A Crude Awakening

What does this mean to you and me? To be honest when I was invited to hear speakers on the topic of 'Peak Oil' I wasn't totally sure what it was all about or how it would affect my day to day life. Oil, along with natural gas and coal are classed as non renewable sources and as we continue to consume huge quantities, new sources are becoming harder to find and generally speaking, field sizes are declining or increasingly difficult to mine.

So what is 'Peak Oil?'

'A moment when Global production reaches its maximum and starts to decline'
The US peaked in 1970 and since then more strategies, more exploration and new technologies have been used to extract more oil and this has worked to some extent, but is only a temporary measure. UK oil depletion is a fact of life, the North Sea peaked in 1999 and over the last 8-9 years production has declined by 50%.

So why does Global Production Fall?

'Global production falls when loss of output from countries in decline exceeds gains in output from those that are expanding' Chris Skrebowski, Editor Petroleum Review. Countries like the US and UK rely on the export market and over the last few years, those countries who have exported their surplus oil, have increased their income, expanded their own economies, used more energy and in doing so increased their own domestic consumption. This of course means that available exports could decline much faster than once thought, some say by 2020-2025.

So what would a world look like without oil?

While most of the general public is unaware that if we continue our excessive consumption, this could happen in our life-time, a number of forward thinkers are planning a life without oil by setting up Transition Towns.

What is a transition Town?

A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question:

'For all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?'

In 2006 Rob Hopkins started the first Transition town in Totnes, since then there are over 78 towns in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and US with another 700 in communication. Lewes was the 6th Transition Town, Forest Row the 12th and Mayfield the 13th and now the latest town to add to the growing list is Tunbridge Wells.

The idea of a Transition town is to work together as a community building on the strengths and talents of the individuals to find solutions and ideas to make our lives more sustainable. Taking responsibility to do something now rather that wait for the government to make a decision on the best course of action.

The simplest way to start, is by actively recycling, conserving energy, buying locally, car sharing, walking and cycling. Those that are interested in contributing further are encouraged to form support groups in the area they are interested in, this could be growing food in allotments, teaching people how to maintain and repair bikes, finding suitable unused building for community projects, organise car sharing, fund raising, renewable energy, rain harvesting etc. In Lewes they are even in the process of launching their own currency, the Lewes pound, to assist the local economy.

So life without oil, it appears is not all doom and gloom, it gives us the opportunity to be creative, get to know our neighbours and reconnect with the area in which we live.
We may not truly know the impact that fossil fuel depletion will have on our lives or when it will happen but at least our communities will be prepared and who knows we may discover a better way to live.

For information visit www.transitiontowns.org