Welcome to Halesworth in Transition
Halesworth in Transition (HinT) ….
…. is all about local people working together to live well using less oil and
other fossil fuels which are expensive, damaging to extract and damaging to
use.
Fossil fuels are embedded in our lives. They have delivered wonderful things,
but rising global competition for resources already means that reliance on
oil, coal and gas for the future is not sustainable.
The next technical fix, whatever it is, will leave local communities in the
same place. We will still be relying on processes which are entirely outside
local control to deliver the production of food, transportation, heating,
clothing & textiles, energy generation, water and waste.
We can do better. Our community will be more resilient if we develop local
solutions to meet some of our needs. Small businesses and our own purses
will be less affected by swings in global supply and demand. And, if we
choose wisely, our impact on the environment will be much less damaging.
What is Peak Oil?
Peak oil is the moment when the maximum rate of global petroleum
extraction is reached. After this production declines.
• The production rate from an oil field usually grows very rapidly until it
peaks and then declines until the field is depleted. Individual oil wells,
oil fields and every oil-producing country show this same pattern of a
rise and then a fall in production.
• ‘Peak oil’ is the point at which we can no longer increase the amount of
crude oil we extract and production goes into irreversible decline. It is
not when the oil runs out.
What is Climate Change?
Almost all the world's climate scientists agree that our climate is changing
as a result of human activity. 'Greenhouse gases' (primarily carbon dioxide)
released by burning fossil fuels are trapping more of the sun's heat within
the earth's atmosphere.
Global warming sounds nice...
While the global trend is towards warming, the local effects are
unpredictable.
• Probably the best documented effect of global warming is the melting of
the icecaps at the north and south poles. It is believed that this could
affect the ocean currents that bring warm water from the equator up
to more northern regions such as the UK.
• So while the planet gets warmer, weather here could actually get colder.
Other likely effects are an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme
weather events, such as storms. Meanwhile, equatorial regions are reporting
increased temperatures and reduced rainfall, which threatens to make an
already hard existence there impossible.
What is resilience?
Resilience is being able to withstand shocks from the outside. For HinT, this
means from outside of the district in which we all live and work.
• An example of resilience would be reducing our dependence on fossil
fuels for food production and transport. Our current reliance on fossil
fuels to produce fertilisers to grow crops, and fuel to harvest and
transport them, means that our food supply is very vulnerable to rises
in oil prices.
• This will also apply to other areas of our lives including heating fuel,
building materials, transport, education, clothing & textiles, electricity
generation, fresh water and waste disposal.
Reducing fossil fuel use will also reduce our contribution to the problem of
global warming.
HinT runs projects on Sustainable Energy, Local Food (free Directory stocked
at the Library), Upcycling, Sustainable Transport, Community Gardening …….