Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:53 am Post subject: Peak oil
Lots going in the news at the moment. What changes do you think are needed at a local and global level, if any. Does anyone think it's all scaremongering?
wht gets my goat is that there is so much speculation in the market so that the price gets pushed ever higher in this country
my mom in the states is livid that she should have to pay £1.70 a gallon
we would be over the moon with delight
we try not to use the truck now more than twice in every 7 days and that is mostly for local shopping uses not the days out we used to have....
luckily my brother has opted for a train trip to and from heathrow for his visit in august....we reckoned it would be at least £200 in diesel to go and collect him with an extra tenner for the severn bridge each way as well
we are pleased to let the train take the strain ....the downside being that it will take him probably 8 or 9 hours to get here from heathrow by train where as it COULD techically take only 4 hours by car provided there are no holdups...........but then there are always holdups....
We have 3 cars a diesel 1.9, petrol 1.4 and petrol 998c. We have worked out mileage on the 1.9 and 1.4 and theres a 1p difference between them.
Hubby has to work and leaves at 7am in the morning to do a 22 mile journey by car. The earliest bus from our village leaves is at 7.30 to get to the local town for the 8am bus which would get him into swindon at 9am he then would have to get a bus out to his work probably another 30 mins including waiting. So would not be in until 9.30 at the earliest.
He would need to do the reverse to get back home but the only problem is the last bus back into the village from the town 6 miles away is 5.30am which means he would need to leave work at 3.30pm super for us but not so super for the paypacket!!
Public transport needs a major overhaul, if it could sensibly replace the car then we would use it. K is always using her student railcard and gets some good prices on trains but you do need to do a bit of research to find the best fares and routes and book in advance.
I would happily use my bike for the little necessities but the physio has banned me.
As to the self sufficiency that LLoyd mention, I would love too, but my garden is too small, I grow what I can but we are big veg eaters! The nearest allotments are on the other side of the local town which is over 9 miles away so would mean another car journey.
They don't make it easy for us!
When we moved here 21 years ago this wasn't a problem, now because the petrol costs it is making life very difficult. _________________ "If we reduce the amount of stuff we allow to accumulate in our lives, we won't have to organise it"
Elaine St James from her book 'Simplicity'
It's not just about using cars though is it. Britain seems to be woefully lacking in sustainable solutions. Wind farms are refused planning, the price of solar panels are prohibitive, in fact anything "greener" is out of most people's price bracket.
If you read that article it lets you see just HOW much we are oil dependent. All our major industries are now dependent, all movement of goods for shops etc are oil dependent. Our water treatment plants depend on oil to run them.
It's not as simple as becoming more self sufficient. What about all the people who live in concrete jungles. Coco has a friend from London who had never seen a sheep till she went to Wales uni, used to spend hours looking at them.
The oil will run out, there are different opinions as to when, not if. So what happens to public transport then:?
I accept the Government response that they will not subsidise fuels, as we need to adapt and change, but why then don't they make public transport more attractive, more accessible and more tailored to the needs of its future customer base. Why do we not have a Government subsidised provision of alternative fuel supllies, be it LPG, biofuel, subsidies for solid fuels, handouts to landowners to raise fast growing wood as fuel, greater use of sugar cane for alternative plastics and fuels, etc.
Sometimes I wonder if plans are already in place but the "big boys" want to wring every last penny out of the consumer before the oil runs out. Wouldn't suprise me, there's lots goes on behind closed doors we never get to hear about.
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a diesel 1.9, petrol 1.4 and petrol 998c. We have worked out mileage on the 1.9 and 1.4 and theres a 1p difference between them.
so would mean another car journey.