Three Essential New Peak Oil Books from New Society December 12, 2006
Posted by Graham in : General , trackbackRichard Heinberg: The Oil Depletion Protocol- A Plan to Avert Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse New Society Publishers 2006
The third of Heinberg’s books on peak oil, the Oil Depletion Protocol deals with an international response to the coming energy crises first proposed by oil geologist Dr. Colin Campbell. The idea is straightforward: each oil producing nation should reduce its production to keep in line with the oil depletion rate- ie. the rate at which the earth is consuming the remaining oil reserves; and following from this therefore that each oil consumer should reduce their consumption at an equivalent rate. This would allow the world to slowly adjust to declining energy supplies and allow time for preparations to be made to switch to renewables and re-localise our economies. The author doesn’t understate the enormous political difficulties in implementing such a plan but makes outlines some of the many initiatives already underway on the personal and community level such as the Energy Descent Plan in Kinsale, and the national level, such as the example of Sweden and Cuba, to address oil depletion and work towards mitigating the effects.
Albert Bates The post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook- Recipes for Changing Times New Society Publishers 2006
Albert Bates teaches permaculture and natural building at The Farm eco-village in Tennessee and has used his wide range of practical skills to produce this inspirational manual on surviving oil peak and moving into energy descent. After an introduction outlining the predicament of a world almost completely dependent on fossil energy as we near the all-time peak in supplies, Bates offers detailed practical advice in sections on saving water, managing waste, creating energy, growing and storing food, and re-building community. Everything from building a solar cooker, collecting rain-water and the art of knot-tying is looked at, and there is even an appendix on first aid. Pithy and wise quotations are used liberally throughout this up-beat but down to earth guide to preparing and thriving in a world beyond oil. Even better, it really is a cookbook, with dozens of recipes accompanying the text. Essential.
Dale Allen Pfeiffer Eating Fossil Fuels- Oil, Food and the Coming Crises in Agriculture New Society Publishers 2006
Dale Allen Pfeiffer runs the website www.mountainsentinel.com and author of The End of the Oil Age. This is a slim volume expanding on an essay written in 2003 available here http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html
Pfeiffer starts right at the beginning with a look at how the laws of thermodynamics still bind us to a physical reality which is above all governed by limits. He then takes us through the wider environmental costs of the oil age, with a detailed look at agriculture, the “Green Revolution” and the likely collapse of modern industrial agriculture if society does not make a rapid change of direction.
Of particular interest is the comparism between the differing fates of North Korea and Cuba, two countries which have had to face severe fuel shortages- and consequent food shortages- in recent times. Pfeiffer ends with a chapter on “Twelve Fun Activities for Activists”, inspiration for positive community responses.
This book should be read by all those concerned about our vulnerable dependency on imported foods and lends a strong voice for the urgent task of re-building local food security.
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