwing Pottery on the Wheel

XIV Better Living through Low-Tech Chemistry

Soapy Plants, Lye Soap, Making Candles, Alcohol, Malt and Mash Fermentation, Distillation, Vinegar, Pitch Glue, Hide Glue, Vegetable Oils

XV Engineering, Machines & Materials

Forces and Statics, Stress and Strength, Fluids, Materials, Mathematics, Trigonometry, Logarithms