Peak Oil and Transition
28 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Transition Tags: peak oil, transition
It seems like the world is running amuck lately and much more so than ever before. With the situation in Libya, the ongoing crisis in Japan, the rioting in London, and Americans becoming more and more disillusioned with their government, somethings got to give. This here entry is inspired by my new friend and fellow activist, Feather, who said this in a recent meeting in Rabun Co. Georgia:
I would like to talk about The Transition Movement. I have been listening to people talk about the situation that this country, and for that matter, the world, seems to be in. I have noticed two things. First, almost everyone agrees that something has got to change, “the system” just doesn’t seem to be working for most of us. Second, is an attitude that “they” should fix it, they being the government or the car companies etc. I really started getting tired of all the talk. I felt that we should be doing something. But where do you start? My research lead me to The Transition Movement. My goal here is to introduce this idea and inspire some folks to work with me to help spread the word and get the ball rolling in Rabun County.
The Transition Movement was initially aimed at dealing with Peak Oil, and as you will see it came to encompass a lot more. Oil production has grown, with a couple brief exceptions, every year since it was discovered. Peak Oil is the point where oil production stops growing and starts declining. Peak Oil is not about running out of oil, it is about running out of cheap oil.Most experts say that oil will peak sometime between 2006 and 2012. The first half of the oil we found was easy to get to, and of high quality. Now it is getting harder to get to the oil and the quality is lower, so yields are less. This means the price of oil will continue to go up. In the 1930′s for every barrels worth of energy we put into finding and refining oil we got over 100 barrels in return. By 1970 it had dropped to 30:1, and is now somewhere between 18:1 and 11:1. We will never be out of oil, but in the next 15 – 20 years it could take more than 1 barrels worth of energy to get a barrel out.
Some of us in Clemson, SC, have begun to talk about Transition Towns and what that would look like for our area. Feather is a bit more ambitious and has started the Tri-State Transition Hub, encompassing NC, GA and SC, in the region where they all touch. Asheville and Hendersonville, SC already have a Transition movement afoot. I was recently re-appointed to the Green Ribbon Committee in Clemson by the mayor and also as a media intern for our group, some of which overlaps with the Transition Town Initiative. More to come on this. In the meantime, check out www.transitionus.org for more information than you could shake a stick at.
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