Transition Barrie » Energy Security http://transitionbarrie.org A Member of the Transition Town Network Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:22:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Activism vs Transition http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/activism-vs-transition/ http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/activism-vs-transition/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:17:43 +0000 admin http://transitionbarrie.org/?p=532 “Activism doesn’t change the fundamental model of society, whereas what Transition attempts to do is create a new model.” -  Chris Smedley, Transition Town Lewes

by Robin Barton

Most of us enjoyed a good night’s sleep last night. A warm bed, soft pillow, that sort of thing. But for the past six months, during the harshest winter in decades, protesters against the proposed Mainshill opencast mine in South Lanarkshire have been sleeping in treehouses and tunnels on the site, risking their wellbeing, or at least frostbitten fingers. Last week the eviction process began. Somewhat reassuringly, after the recent cold spell, the activists were given a medical once-over to check they were well enough to be arrested.

Click here for the full article.

]]> http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/activism-vs-transition/feed/ 0 Peak Oil on the Agenda http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/530/ http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/530/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:15:46 +0000 Iain Robertson http://transitionbarrie.org/?p=530 Peak oil is finally appearing on the agendas of governments and industry.  Sir Richard Branson (Virgin brands mogul) is even sounding the alarm.  The following article is an article from the Wall Street Journal, and includes a quote from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia commenting on a new oil find: “Leave it in the ground…our children need it.”.

We are moving in the right direction.  Our province is moving at an unprecedented pace to reduce energy demand and consumption.  Grants available for kilowatt demand reduction are being doubled, the FIT program for renewable energy generation, specifically solar PV, has not only sparked hundreds of new companies (and jobs), but also encouraged thousands of applications to be submitted since the program was launched last fall, the recently signed Samsung deal, although bittersweet for the Ontario (and Canadian) solar manufacturers and distributors, is still a significant commitment to renewable energy production and principle.

There is a previous posting in this site that refers to ICES (Integrated Community Energy Solutions), published by the Feds back in September 2009.  Also a worthwhile read with some interesting and creative (and doable) ideas about energy reduction and sustainable generation.

Please follow the link below to read the Wall Street Journal article “The Next Crisis: Prepare for Peak Oil”

Click here for: Link to article

]]> http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/530/feed/ 0 Truth about Fossil Fuel Emissions http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/truth-about-fossil-fuel-emissions/ http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/truth-about-fossil-fuel-emissions/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:03:07 +0000 Iain Robertson http://transitionbarrie.org/?p=351 The documentary/movie “The Inconvenient Truth” enlightened everyone who
watched about the condition of the planet and what we have done to it. Much
of what the movie was based on was the increase in CO2 in our atmosphere.
The numbers have been updated through 2008 and affirm the facts presented in
“An Inconvenient Truth”, in fact, indicating a 29% increase in fossil fuel
emissions.

The following link provides more information about the earth’s natural CO2
sinks and their inability to keep up to the current levels of CO2 in the
atmosphere.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/11/19/fossil-fuel-emissions-rose-29-
since-2000/

]]> http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/truth-about-fossil-fuel-emissions/feed/ 0 Integrated Community Energy Solutions http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/integrated-community-energy-solutions/ http://transitionbarrie.org/energy-security/integrated-community-energy-solutions/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:28:27 +0000 Iain Robertson http://transitionbarrie.org/?p=286 Energy needs everyone’s input and ideas to reduce AND generate, “resources” fosters a thinking basis for the blog.

Integrated Community Energy Solutions (ICES) is a program recently released by the Feds. All levels of government have provided input. Generally speaking, it is a proactive plan to meet energy requirements in the future. It is implied by 2010 that we start embracing reducing our energy usage and begin a developmental push for generating energy innovatively, for example heat recovery, not just solar panels. The goal is to be at full capacity of development and using these new energy technologies by 2020. There is an implied back to “business as usual” by 2050. This is a very useful document and interesting timing for Transition Barrie. It is very optimistic with regard to innovation and embracing non-traditional approaches to energy, similar to how much of Europe operates.

Link to the resource booklet: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/cem-cme/ices_e.pdf

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