1 Dec 2005
It is becoming clear to me that one of the important elements of the response to peak oil is a relocalisation of the energy grid. Most of the current scenarios about energy for the UK, including those that have prompted the Government’s revival of the nuclear option, are based on a National Grid (and also on maintaining current levels of consumption rather than attempting to rein in our out-of-control consumer culture, but that’s a subject for a later post…). I have yet to see figures for the national implications of a localised energy scenario rather than the National Grid. It would be interesting to see how much it would reduce demand. Very little research exists as to the feasibility of localised grids. **FEASTA** in Dublin have produced a very useful document, the ENLIVEN Report, looking at some of the real nitty gritty of applying this concept to actual settlements.
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24 Nov 2005
**The Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan** is now available on this site as a pdf. file. This plan was produced at Kinsale FEC by myself and the college’s second year students, and was, as far as we know, the first attempt by a community to design an intentionally designed way down from the oil peak. You can read more about how it was carried out in the article called **”Designing Energy Descent Pathways”** in the Articles section on this site. We printed 500 copies, and they are already very scarce.
We heard the other day that the Action Plan has been awarded Cork Environmental Forum’s prestigious **Roll of Honour Award** for 2005. It is wonderful for the Plan and for the town of Kinsale to be recognised
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21 Nov 2005
I want to draw your attention to the excellent and deeply important work that has been undertaken by Richard Douthwaite of FEASTA and Phoebe Bright of VividLogic under the banner Energy Scenarios Ireland. They looked at how peak oil would affect Ireland through the examination of four scenarios, Business as Usual, Enlightened Transition, Localisation and Fair Shares.
In essence, under the Business As Usual scenario, oil continues
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16 Nov 2005
The Cultivate Centre in Dublin is the sustainability centre that all others should aspire to. It grew out of the pioneering work of Davie Philip and Caoimhim Woods who set up the Low Impact Co-operative way back in 1996 (if my memory serves me correctly) organising the first Sustainable Earth Fair in Dublin. Since then it has grown and grown, with more and more events of a higher and higher profile, publications and now a wonderful urban sustainability centre right in the heart of Dublin.
Drawing in the leading speakers from all over the world to a series of timely and powerful conferences and seminars, they have done much to put sustainability on the map in Ireland. As well as their events programme, they also run a shop, an urban garden, a series of outreach courses at another venue in Dublin, and a very useful website. They also produce occasional publications of the highest quality, which are both accessible and informative. Their latest, entitled “Optimising Energy Use – powering down in response to peak oil and global warming”, is excellent.
Featuring articles by Colin Campbell, Torbjorn Lahti, Graham Strouts, David Fleming, Richard Douthwaite, Patrick Holford and myself, among others, it gives a very clear overview of the challenge of peak oil but also of the possibilities that follow from it. It is beautifully designed and a joy to behold altogether. To order a copy click here
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11 Nov 2005
You know how it sometimes when you read something and it sums up so neatly something that you have been thinking for ages but not quite been able to articulate? Well, on the train on my way home tonight I read something like that, and it was very powerful. I first read articles by Tom Atlee in Permaculture Activist magazine a couple of years ago, and found them very useful. Tom runs the Co-Intelligence Institute, and does wonderful work looking at the ‘heart’ side of social change work. On his website you will find a treasure trove of articles and insights into his work. This article is a letter he wrote to a friend, and is titled “Crisis Fatigue and the Co-Creation of Positive Possibilities”. You can read the full article here. Here is a section from it that I found particularly relevant to Energy Descent Planning work.
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It is becoming clear to me that one of the important elements of the response to peak oil is a relocalisation of the energy grid. Most of the current scenarios about energy for the UK, including those that have prompted the Government’s revival of the nuclear option, are based on a National Grid (and also on maintaining current levels of consumption rather than attempting to rein in our out-of-control consumer culture, but that’s a subject for a later post…). I have yet to see figures for the national implications of a localised energy scenario rather than the National Grid. It would be interesting to see how much it would reduce demand. Very little research exists as to the feasibility of localised grids. **FEASTA** in Dublin have produced a very useful document, the ENLIVEN Report, looking at some of the real nitty gritty of applying this concept to actual settlements.
