Comments on: Surviving a Grid-down Disaster – Part 1

By: Will Orr

Will Orr — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 18:37:47 +0000

Well done article Jonathan – Inevitably this will happen in my opinion, which is why I’m a huge fan of Earthship houses. They aren’t the perfect solution (nothing is) because the solar systems wouldn’t work, but at least they have cisterns that catch water from the roof, and use the shower water for flushing toilets, and they treat their own sewage. I’m writing an ongoing comic series about this, which is how I got into the topic and found Earthship houses. It would be nice if most people could transition off the grid so that we aren’t SO fucked when this eventually does happen. The internet has basically been “on” for 30 years. But if it was off for even a week, our economy would nosedive.

By: MDD

MDD — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 20:42:08 +0000

In a true grid down situation, who is going to have any money anyway? So many transactions are by Debt Card and Credit Card today. The stores won’t be able to process those payments. Are stores going to take checks if they have no way to tell when or if the banks will ever open? So desperate people will resort to looting. Dangerous times because Government, Military and police forces will lack resources and the man power to be effective. Certainly, within a couple of weeks those still living will become well acquainted with death, starvation, desperation, fear, and lawlessness.

By: Mic Roland

Mic Roland — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 12:22:24 +0000

Jonathan,
I think you’re quite right that a grid collapse would cause just about every other part of our modern ‘just-in-time’ system to collapse too. The fuel industry also relies on electric power too (pumping, refining, distribution, etc.). Imagine that fuel production stops too. No trucks carrying anything. No new fuel for your generator.

Anything big enough to cause a large scale grid collapse would not be quickly fixed. If the system goes down for long enough (a few months?) it may not come back quickly. Stored water and food will only last so long. The challenge would then be finding/making renewable sources of resupply.

Renewable food becomes a “long game.” There would not be a quick fix. Crops take a full season to mature.

A large-scale grid collapse would mean a life of manual labor and very local in scope. I put a lot of thought into what such a world would be like as I wrote my grid-down fiction series. Being able to adapt to the new conditions would be the key to surviving. Waiting for the old system to come back would not last long.

take care,
— Mic