Sweaty Math

Thinking about Peak Oil is one thing and acting on it is another. In his "Crash Course," Chris Martenson talks about the human labor embedded in one gallon of gasoline.* My chain saw uses about a quart of gas per hour. "Sure," I thought, "I could use a cross-cut saw." The big pine woods of Wisconsin were cleared primarily with axes and cross-cut saws after all. I borrowed a saw from a friend and went to work. Half an hour later, I had cut enough wood for 24 hours of winter stove heat. My chain saw could have cut all of the small log pile with 1 quart of gas. It will take me at least 4 1/2 more hours of hand sawing. If gas cost $20 a gallon, it would still be only $5 for the quart of gas that could cut up all the wood. I'd like to "earn" $10 an hours for sawing. At 5 hours of work, that would be $50. The $5 of gas for my chain saw gets pretty insignificant with this in mind.This is the capitalist way to look at it though.

Another way to look at it is my health and the environment's health. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I drive to the High School and work out with weights. Sawing the wood, I felt parts of my body I am not as familiar with. Half an hour of sawing a day could put me in good shape. It worked many muscles, core, back, arms and even legs. I was breathing hard too so the cardio is covered. It could also put me in the chiropractor's office. Jury is out on this. I'll let you know in the morning. Sawing by hand is very immediate and real. The old adage that heating with wood heats you four times, when you cut it, when you split it, when you bring it to the stove and when you burn it. This wood has already really warmed me. It was quieter and meditative. It's also just plain hard work.

I put a hand pump in the barn this winter to water the animals. It was such a romantic, nostalgic idea. Its also just plain hard work. The horses drink a lot of water. Many more energy savings ideas and I will be in good shape or just tired. Doing these trial runs of energy savings showed the relative value of gasoline to get hard work done.

Saving a trip to the store 30 miles away seems more important when the two gallons of gas saved could cut 40 hours of my labor's worth of wood for heating. I have made a commitment to cut wood each day this week and see how it feels. With gas at only $2 a gallon, it seems foolish but it brings into focus the amazing qualities of gasoline.
*www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse