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Category Archives: Energy

10 Countries Most Affected by Climate Change

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James 5 comments

Of course there is no place on Earth that will emerge unscathed from the effects of climate change. But there are some places where the effects will be felt more keenly than others. Large parts of some countries will become inundated when sea levels rise, leaving them uninhabitable and their populations displaced. Cycles of drought and flooding will impact food security, forcing populations to migrate away from unproductive agricultural land.

A Complex Predicament – Part One: The Energy Predicament

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James 2 comments

This is the first of three articles on understanding complexity, and how our energy, economic and ecological systems, like unruly children, tend to defy our attempts to change them.

Coping With a Post-Peak Future

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Theo Kitchener 3 comments

So I first learnt about peak oil back in 2005, when The End of Suburbia was shown at an activist skillshare. And while I didn’t go into denial per se, I didn’t really accept it. It was like if anyone had asked me about it, I would’ve said, “yeah peak oil’s really full on, I don’t know what we’re gonna do about that”. But at the same time, it didn’t impact the way I was living my life, or my strategy for changing the world in any way at all. Of course I already knew all about climate change, supposedly wasn’t in denial of that either, yet was still choosing to work on projects that were largely irrelevant to it.

Nuclear Armageddon

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James Leave a comment

Nuclear Armageddon is here. We’ve bought a lie about the alleged safety of nuclear energy. The lie was promoted on the basis of another lie, one we should’ve recognized immediately under the auspices of, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” The latter lie is the promise of electricity too-cheap-to-meter.

Downshifting the Herd

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James Leave a comment

As our civilization proceeds down the slope of the post-peak-oil curve, global trade will become more and more expensive, so our economies will naturally localize. The energy-efficiency benefits of localized economies are obvious to us, but there are also social, and even psychosocial, benefits that aren’t often contemplated.

The Joy of the Blackout

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Sean Crawley One comment

Dare it be said, but, the good news is that with the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather the electrical power grid is destined to be out of action more and more, and for longer and longer durations. The really good blackouts, those bitchin’ two or three day outages that annoy the crap out of the power junkies, will render your workplace totally inoperable.

Transitioning the suburbs to a low carbon future

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James Leave a comment

It is entirely feasible for the suburbs – where most of us live – to adapt to a low carbon future. Technology is already available to implement a powerdown strategy, involving home retrofitting, local food production and low carbon transport. Permaculture design principles provide a proven template for adapting the suburbs to support a local sharing economy.

These tools are ready. We need to create a catalyst for widespread community action.

Climate Change and the Triune Response

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James One comment

I went through three phases in my awareness of our planetary predicament. I don’t know if there’s a fourth, or a fifth, but I have been through three. It’s like opening up a set of Russian dolls; each one might be the last one, but then you open it up and descend another layer. I call it the Triune Response, after the Triune (three-in-one) model of brain evolution that categorizes the human brain into three stages of development – first the reptilian complex, second the limbic system, and third the neocortex. The four levels of experience can conceptualized as mental, emotional, physical and spiritual fit these correspondingly.

A Complex Predicament – Part Three: The Ecological Predicament

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Kari James One comment

This is the third of three articles on understanding complexity and how positive feedback loops are leading inexorably to civilization’s collapse – and what we can and can’t do about it.