Peak Oil

www.transitiontowns.org.nz

• oil is a finite, non-renewable resource

• Peak oil is a label for the problem of the peak in global oil production

• Production (extraction and refining) has grown almost every year of the last century

New discoveries of oil have declined, while production has continued growing

The peak in oil production does not mean 'running out of oil‘ but an end of cheap oil and switch from a buyers' to a sellers' market

• The easy to get oil has been got

• Tomorrow it will take more energy to extract the same amount of oil as today

• A larger proportion of the energy produced must be reinvested in energy production

• In the 1930s one barrel of oil invested in oil exploration, drilling and pumping produced about 100 barrels of oil

• By the 1970s one barrel produced about 25 barrels

• In a few years one barrel of oil invested will produce one barrel of oil!

Without significant successful cultural reform, severe economic and social consequences seem inevitable

Transition Towns is a global movement

Four assumptions of Transition movement:• That life with lower energy consumption is

inevitable, and it’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

• That our communities lack the resilience to weather the severe energy shocks that will accompany peak oil.

• That we have to act collectively, and act now.• That by unleashing the collective genius of those

around us to design our energy descent, we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching and recognise the biological limits of our planet.

Transition Tairawhiti focus on:

- Energy

- Food

- Waste

- Economy

- Transport

- Education

A lower energy future can be better than what we have today.

www.transitiontowns.org.nz