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To effectively address energy scarcity and curtail biosphere destruction, relocalization must occur globally and with some degree of integration. Essentially, human civilization needs to prepare itself to do with less energy, fewer natural resources, and fewer material goods, with the ultimate goal of being able to live within a reduced planetary carrying capacity. Any other approach will lead to a form of assisted suicide—with nature doing the assisting.

It is urgent that localization begin now. Yet how many times have we heard and ignored such urgent calls? Everything still seems to be going all right—at least for those in control of the economy and the media—but hitting the energy peak will change that.

The energy peak will affect the heaviest energy users the most. At first they will use their control of the money system to stave off disaster, but that will not last long. If the US suffers a severe enough dollar crisis, it will find itself catastrophically exposed as the world’s largest energy importer and will be vulnerable to the desires of the energy exporters, all of whom will have reason enough to bring the reign of American economic empire to an end. The US military has presumably understood this, and they may not be willing to stand by and be emasculated by energy and economic constrictions.

Relocalization Must Start Now

If the global oil peak happens within two years—as is predicted by a growing number of energy analysts—then we must start taking measures to rebuild our communities now. This is quite a different kind of urgency from the usual calls to save the planet, or the koalas, or the Yangtze, all of which are in deep trouble but none of whom directly affects most of us in our insulated, industrial worlds. This is a plan to save us—and the rest of the creatures in the biosphere along with us.

There is another reason for urgency. There is a trend towards fewer family farms and the continuing loss of infrastructure, knowledge, and wisdom about local, sustainable living techniques. Thus, there are ever fewer working examples and models that can be applied to a given locale. To fill the void, communities must begin localization experiments to discover what works and what does not work in a given locale. This knowledge must be gained before the crisis. If experiments fail now, they can at least be counted as useful information. If they fail later, in conditions of crisis, people are likely to suffer grievously.

More broadly, to save precious time and resources, communities will need to share experiments, outcomes, and lessons learned. Communities will also need to integrate the experience and knowledge developed by existing organizations and individuals working on localization at both the policy and community levels, including scientific research that supports localization efforts and the practices of indigenous peoples (those that have not yet been wiped out by empire and its latest incarnation, globalization).

The three factors that drive today’s oil price – rising political tensions, strong levels of demand and tight supplies – continue to work together, exacerbating the fear of a supply shortage.

Commentator’s view: This is the view of respected commentator, Charles Whall, oil sector analyst for London’s Newton Investment, an offshoot of Mellon Global Investments, quoted in The Australian (12/8/06 p12).

Mid-East hostilities: In a paper published earlier this month, Whall said the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East highlighted the extent of tensions throughout the region.

Uprisings in Nigeria Elsewhere, Nigeria, Africa’s supplier of crude oil, continues to suffer from destabilising uprisings in key oil producing areas ahead of the country’s elections next year.

Resource nationalism: Potentially more disturbing, however, was the growth of “resource nationalism”.

Dominance of state-owned companies: “State-owned or controlled national oil companies already account for around 90 per cent of the world’s oil and gas reserves and are becoming increasingly confident in their ability to manage the future on their own terms,” Whall said.

Populists in South America: “The re-emergence of populist politics across South America as in Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia, demonstrates just how fast the playing field is changing.

Tightening controls on western companies: "Meanwhile, tightening of controls on Western companies across Russia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Algeria, underlines how quickly the energy agenda is being wrestled away from the end-users.”

The Australian, 12/8/2006, p. 12

source: Erisk Net  

Conversions to LPG have become far more viable as the price differential with petrol has never been wider, according to Martin Monaghan, manager of market development for Unigas which supplies LPG to about half the 3000-odd Australian service stations offering it .

Differential hit $1 a litre:“Last week in Melbourne the differential reached $1 a litre,” Monaghan said, quoted in The Australian Financial Review (12/8/06, p.4).

Cost $2500-$3500: Most people spend about $2500 on a dual-fuel conversion, allowing the vehicle to run on both petrol and gas, but costs can go to $3500.

Taxis, couriers can recoup in months: “Taxis doing 100,000 kilometres a year take just a few months to recoup that in the lower price of fuel, couriers doing 1000 kilometres a week take around six months,” he says.

Mostly bigger cars: “In the main, we’re doing bigger cars, commercial vehicles and four-wheel-drives. Small cars are unusual but we have done some, including a Mazda 121 for pizza deliveries.”

The Australian Financial Review, 12/8/2006, p. 4

Source: Erisk Net  

Toxic mud spurting from a gas drilling well part-owned by the Australian mining giant Santos threatens to mire East Java in a full-scale disaster, according to Sydney Morning Herald Correspondent in Jakarta, Mark Forbes (12/8/06, p.16).

Experts cannot stop it: Experts are unable to prevent millions of tonnes of mud blocking highways and rail links, and propose to divert the flow into the ocean, risking another environmental catastrophe.

Visit from President: Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, visited the disaster zone south of Surabaya after thousands more villagers were evacuated when the rising mud breached levees.

Compensation promise: He proffered words of comfort and promises of compensation.

Has forced 10,000 fom homes: For two months mud has flowed from an exploratory well near Porong, inundating 25 square kilometres, putting 1000 people in hospital with breathing difficulties and forcing more than 10,000 from their homes.

Rail link threatened: The mud threatens the rail link between Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia’s busiest port.

Mud wave after dam break: On 10 August more than 5000 people fled a wave of mud when a dam broke, leading to suggestions that large swathes of land should be left to the mud and residents relocated.

Damage could be $4b.: Damage estimates range from hundreds of millions to more than $4 billion.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 12/8/2006, p. 16

Source: Erisk Net