UK citizens fear the terminal decline in global oil supply

A series of events in the UK in December aimed at raising awareness of the imminent peak and decline of global oil supply looks to press ‘Peak Oil’ onto the national consciousness, culminating in a large conference at the London School of Economics on December 14th.

We have already seen the end of ‘cheap’ oil as supply has struggled to meet demand. ‘Peak Oil’ means demand will have to be destroyed as it is the point of maximum global oil supply, followed by a terminal decline which will present significant challenges for the oil-based way of living, and according to an increasing number of analysts, we can expect it very soon. With no combination of alternatives able to make up for the shortfall, everything from trade and agriculture to plastics and healthcare will be affected.

Events start on December 3rd at the Campaign against Climate Change march in London, where Peak Oil campaigners will team up with Climate Change protestors. The alliance between the climate change and peak oil movements is a natural one as the methods of mitigation for both are very similar with the key mantra being “Reduce, reuse and recycle”.

The Green Party will then host two ‘Peak Oil’ events in Brixton, London on December 5th and December 7th. The Green Party has recently taken Peak Oil on board as an important issue facing the world. On December 5th at 7pm there will be a showing of the important documentary ‘End of Suburbia’ at The Ritzy Cinema, Brixton and a discussion afterwards led by Green Party Energy Spokesman Tom Tibbets. On the 7th December there will be a Peak Oil talk at the Vida Walsh Centre in Brixton from 7.30pm.

Also on December 7th, there will be an End of Suburbia showing in Totnes, followed by a look on December 14th at the positive things we can take from the second half of the oil age. It will be led by Rob Hopkins. Rob has been a permaculture teacher in Ireland for the last 10 years. He developed and taught the first 2 year full-time permaculture course in the world at Kinsale FEC, and also is a founding director of The Hollies Centre for Practical Sustainability, where he pioneered many natural building techniques in Ireland. He developed a process called 'Energy Descent Action Planning' in Kinsale, whereby a community action plan for a designed transition to localization was developed. He is now designing a similar process for Totnes. His talk will explore the challenge that peak oil presents, and how if properly planned, the journey away from oil could be the great opportunity to design the world we have always sought.

The final ‘Peak Oil’ events of the year takes place at The London School of Economic, which will be hosting a debate entitled 'Peak Oil - A Global Impact' on Wednesday 14th December at 6.30pm at the Old Theatre. Chris Skrebowski, whose field-by-field analysis suggests we already be at ‘Peak’ will give a talk on ‘Peak Oil’ followed by a panel discussion including John Hemming MP and Paul Mobbs, author of Energy Beyond Oil. Entry to this event is free.

With the decline of global oil supply set to shape the 21st century, these are events you will not want to miss. For further information about these events, please visit www.powerswitch.org.uk