Transition Culture has moved
I no longer blog on this site. You can now find me, my general blogs, and the work I am doing researching my forthcoming book on imagination, on my new blog.
Come find me at robhopkins.net
Archive for “Peak Oil” category
Showing results 336 - 340 of 635 for the category: Peak Oil.
22 Jun 2007
Ireland is at the end of a very long pipeline when it comes to the oil on which it has become incredibly dependent. It is now one of the most oil dependent nations in the EU, and its Celtic Tiger boom has hugely increased this dependency in direct relation to how the economy has grown. Peak oil is slowly creeping onto the agenda there, with some good articles in the press recently, and 3 days ago, RTE, the nation’s TV station, ran an hour long documentary called ‘Future Shock’ (which you can watch online here), an excellent and chilling programme which did a great job of putting a mirror up to Ireland to ask where its resilience has gone. Hard to imagine anyone watching this and not feeling decidedly unsettled. Great to see, finally, mainstream national TV giving this issue the profile it urgently needs.
Read more»
20 Jun 2007
This is slightly old hat now, but I haven’t got round to it yet, so here we go. In the light of the recent coverage here of George Monbiot’s recent assertion in Lampeter that the oil peak is sufficiently far enough away for it not to be a cause for concern, and Chris Vernon’s subsequent response which went through each of his points in considerable detail, it was intriguing to read his column in the Guardian a couple of weeks back now. In it, he takes as his starting point the Government’s recent Energy Review and its belief that “the majority (66%) of UK oil demand is derived from demand for transport fuels which is expected to increase modestly over the medium term. George’s question is “OK… powered by what exactly?”, and in the piece he goes back to the various departments making the assertions and looks at what that complacency is based on. It turns out not very much.
Read more»
18 Jun 2007
One of the most exciting initiatives happening as part of Transition Town Totnes is the **Heart and Soul group** who are exploring the psychology of change. Totnes has a relatively high therapist/counsellor per-square-metre ratio compared to other parts of the country, and the H&S group ask the question, “how can the insights from these fields inform and support a community-scale energy descent process?” Their work is fascinating and they are one of the liveliest groups within the TTT umbrella. One of its co-focalisers is Hilary Prentice, and in this article she wrote recently for the Psychotherapists for Social Responsibility’s journal ‘Transformations’, she sets out the nature of the work they are doing.
Read more»
14 Jun 2007
At the recent Inaugural Transition Network Conference at Ruskin Mill in Nailsworth, Phil England of the Low Carbon Show did interviews with some of those present about Transition Initiatives and their thoughts on the day’s proceedings. They included Naresh Giangrande of TTT, Nick Weir of Transition Stroud and pioneer of CSAs and Community Farm Land Trusts, Dr Pamela Gray, Transition Penwith Medicine group co-ordinator and Jo Hamilton from Oxford Climate Exchange. It makes for a very interesting listen, and captures some of the energy and enthusiasm that was so abundant on the day. You can listen to it here.
Read more»
13 Jun 2007
**You and Yours** is a consumer affairs programme on BBC Radio 4, and today it ran a piece about Transition Towns, in particular Transition Town Lewes. You can hear the programme here, but hurry, it will only be there until tomorrow at 3pm. The piece about Lewes was very positive, and featured interviews with, among others, Adrienne Campbell and Keith Ellis singing his oil song accompanied by a ukele! There was then a discussion with James Hartfield of audacity.org who argued that Transition Towns were about a return to the 18th century, and that the white van has been such a great invention that statues should be erected in its honour. A healthy dose of sanity and reality were brought to the proceedings by Jeremy Leggett, who argued that what was happening with Transition Towns is essential and that we no longer have the luxury of inaction. Give it a listen, but don’t wait too long!!
Read more»
Ireland is at the end of a very long pipeline when it comes to the oil on which it has become incredibly dependent. It is now one of the most oil dependent nations in the EU, and its Celtic Tiger boom has hugely increased this dependency in direct relation to how the economy has grown. Peak oil is slowly creeping onto the agenda there, with some good articles in the press recently, and 3 days ago, RTE, the nation’s TV station, ran an hour long documentary called ‘Future Shock’ (which you can watch online here), an excellent and chilling programme which did a great job of putting a mirror up to Ireland to ask where its resilience has gone. Hard to imagine anyone watching this and not feeling decidedly unsettled. Great to see, finally, mainstream national TV giving this issue the profile it urgently needs. 
