Transition Isle of Man: background
In a nutshell, with world oil production at or near it’s peak and climate change threatening to become a runaway train, we need to find ways of living that don’t rely on fossil fuels.
The problem: peak oil
‘Peak oil’ refers to the point at which world oil production peaks before going into decline for ever. Why is this a problem? Because fossil fuels play such a big part in our lives. From food to fashion, you can bet that oil or natural gas will have been involved somewhere along the line.
Take the modern mass food production system. On average, every calorie of food we eat takes 10 calories of energy to produce. Farm machinery, of course, runs on oil. But did you know that pesticides and fertilizers are made from oil and gas? Then there’s the fuel it takes to transport food from the farm to the processing plant to the distribution centre to the supermarket – and finally to our homes.
So when the world starts giving us less and less oil instead of more and more, it’s going to have a big impact. And this is not a ‘tomorrow issue’. The broad consensus of experts puts peak oil within the next five to 10 years.
The other problem: climate change
Pretty much everything we do in the western world contributes to climate change, or global warming.
The carbon dioxide that’s pumped out when we drive, fly, turn on the heating, switch on the TV etc, etc is wreaking havoc with the world’s weather, eco-systems and wildlife – not to mention the lives of millions of people across the globe.
But the good news is that if we take steps to protect ourselves from peak oil, we can also go a long way towards combating climate change.
The solution: transition
What is it?
Transition Towns is a grass roots movement that’s sweeping the UK. It’s all about communities working together to find ways of becoming more self-reliant: less dependent on imported energy and food.
From Totnes to Peebles, Transition communities are getting busy on everything from local food production to renewable energy generation. And because these things slash carbon emissions, they’re good for the world as well as the local community.
In the Isle of Man, we are totally reliant on imported oil and gas for our energy needs, and much of our food and other goods are imported too.
But we have huge potential for renewable energy, and plenty of good land to support lots more local food production. Getting people together to make these things happen is Transition Isle of Man’s mission.
Who’s involved?
Transition Isle of Man is currently being driven forward by a group of people who got together after learning about peak oil and its implications for our everyday lives.
We want to find ways to build our local economy and bring us together as a community. Ideas people have shared already range from freeing up land for self-build homes to using sheep’s wool as insulation.
We’re not an official group and our only purpose is to get more people involved. This year will see a whole range of events taking place, including film screenings, talks in schools, and community meetings where we can share ideas and get things going.