Oh yeah, and will civilization as we know it come to a screeching, agonized halt anytime soon?

No, no and no. Well, regarding that last one, certainly not because of Peak Oil.

But, mightn't there be hard times ahead? Well, yeah. Always and ever. But their exact nature is sometimes difficult to ascertain. As Doris reminds us, the future's not ours to see.

Still, we can't not try to see, it's simply not in our nature. We long for certainty and security, and so, though always mindful of the difficulties involved, we persist in giving it our best shot. Here's mine.

If "Peak Oil" and its aftermath cause societal disruption, it may be a painful and prolonged time, but it won't be forever. Civilization will not be destroyed and we won't all have to live like Wendell Berry, for which I am duly grateful.

Matter of fact, I'm downright optimistic. I see lots of countervailing developments that look very promising indeed. I thought it might be pleasant to check out a few of them today.

First up, inexhaustible supplies of fresh water. If Aubrey de Grey is successful, there may someday be a great many more of us cluttering up the planet and we'll all be wanting the odd drink of water now and again. It would be nice if we didn't have to go to war to get it. The best way to ensure that is to develop cheap, clean, widely distributed desalination technology.

Currently, desalination is (relatively speaking) neither cheap nor clean. Reverse osmosis filters require pressurized water to work. Typically, that pressure is delivered by electric pumps, which in turn are powered by fossil fuel burning generators. So your desalinated water not only dings your wallet but smogs up your local atmosphere (disregard if you're using atomic or renewable power, which you probably aren't). It would be nice to do better, and I believe we will.

I stumbled across this project over at World Changing. To be honest, it caught my eye because it's Australian. Has anyone else noticed that Australia seems to be undergoing an encouraging outburst of technical innovation? Desalination seems like a natural for them, as do those solar energy spheres I mentioned last year. But what about that souped up new ion drive with ten times the fuel economy? It was built by Europeans, but designed in Oz. It seems as though the stodgy but loveable Australia I thought I knew is beginning to mutate into something unpredictably wonderful. Fun things are happening down there. Ion drives? In Australia?

The Energetech device struck me as being hopelessly nifty...

Two Australian companies are claiming they can turn ocean waves into drinking water at very little cost, thanks to a combination of their technologies.

Energetech's initial aim was to generate cheap electricity using wave power but it realised that in teaming up with desalination specialist H2AU it could use the same power to produce potable water at a low cost...

Most desalination installations use electricity to create the pressure needed...but the two Sydney-based, privately owned companies' combined technologies use wave pressure directly to power a reverse osmosis desalination plant.

This unusual project avoids the multiple energy losses in converting wave energy to electricity before using the electricity to drive pressure pump...

The prototype is being tested offshore at Port Kembla, south of Sydney, and indications are that it will deliver electricity at a price competitive with coal-fired power...

Well, that was just the beginning for me. One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was learning more than I ever wanted to about the wonderful world of marine hydrokinetic power. Now, I'm passing that learning on to you the customer.

What surprised me initially was the sheer number of these projects. When I think alternative energy, I think sun and wind. But waves? Never heard of it.

Advocates point out that waves are simply a naturally concentrated form of wind power, which is in turn a product of the sun. They also point out that waves keep crashing, even on overcast days. You don't necessarily need a windy day either. Some swells are generated far, far away but keep on rolling till they reach our shores, regardless of local weather.

At any rate, the last few decades have seen a multiplicity of projects attempt to tap this energy in an economical manner.

Japan's Mighty Whale.

Scotland's Pelamis.

The Danish Wave Dragon. Note its resemblance to a Son'a battleship.

Its collector blade is similar to the Energetech device's, but instead of feeding an oscillating water column, the focused and concentrated wave climbs a curving ramp, overtops the device and fills a low head reservoir. That makes Wave Dragon a form of floating TAPCHAN. From the reservoir the water is released vertically back to the sea, through several sturdy and durable turbines. End result? Electricity, cabled ashore.

End of part I. Part II will be along real soon now.