OldHorseman wrote:.

Yep. For the vast majority, bicycles are the way to go for independent transportation.

Not for me, of course. But I live out on a farm where horses are a practical thing.

We just need to get all those damned, horrible, dangerous, wasteful automobiles off'n the roads so we can travel safely!


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Page 1 of 8

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IN 1 8 9 8 , DELEGATES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
gathered in New York City for the world’s first international
urban planning conference. One topic dominated the discussion. It was
not housing, land use, economic development, or infrastructure. The
delegates were driven to desperation by horse manure.

The horse was no newcomer on the urban scene. But by the late
1800s, the problem of horse pollution had reached unprecedented
heights. The growth in the horse population was outstripping even the
rapid rise in the number of human city dwellers. American cities were
drowning in horse manure as well as other unpleasant byproducts of
the era’s predominant mode of transportation: urine, flies, congestion,
carcasses, and traffic accidents.Widespread cruelty to horses was a form
of environmental degradation as well.

The situation seemed dire. In 1894, the Times of London estimated
that by 1950 every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in
horse manure. One New York prognosticator of the 1890s concluded
that by 1930 the horse droppings would rise to Manhattan’s third-story
windows. A public health and sanitation crisis of almost unimaginable
dimensions loomed.

And no possible solution could be devised. After all, the horse had
been the dominant mode of transportation for thousands of years.
Horses were absolutely essential for the functioning of the nineteenthcentury
city—for personal transportation, freight haulage, and even
mechanical power. Without horses, cities would quite literally starve.
All efforts to mitigate the problem were proving woefully inadequate.
Stumped by the crisis, the urban planning conference declared its
work fruitless and broke up in three days instead of the scheduled ten.


======================

Eric Morris is a Ph.D. student currently studying transportation at
University of California, Los Angeles (ericmorris3@gmail.com).

From Horse Power
to Horsepower
B Y E R I C M O R R I S I

Earth_Girl wrote:Hey, I wanted to discuss practical solutions to ICE's (or cars, trucks, etc.)

. . . .

Any and all ideas welcome.

OldHorseman wrote:
- But electrics aren't a free ride. Still have to get the power to charge them. Still have to go through a lot of resources to construct them. And most people really could stand to walk/pedal more anyway.

There are over 300 million internal combustion engines on the planet...with Peak Oil, there isn't enough energy to power 300 million combustion -- anythings. No amount of energy will ever match oil

OldHorseman wrote:.


- Horse manure is rather inoffensive stuff, useful, and easily disposed-of. (Horses eat a high-fiber, low protein diet. There waste is nothing like human, dog, or cat.)

- Electric motors really should be employed more. They are more efficient than ICE... Or they would be, if vehicles were designed around them, rather than the usual attempt to jury-rig an electric motor into a machine designed around an ICE. (For instance, there should be no transmission in an electric vehicle.)

- But electrics aren't a free ride. Still have to get the power to charge them. Still have to go through a lot of resources to construct them. And most people really could stand to walk/pedal more anyway.

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