Energy descent

This entry in Rob Hopkin's blog consists of a video message from member of the European Parliament Caroline Lucas who gives a remarkably clear and comprehensive explanation of the coming impact of peak oil and the shocking denial of reality that pervades the corridors of the European Parliament. They have no plans relating to peak oil as "it is only a theory". So, officially, oil will never run out for the EU despite their own economic projections that predict the use of ever increasing quantities. And although we have used maybe a trillion barrels of it in the last 125 years. There is also the awkward fact that oil production in the EU peaked years ago and is not sufficient to meet current demand.

Caroline Lucas also gives a warm tribute to Rob Hopkins of the Transition Town movement, to his new book the Transition Handbook and to Green Books who published it (sorry Triarchy Press gang to promote a rival). Mind you I'm biaised: the first Transition Town in the UK was Totnes which is where I live.

It is getting clearer by the day that peak oil and global warming are vital considerations in any strategy or plan for organisational change. The Transition Town approach takes those two issues as central for the healthy survival of every community and follows their consequences for the neighbourhood to the point where it becomes clear what needs to be done. The principle of "think global, act local" is being put into practice in a coherent, creative and inspiring way. The model is catching on and as a result the network of Transition Towns is growing rapidly. Its success is an excellent example of a clumsy solution since it involves cooperation between different ways of organising. Local government (a way of life based on hierarchy), local businesses (a market-based way of life) and local action groups (a community-spirited way of life) all communicate, collaborate—and doubtless sometimes compete—in following a common direction.

Oil facts (factoils?):

• Global total oil reserves are typically (over-?)stated at something like 1.2 trillion barrels (not including oil sands),
  
• so the easily pumped stuff is about half gone.
  
• By the way, the trillion is a million million or 1,000,000,000,000,
  
• and one barrel of oil is (very nearly) 159 litres,
  
• and there are about 7.33 barrels of oil in one metric tonne.
• Global consumption of oil is nearly 5 cubic kilometers every year which is about 2,000,000 olympic sized swimming pools of the stuff per year or roughly five and a half thousand pools per day.