1 Jul 2008
Sometimes I pass things so ridiculous I have to go back again for a second look. The other day I was near Paignton, and I passed a zebra crossing and its attendant Belisha beacons (see right). Interesting fact for the day (or quite possibly not), Belisha beacons are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), the Minister of Transport who introduced them in the 1930s. The idea of Belisha beacons is straightforward, a black and white stripey pole with a yellow flashing globe on top which shows people where to cross the road. The yellow flashing light has long been considered adequate in attracting attention and which in turn insinuates where the stripey pole is to be found (if anyone should be interested). This Belisha beacon near Paignton had come up with an ingenious, energy-wasting way of solving a problem that I never knew existed, lighting the pole up from within!
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24 Jun 2008
Here is an article from one of our local newspapers published last Friday, which takes a Transition-tinged look at the current oil crisis.
Why Oil Crisis Could be Trigger for a Better Future. Western Morning News. 20th June 2008
Crude oil prices trading at a record 140 a barrel. Truck driver strikes leading to panic buying at petrol stations across the country. Saudi Arabia promising to pump more oil after desperate calls from world leaders. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the global economy’s third oil price shock.
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13 Jun 2008
As the UK’s energy crisis unfolds, the first places where an energy famine starts to hurt are becoming clear. The rural poor, those whose livelihoods depends on it and those living in those places designed on the assumption that cheap oil will be here forever, although its impact is starting to be felt across the board. On the train the other day I overheard a woman asking those around her if they took the train often. They replied they did, and she said it was her first time, she always drove, but last week she had sat down and worked out that it was cheaper to go on the train than to drive. More and more stories like this emerge every day as the scale of the credit crunch/recession/peak energy shock begins to sink in.
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11 Jun 2008
I have to confess I had never really thought about this before. I strive to be mindful in daily life of not using more heated water than I need to, to keep energy bills and CO2 emissions down, and also of not wasting cold water, particularly for watering the garden, due to its being a precious resource. However, I had never really considered the carbon implications of the water that emerges from our taps.
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29 May 2008
At a time when it is entirely self-evident to anyone who takes an interest in these things that the Age of Cheap Oil is over, that the world is about to enter an unprecedented energy transition and that we are led by people with no idea what to do about it, I was intrigued to be given a clipping from the Daily Star which somehow embodies the depths of denial at work out there in the world. Accompanied by a wonderful, Viz-like image of a spaceman taking a stroll outside a Premier Inn on the lunar surface with the Earth in the background (see left), the article runs as follows. You’re going to enjoy this…
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Sometimes I pass things so ridiculous I have to go back again for a second look. The other day I was near Paignton, and I passed a zebra crossing and its attendant Belisha beacons (see right). Interesting fact for the day (or quite possibly not), Belisha beacons are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), the Minister of Transport who introduced them in the 1930s. The idea of Belisha beacons is straightforward, a black and white stripey pole with a yellow flashing globe on top which shows people where to cross the road. The yellow flashing light has long been considered adequate in attracting attention and which in turn insinuates where the stripey pole is to be found (if anyone should be interested). This Belisha beacon near Paignton had come up with an ingenious, energy-wasting way of solving a problem that I never knew existed, lighting the pole up from within!
