Transition Town High Wycombe
Detailed Factsheet
From: Transition Town High Wycombe Environment Centre, Holywell Mead, High Wycombe 8th September 2008
A Press Release is available separately.
The influential global phenomena known as the ‘Transition Initiative’ has now come to High Wycombe
The Transition Town High Wycombe (“TTHW”) initiative has existed on an informal basis since the Autumn of 2007. It has moved to a formal basis in August 2008 with the establishment of a Steering Group with a Constitution making TTHW a non-Profit Unincorporated Association. The core group consists of seven from a range of backgrounds including members of the local Friends of the Earth, the local Founder of the “Bare Gardens” initiative (Garden swaps), the local Founder of the “Carbon Cutters” initiative (Community Action Groups) and a Bucks Community Action Projects Officer. Currently this Team is networking with other groups and working on raising awareness with an initial program of Film Shows. This is part of a structured formal “Twelve Step” programme that will unfold throughout the Town over the coming year. Don’t just watch this space – get involved!
The “Transition” network was established in 2007 building upon the work of founders Rob Hopkins and Ben Brangwyn. Rob started in the town of Kinsale in 2006 with his Master Thesis on “Energy Descent Pathways – Evaluating potential responses to Peak Oil” with the University of Plymouth. His central hypothesis was that western societies are dependent upon cheap oil and that an unplanned interruption in supply would be disastrous. He went on to suggest that Communities could rebuild their resilience by re-discovering local patterns of sustainability. The response would be community-led. His ideas were tested in Kinsale and touched a raw nerve of growing anxiety throughout the global community - the idea exploded with several towns copying the principle in quick succession. It was an idea whose time had come. Communities were no longer willing to be led. Climate Change was looming. The writing was on the wall. Ideas of resource depletion on a finite planet were intuitive yet we seemed to be accelerating rather than braking. One by one communities stepped up to tackle the problem. The “Transition Model” was born and has been adopted by hundreds of communities across the UK and globally including Bristol, Brighton and Nottingham. Funding from the Tudor Trust has put the model on a firm foundation such that it now offers support, training and events.
Transition Town High Wycombe is not an environmental project, it is a Civic Program forming a union of bodies within local Civil Society with a bridge to Local Government. The plan is to promote a transition such that the Town can withstand the shock of life without cheap energy and food. It addresses topics of food, waste, energy, education, youth, economics, transport, water, etc., through a backbone of an “Energy Descent Plan” and the ‘great reskilling’. It is a Plan that the Community will build and implement. To learn more about this important initiative that is sweeping the land go to www.transitiontowns.org or contact a member of the Steering Group.
The Steering Group is now holding regular meetings (open to the public) at the Environment Centre on Holywell Mead. All are welcome to attend as individuals or as representatives of local organisations. We have developed presentational material and can go through this with a 1 hour presentation to local Business, Government & Voluntary sector organisations who wish to learn more.
Film Shows at the Environment Centre:
· 24th September: “The End of Suburbia”
· 29th October: “Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”
· 26th November: “Peak Oil Imposed by Nature”
(Film Poster attached to this Press Pack.)
Other events at the Environment Centre on Holywell Mead:
· Seed Swap Sat 11th Oct 11am - 4 pm and Sun 12th 2.30-4.30pm
Times are 7.30pm to 9.30pm including Q&A with the TTHW Management Committee afterwards.
Date of Next Meeting: Monday 29th September at 7.15 to 9.15pm at the Environment Centre on Holywell Mead
Background Information
Peak Oil: The World endowment of Oil was originally 2 trillion barrels. We used half in 125 years. Due to compound Economic Growth the rest will be gone within 30 years. (Think India & China.) The first half was easy to extract and of high quality. Production rises to a 'peak' after which production slows, quality falls and the energy used in extraction increases. Peak Oil is not about 'running out of oil' but it is a supply & demand problem. In 2025 the demand for Oil will rise by 60% yet the supply will have fallen to 1985 levels. We are at Peak today. Of all Fossil Fuels, Oil is uniquely energy dense and easy to transport. Fertilizers, plastics, fabrics, medicine, computers, you name it, are all made of oil. For every calorie of food ten calories of fossil fuels were burnt to grow it, transport it, package it, cool it, heat it and process it. The OPEC Embargo in the 1970's only restricted supply by 5% yet prices quadrupled over night. In the 2000 fuel blockade supermarket shelves emptied within a few days. No substitute for Oil is as abundant, as practical or as cheap. Modern industrialised society is desperately addicted to cheap energy & transport. It is built into our paradigm making all alternatives unthinkable. To make things worse - Oil is a relatively 'clean' fossil fuel in comparison to coal. Substituting coal will accelerate Climate Change.
Climate Change: Well known to the general public but its impact is not well understood. "Global Warming" is a misleading term. "Climate Chaos" is more accurate. Although mankind is only responsible for an extra 5% of Carbon in the atmosphere our contribution is out of balance with nature's ability to absorb it. The other 95% would be absorbed, our extra is not. So it builds up year after year. Today Carbon Dioxide levels are 27% higher than at any point in the last 600,000 years raising surface temperatures by 0.7C. This has a dramatic effect upon weather with more storms, floods and droughts. This will impact farming and the price of food. Suggested measures to mitigate the effect upon humans assume an endless supply of petroleum products & cheap energy yet Peak Oil will make such mitigation too expensive. You can't tackle one without understanding the other. Each can make the other worse yet they share the same solutions.
Solutions: All the evidence we have proves to us that the last 200 years of cheap and abundant fossil fuels have supplied the energy for the generation of a highly mobile, complex, well-fed, inter-connected and inter-dependent industrialised societies. It has lead to amazing economic growth, an explosion in population and damage to our atmosphere. That period is about to come to an end. It is not sustainable. We have over-shot. Everything is about to change. High complexity equals high fragility. ‘Big’ and distant will break down. Small and local will last. Hence we need to rebuild resilience into our Communities through a process of ‘relocalisation’. The only alternative is to collapse. The Community is the solution. The future is bright for those who accept this paradigm change in their lives. We have just 20 years to bring about this dramatic shift. In this future energy and food will be highly priced and highly prized. Everyone will be trying to generate as much of their own as possible and rely upon the ingenuity of their community for their basic economic needs & security. This is a step-change from where we are today. Few of us even talk to our neighbours let alone know how to grow food or generate power through clean renewables. We have a lot of work ahead. You cannot wait for someone else to do it for you because it is YOU who has to change. It cannot be imposed and there are no acceptable alternatives. Accept it. Join us. Let’s roll.
Selected References & Source of Suggested Further Research
1) National & Local Government Policy Initiatives:
a. “The Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management” SAIC Report for the US Department of Energy 2005. (Download it from here: www.oildepletionprotocol.org/files/SAIC%20Report.pdf)
b. “Planning for Renewable Energy – A companion Guide to PPS22” from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Creating Sustainable Communities) ISBN 1 85112 754 2
c. www.dti.gov.uk/renewable - Department of Trade and Industry renewables website with facts, figures and examples of the different technologies
d. For full text on the so-called “Merton Rule” see www.merton.gov.uk/udp/acrobat/Udpfinal.pdf
e. See www.claren.org.uk for an example of a Community Renewables Initiative
f. Information on Somerset County Council becoming a Transition Local Authority:http://transitionculture.org/2008/07/28/something-wonderful-just-happened-in-somerset/
g. “Stern Review on the economics of climate change” downloadable in sections from the www.hm-treasury/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/stern_review_Report.cfm
h. “Sustainable Communities Act 2007: A Guide” downloadable from www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/sustainablecommunitiesact
i. “Sustainable Communities Act 2007” downloadable from www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070023_en_1
2) Impact of Climate Change and/or Peak Oil on the Human Food Chain & Communities:
a. “Six Degrees – Our Future in a Hotter Planet” Mark Lynas ISBN -13 978-0-00-720904-0
b. “Eating Fossil Fuels” Dale Allen Pfeiffer ISBN 0 86571 565 3
c. “The Long Emergency” James Howard Kunstler ISBN 1843544547
d. DVD: “Escape from Suburbia”
e. DVD: “The End of Suburbia”
3) Peak Oil:
a. “Out of Gas” David Goodstein ISBN 0-393-05857-3
b. “The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies” Richard Heinberg ISBN 1-902636-45-7
c. “The Final Energy Crisis” Edited by Andrew McKillop with Shelia Newman ISBN 0-7453-2092-9
d. “The End of Oil” Paul Roberts ISBN 0-7475-7081-7
e. “Twilight in the Desert” Matthew R Simmons ISBN 047173876X
f. “High Noon for Natural Gas” Julian Darley ISBN 1-931498-53-9
g. “Hubbert’s Peak – The Impending World Oil Shortage” Kenneth S Deffeyes ISBN 0 691 09086 6
h. DVD: “A Crude Awakening”
i. DVD: “Crude Impact”
j. DVD: “The Oil Factor”
k. DVD: “Peak Oil – Imposed by Nature”
4) Action Plans to deal with Climate Change/Peak Oil:
a. “Heat” George Monbiot ISBN 978 0 7139 9923 5
b. “Contraction & Convergence – The Global Solution to Climate Change” Aubrey Meyer ISBN 1-478379-3 - for more on the Contraction and Convergence framework go to www.gci.org.uk
c. Go to www.zerocarbonbritain.com for a plan by the Center for Alternative Technology for a Carbon Neutral Britain by 2027
d. “The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience” Rob Hopkins ISBN 1900322188
e. Community Supported Agriculture: www.soilassociation.org/csa and www.localfoodworks.org
f. “Peak Oil Prep” Mick Winter ISBN 0 9659000 4 5
g. “Powerdown” Richard Heinberg ISBN 1-902636-63-5
h. “Energy Beyond Oil” Paul Mobbs ISBN 1 905237 00 6
i. “Wining the Oil Endgame” Amory B Lovins ISBN 1-84407-194-4 (www.oilendgame.com)
j. “Plan B 3.0” Lester R Brown ISBN 0393330877
k. “Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change” Pat Murphy ISBN 0865716070
l. Oil Depletion Protocol: www.oildepletionprotocol.org
m. DVD: “How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”
n. DVD: “Energy Crossroads”
o. DVD: “Wind Power in the UK
5) Sustainable Economics and the Community:
a. The New Economics Foundation: www.neweconomics.org
b. “The Dollar Crisis” Richard Duncan ISBN 0-470-82170-1
c. “The Growth Illusion” Richard Douthwaite ISBN 1-870098-76-5
d. “Growth Fetish” Clive Hamilton ISBN 0-7453-2250-6
e. “Limits to Growth – the 30 year update” Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadows ISBN 1 84407 144 8
NOTE: Most of these titles are available from the Transition Town High Wycombe Management Committee or by contacting the Environment Centre on Holywell Mead
Peak Oil Illustrated:
ASPO Projected Liquid/Gas Fossil Fuel Depletion Curve
Source: ASPO July 2008 (Association for the Study of Peak Oil)
Source: ASPO July 2008 (Association for the Study of Peak Oil)
Source: ASPO July 2008 (Association for the Study of Peak Oil)
UK Gas Imports Projection
Source: National Grid