Chapter 5
Sources of Energy
Mannan Sheikh was 12 years old when Britain dissolved its Indian Empire on Friday, August 15, 1947. Independence granted to the subcontinent led to immediate, serious—often vicious and irrational—violence. Mannan, a Muslim, vividly remembers the terror, bloodshed, pain, and great destruction as Hindus and Muslims sorted themselves out into two separate countries. Mannan and his family walked from their previous homes in New Delhi, India, to their new place in Karachi, Pakistan.
I asked what they did for fuel along their exit route.
“We scrounged and stole it,” he responded softly. “Those of us who did it best lived the best. We had sticks, grass, camel dung, and some kerosene with which to warm ourselves and our food each morning with all the tens of thousands similarly engaged. It is little wonder governments take such a dim view of refugees, treating them so horribly”
Sources of fuel required to sustain life will certainly be on almost everyone’s list of threes. I cannot imagine a situation where this vital requirement is taken lightly and there will still be survival.
Some city survivors will be located in sufficiently warm places that they will require little. more than a sweater at night and some fuel to cook with and to warm wash water. In many U.S. cities, even at their nastiest time of the winter, survivors will need do little more than put on an extra sweater. In other places in the northern United States and Europe, great quantities of fuel and the means to use it will be essential for city survival.
Rural survivors generally rely on stored sources of energy. Several thousand gallons of fuel oil, large cylinders of LP gas, barrels of gasoline, and piles of coal are common. In many instances these comprise only a year’s to 18 months’ supply Anything more than that must be scrounged up from renewable sources such as a seam of coal in the hill behind the house, firewood, windmills, or even solar energy of one sort or another.
Renewable sources are not as far-fetched nor as impossible for city survivors as one might initially suppose. Storage and renewal of energy in a city is possible for those who plan ahead. Many are doing it right now.
A city survivor in Knoxville, Tennessee, wrote to tell me about the seam of low-grade coal he discovered in a roadcut about a mile from his home. His intention was to stockpile about 30 to 40 burlap bags of purchase coal and then to strip coal from the seam as needed. He said that probably no one else knew about this little “gold mine of energy”
Here is another unique source of fuel for city survivors that readers have written about. A survivor from Minneapolis suggests stockpiling packed compressed and wrapped bales of common peat as sold by garden supply stores. He uses a small cast-iron stove both to cook and to heat his small retreat area in the big city. One 40-pound, 4-cubic-foot bale heated his basement apartment for about 3 weeks, he claims. On that basis, eight bales would just about see him through the cold time. More remarkable, he also found a way to renew his peat supply
An old, now-drained swamp lies to the north of his built-up area. It contains a vein of peat 40 feet deep in many places. During the summer dry time he carefully dug several large trailer loads of wild peat, which he took back to his apartment. Attempts to sundry the material on plastic tarps were only modestly successful, he claims. Still, the material burns, cooks, and heats just fine, but it is very difficult to compact and store, he reports. Also, it is messy. I reminded him that while not perfect, it was an energy source he could live with.
Perhaps the important concept for city survivors involves looking around with a knowing, intelligent eye. Other renewable sources of energy besides miscellaneous sticks, grass, firewood (from parks and arboreta), animal dung, old furniture, garbage, and refuse are out there. Several friends report successfully using dried kernel corn and wheat in pellet-type stoves. Seems like an incredible waste of something that should be eaten. But we never know. How far do you live from grain terminals? The claim is made that no city dweller in Portland, Oregon, lives more than a mile from a grain terminal. Turning dried grains into a flammable energy source takes some additional stove maintenance and operator skill, but it apparently is a feasible plan.
But, back to advanced purchase and fuel storage in a city. History shows that city survivors in the very center of an intensely built-up area may not be able to take advantage of very many renewable sources of energy, and they may not be able to store same with ease. But, they can definitely store some energy for emergency use and there is always the possibility of some scrounging.
Right now, city survivors are unobtrusively laying in bales of peat, tanks and drums of diesel oil, cans of gasoline, and stacks of firewood in the backyard, garage, or against the side of the duplex. Purchase of older, used, steel 250-gallon fuel oil tanks is possible. These are common in places where natural gas lines have recently been laid and homeowners have converted their oil burners. Used fuel oil tanks are still common in junkyards and at heating and plumbing shops. Right now, there are at least six in a building recycler’s yard within 2 miles of my desk. I have purchased many of these used tanks in good, sound condition for $50 each. I set them in the garage, the basement, or along the side of the duplex where I had them filled with oil. After several weeks the out side tanks blended in with their surroundings. No one paid them notice any longer.
The important concept for city survivors is to not to make assumptions. Storage of energy is probably possible and it probably won’t be very high-tech or complicated.
How much to store? The ugliness in India took 2 years to pass. Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War, was besieged for about 8 months, and Berlin was back to some idea of normal after an especially harsh winter season (of about 6 months). Using Berlin as an example in this case is tough. City survivors would have had to act at least 3 years ahead of total collapse.
Most been there, done that folks recommend a 1 year’s supply of energy under storage. Of course, this amount should be supplemented by at least two other independent and separate sources of supply. The Rule of Threes is never suspended.
Knowing how these energy sources will be used at your specific retreat is very important. Many concepts are workable, but not particularly practical or efficient. I looked at an inner city apartment retreat recently. There was a workable fireplace in which fuel could be burned for cooking. Not wise, it seemed. Certainly meals would be prepared, but little to no heating of the room would be accomplished.
USING STOVES AND HEATERS
I advise the purchase of a simple, small, inexpensive cast-iron stove and about 6 feet of vent pipe plus an elbow to run the pipe up the chimney. Total cost, including a fireproof mat to set the stove on, about $450. Without the fireplace, the little stove could have been set in the middle of the room with vent pipe out through a hole cut in a side wall. Larger vent pipes additionally heat the room and cool sufficiently by the time they exit the wall, so they pose little fire danger. Little heating and cooking stoves of this type are a bit tricky to operate, but survivors learn surprisingly fast. The stoves’ additional charm is that they will burn just about anything, even diesel fuel, if set up correctly