Ely: A Sustainable City

Moved...

2008-08-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

This blog has now moved to the www.transitionely.org website.

It’s the size of the tap...

2008-08-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

It is important to understand that Peak Oil is not about oil 'running out' (which, of course it will do one day, eventually). Rather, as the good folk at the Oil Drum like to put it it: "It’s the size of the tap, not the size of the tank."

Gail Tverberg states the case with clarity and precision:

"On a worldwide basis, the phenomenon of peak oil can be thought of as a crisis in resources needed to produce oil. It’s the size of the tap, not the size of the tank. As we deplete the large, easy-to-produce fields and move to ever-more-difficult fields, it takes more and more oil rigs, more petroleum engineers, and more investment dollars.

Eventually we reach a point where we are out of equipment, out of trained personnel, and the investment cost for expanding production becomes prohibitive. When production begins to drop because of all of these pressures, we reach peak oil'."

I highly recommend reading the full article ' What is Peak Oil?'.

Greener Living Fair, Ely Cathedral, 26 July 2008

2008-06-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

Greener Living Fair
Saturday 26 July, 10am-4pm
Ely Cathedral

How and why we should reduce the carbon footprint of our homes and other buildings?

This event, organised by the Energy Saving Trust in partnership with East Cambs District Council and the Diocesan Environment Committee, will include activities for children and adults on the theme of greener living. There will also be talks and, at one point, a brief service.

It will be an opportunity to explore green products, technologies and services. There will be exhibitors on the Cross Green (adjacent to the Cathedral) including experts and installers in energy efficiency, water, waste, renewable energy, transport, and fair trade.

Apparently you can find out more details and pre-register for the event by phoning the Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512012. Anyone who registers before 20th July will be offered free entry into Ely Cathedral on the day.

The Community Solution

2008-06-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

The Community Solution is an American organisation that addresses many of the problems that we're worried about here -- starting with Peak Oil, but also to do with local issues of food, housing and transportation. How can we reduce our society's dependence on fossil fuels, tackle climate change, and reduce our dependence on unsustainable ways of living? Their solutions are resolutely community-based, their slogan:

"consume less, conserve more, create community"

Their website contains a number of resources, as well as FAQ about Peak Oil, and is well worth visiting.

Peak Oil moving up the agenda?

2008-06-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

(Note: this post has also been published on my personal blog)

Good to see that EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs acknowledging the existence of Peak Oil in his blog. His latest post is worth reading for an insight into some of the thinking taking place in Brussels.

While you're there, take a look at the comments further down the page. One response is from a Doomer, which is interesting only to demonstrate the ridiculous knots these people can tie themselves in. A more considered, and critical, response, is from Euan Mearns, editor of the excellent Oil Drum (Europe).

Also good to discover the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (APPGOPO). I had no idea such a group existed in UK politics!

They have a useful website with MP3s of talks, including one by Rob Hopkins on Transition Towns, well worth downloading from the site. There is also a link to an online petition urging the government to re-evaluate their position on an imminent peak in global oil production.

So...good to see Peak Oil slowly making its way into the mainstream and here's hoping we'll get something in the regional and Ely press soon.

Transition Towns

2008-06-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

A Transition Town: a "community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye".

"The thinking behind [Transition Towns] is simply that a town using much less energy and resources than currently consumed could, if properly planned for and designed, be more resilient, more abundant and more pleasurable that the present.

"Given the likely disruptions ahead resulting from Peak Oil and Climate Change, a resilient community - a community that is self-reliant for the greatest possible number of its needs - will be infinitely better prepared than existing communities with their total dependence on heavily globalised systems for food, energy, transportation, health and housing."

The Transition Initiatives Primer, a document presenting the background to Transition Towns, and information about the process of setting up a Transition Initiative, can be downloaded here.

It presents, in its own words, "a loose set of realworld principles and practices that have been built up over time though experimentation and observation of communities as they drive forward to build local resilience and reduce carbon emissions."

The Power of Community: Film Screening

2008-06-01T01:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 2 July, 7-9pm (film to begin at 7.30pm)

Portal Cafe, 23 Fore Hill, Ely

Entry is free, and refreshments will be available from the cafe.

The Power of Community tells of the hardships faced by the Cuban people after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 and the cutting of oil and food imports to Cuba - and also of the creative and positive solutions that the people found in this time of difficulty. It shows how the Cubans made a transition to a society less dependent on oil, using organic, sustainable and locally-based systems of farming, gardens, and urban design.

This will be an opportunity for Ely residents to meet and discuss positive, local solutions to the global problems of Peak Oil, and also the concept of Transition Towns.