Ready.
In the aftermath of the hurricane Katrina, I republish, or point at, a few ideas, in context. A few features of the Katrina case, as stressed in the news, prompt the re-publication, as a case study.
A farmaze is for food from a farm afar. For medicine, too. And although I had not published, that was quite obvious to me that, that was good for oil/gasohol, too. At any point, as the food-owner may invoke the recipe of his/her preference, if only there is machinery to run that recipe, the oil-production is the ready case, as there are already the low-volume machinery, at a feasible price for any people, to refine their oil/gasohol from their food from a farmaze.
The fitting extra, in after-Katrina case is that, the USA is the foremost farmer in the world. That would mean, the farming stronghold of the USA, is to remedy the energy-crises, too.
If your family does not want to think gasohol-production, however feasible, then your street may -- with a capacity that is fitting to the local need. Or alternatively, the local oil-pump/station may turn to a market, where those who produce oil/gasohol, get that oil/gasohol rated and sell that there. And next, those who burn oil/gasohol, would buy there.
Without farmaze, I had long ago thought these for a market for electricity. (Another web-page, elsewhere, [had] proposed an UPS-based idea for a need in California. Fitting.) With farmaze, when we all may refine gasohol out of food we raise, from afar, we may extend that energy-market idea to the case of oil/gasohol.
Oops? (Jan.1,2009) A turkish newspaper (Zaman) in 2005 (& 2006, too) ran "biyodizel" related news articles. People report that the biofuel they produced locally, buying crops from the local market, is costing less than (fossil) fuel bought. That is, although in 2001a study by a U.S. agriculture professor is known to find ethanol uneconomical, some have found some niche somewhere, or machinery got better. The fuel-making phase is surely self-sufficient, maybe thanks to more-efficient machinery, by 2005. (For crop cost, there is a likelihood that such inexpensive crops were because of the otherwise-unsold crops, as I had listed that as a problem when agricultural supply is "too-good" -- thus, causing loss/bankruptcies because the market price is below the cost of collecting & transporting, let alone the investment/debt. Farm surplus, is convertible to fuel, through a free-market. Well, then again, if you subsidize the biofuel in turn, that may again twist the free-market that might self-regulate for [somewhat] optimal value, otherwise. This point is well pointed out by commentary at the tail of the ethanol article by K@W, in 2008. But farm subsidies for grains@silos in USA, were there in the U.S. economy textbooks. Not a case specific to ethanol. Public policy.) The remaining issue, that the K@W article lists is that, people may need that corn as food, elsewhere in the world. (Personally, I think, well, yuck!, because that corn is likely to be GMO. A point in a GMO-related article might interest more of the people, though. In his 2001 frankenfood article in Time magazine, BillGates while trying to justify GMO-crops, listed the point that elsewhere in the world, yes there is food, but transporting that to the hungry people is non-trivial, because of the transport [infrastructure] problem. There, we need that fuel again! Air transport fuel, maybe. Maybe some of the donated crops getting converted to biofuel, to carry the rest to the destination.) (That 2005 article in Zaman was quoting that the biyodizel product of one machine (or, crops) was as high quality as airplane fuel. Although the crop-to-fuel machinery may need extra electricity, that is probably available from sun@summer or wind@winter, in the farm, but not probably storable electric in batteries, to fly airplanes. Thus, biofuel niche is there, too.) Besides, the issue of the current page, is the context of how to continue functioning, when struck by catastrophe. That is a short-term supply niche, for biofuel.
In the face of such a major catastrophe, a mere human does recognize he/she is infirm. In the modern world, the two that people think, is to appeal to a big state-mechanism, or to an insurance-corp. I favor another, an infirmaze-fund.
The main idea is to pay the money, only when needed by an infirmazer in your fund -- not as monthly installments of pre-paid insurance, or taxes. There is the human touch, too. That is not only about money. For example, the infirmazer people in your fund for a catastrophe-type, if also to help manually in time of need, they may play a computer-game to get ready, ahead of time, what to do when the catastrophe may strike. Although computer-game varieties, mostly, are reported to appeal to the male-imagination, I hope a rescue-operation game would enlist the mental-energies of the female, too. And when the game suggests you need this or that ability, e.g: first-aid, then also to improve yourself, to keep ready, in the real world.
As a family or a friend would help, an infirmazer is there for help, when needed. In the case of New Orleans evacuation, if your father was there, arranging a vehicle to get him out of there, is probably almost an instinct. An infirmaze is good for an extended range of family- or friend-kind of reach.
I had published about infirmazer for altruism, too. That is, to donate, or to know whom to donate to, when the catastrophe is not there, yet. e.g: Enlist an old, or a poor, to help them -- as in the case of Katrina, the news is that, those who were still in New Orleans, were mainly those who were not able to run.
With an infirmaze, the people are active. The thing is not only "first-run-if-you-are-able-to--and-next-receive-a-cheque-to-cover-the-losses." Even the poor, and probably even the old may help, too. That is what the rescue-game would help notice, ahead of time. When there is a hurricane, the old people in New York City could help, remotely, e.g: to inform or to arrange people-and-vehicle-etc. around and the poor in New Orleans could help the old people in New Orleans, with their muscles.
Then, when the hurricane approaches, and you learn that in New York, you may arrange for your infirmazer-friend to get out of there, too. Pay for the travel, arrange the place to locate, etc. That is mainly the infirmazer plan-ahead case, not at the last-moment, when the catastrophe hits. Each city may have different risk. An infirmaze is fitting to average out risk.