The other night, a couple members of our department were kicking around the can, talking about the future of the fire service. One of the topics that came up was the direction that the fire service will need to take when “peak oil” hits.
Ignoring the political debate of peak oil, the hype or underhype of the “end of oil” era, or the global warming debate, one has to admit that there is a finite about of oil on the plant. Be it enough to sustain the world for another one, ten, or one-hundred years, it will eventually run out. It is a finite resource. (Even solar is a finite resource, if you consider that one day the sun will burn out.
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What changes do you see your fire service implementing in the future to meet the rising costs of energy? Are you aware of any manufacturers who are eyeing “green” firefighting?
I personally believe this will be a challenge for the service someday in the future. When you consider the amount of energy it takes to run our apparatus, moving thousands of gallons of water during suppression efforts, it’s obvious that replacing our trucks with Honda Priuses isn’t going to work…
Again, the purpose of this thread is not to debate peak oil or any of the other global warming trends, merely to discuss the fire service’s response to any kind of “energy crunch” in the future.
Ignoring the political debate of peak oil, the hype or underhype of the “end of oil” era, or the global warming debate, one has to admit that there is a finite about of oil on the plant. Be it enough to sustain the world for another one, ten, or one-hundred years, it will eventually run out. It is a finite resource. (Even solar is a finite resource, if you consider that one day the sun will burn out.

What changes do you see your fire service implementing in the future to meet the rising costs of energy? Are you aware of any manufacturers who are eyeing “green” firefighting?
I personally believe this will be a challenge for the service someday in the future. When you consider the amount of energy it takes to run our apparatus, moving thousands of gallons of water during suppression efforts, it’s obvious that replacing our trucks with Honda Priuses isn’t going to work…
Again, the purpose of this thread is not to debate peak oil or any of the other global warming trends, merely to discuss the fire service’s response to any kind of “energy crunch” in the future.
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