Wednesday, 18 February 2009

dealing with peak oil - part 1

We watched the DVD "How Cuba survived peak oil - the power of community, our thoughts/response (no particular order).
  • there was a change in culture
  • the government relaxed some regulations, but enforced others.
  • local organisation was preferred over national and seemed to work better - fitting in with need to reduce transport costs.
  • big emphasis on keeping things local, so food production, housing, education and work all brought together. eg. lots of small Universities rather than a few big ones.
  • old ideas came back (small farms, oxen etc.) but also new technology was used.
  • quality of life was, arguably, better? people had less consumer goods but had more exercise and better diet, also were more involved with their neighbourhood. People shared more.
  • could what Cuba did scale to UK or London? we had our doubts.
Thinking about UK and alternatives to oil dependency etc.
  • thermal heating
  • hydrogen cars
  • nuclear power using latest generation of small efficient power stations, also makes power more local which is more efficient.
  • wind
  • tide
How should we respond internationally?
  • we need to share benefits of technology
  • we need to question our consumption
  • and we need to question our values - ie. that we find happiness through having / consuming things.

No comments: