Exciting News!

There is a new group in town, ready to take on the problems of Climate Change and Peak Oil at the local level in our shire.  We are called the Melton Sustainable Living Group, and currently have 8 excited members!

It has been a long time in coming, and in an effort to promote our group and seek interest from potential new members, Kim has set up an interview with our local newspaper tomorrow at 1530.  We are hoping to get a few photos of Dale and I during the day doing sustainable living things to give to the journalist.  I will keep you posted as things develop, and I am developing a website using blogger for the group so that we can keep all members and guest up to date with our journey.

I am very excited to be one of the 6 founding members, and since Saturday we have recruited 2 more eager friends.  Things a looking up!

Oh, BTW.  We are getting another dog tomorrow as well.  We adopted a muttly (Corgi/Silky Terrier X) from the pound.  Kim is not sure what her name will be, but we are going with Holly at the moment.  The paper is also going to do a story about adopting dogs from the local pound to give them a plug as well.  Ben will be getting his picture with Holly in the paper. News at Eleven! :-)

Gav

A Day Without The Net

What a strange day we have just experienced!  ADSL has been down in our area for a whole day, and it has been like living without a long lost friend.  I know that I count my blessings every day that we are fortunate to be able to afford an Internet connection at all, but talk about technology taking over your lifestyle!

Anyway, my main post is over at the Co-op today.  You can read all about “Green Computing”, which is a follow up story from the one I posted yesterday about “The Vampires Feed At Night”.  I thought it most apt.

Have a great day, and I have some exciting news to come later today!

Gav

The Vampires Feed At Night

During Earth Hour, many companies turned off their lights in high-rise office building in cities all around the world.  Great work, but something was missing.  Office Vampires, in the form of millions of PCs are left on, sucking the grid dry during the long dark nights and are a massive contributor to the carbon emissions of many large companies.  These emissions can be avoided by enforcing energy policies and behavioural changes, but only if workers are informed of the consequences of their inaction.  When examined individually, PCs may not appear to be the biggest energy hog in the office, but when you consider the sheer volume of PCs in the world, the energy and greenhouse gas implications are enormous.

Picture this: A green minded gent arrives at work at 0700 Monday morning and curiously thinks, “I wonder how many PCs were left turned on over the weekend?”.  The curious green minded gent then proceeds to do a basic energy audit and discovers 64 out of a possible 75 PCs still turned on with their monitors in standby mode with no one on the floor but himself!  What a surprise to the green gent, who actually thought that his work colleagues cared about the planet they lived on. 

So to do the sums, the green gent needed to make a few assumptions.  If most people leave work at 5pm Friday and return at 8am Monday, that would be 63 hours that the PCs were sucking power without any worker using them.  If the average power usage of each PC including monitor, with decent power management enabled was 54 watt-hours, and then multiplied by 64 PCs, then multiplied by 63 hours of idleness.  That is a whopping 217.7 kWh of electricity wasted over the weekend which is more than the green gent uses at home in an entire month!  In the state of Victoria, that is the equivalent to 265 kg of CO2-e. 

So assuming that every floor in the building have basically the same layout, that the workers have the same lax behaviours, and the building had 50 floors, that would be 10,885 kWh of electricity or 13.2 tonnes of CO2-e released into the atmosphere each weekend.  With 52 weekends in a year, the wasted electricity would amount to 556,020 kWh of electricity or 690 tonnes of CO2-e each year!  The impact is amplified in this country due to our dirty coal based energy supply. 

That is just one large building in one city out of many millions of buildings world wide.  The mind boggles at the incredible savings in  money and greenhouse gas pollution that could be made simply and easily, by each worker turning their PC off before they go home at night.

According to Gartner, every year the information and telecom technology industry generates 2% of the world’s carbon emissions - the same as a year’s worth of air traffic. Moreover, PCs and monitors account for 39% of these emissions, equivalent to the emissions of approximately 46 million cars.

So next time you put your jacket on to leave for home, take a minute of your time to turn off your PC and again at the wall switch.  You will be making a massive contribution to avoiding catastrophic climate change.  This simple gesture will be noticed by others, who then in turn will follow your lead, and before you know it the dreaded Vampires will be no longer live in your office, without a garlic bulb in sight! 

The Power of Earth Hour

Remember back to the post when I approached our local council and my employer regarding their non-participation in Earth Hour?  Well guess what?  I had a win on both counts!

Here is the link to the councils announcement about participating, and here is my employers announcement.  You will just have to guess who my employer is.  Lets just say they start with an A and end with a Z.

I believe that my employer would have participated regardless of my action, however the Melton Shire Council may not have.  A big thank you goes out to Councillor Broden Borg for taking interest in my request.  It is great to see a leader in our local government.

We are all looking forward to the event tomorrow night, but before that we are staging our own special event.  We are going to have the first meeting of the Melton Climate Action Group at our house at 1500, where a few interested locals are coming together to start something really special.  I hope it grows wings and flies! 

Don’t forget, 8.30 9.30pm local time tomorrow, vote for the earth by switching off your lights for an hour.  For our Earth Hour we are congregating on Danni and Dales front lawn for a picnic under the street light and will hopefully encourage others around us to join in.  I am sure that after a few bevies, it will be a fun evening.  I think the kids are going to play murder in the dark! 

Will let you know about it all tomorrow.  Wherever you are on the planet tomorrow, have a great day and enjoy you own Earth Hour!

Gav’s EV Conversion

No readers, not I, but another Gavin, and this time from New Plymouth, NZ.  I received an email from Gavin Shoebridge yesterday, who commented about my blog (he likes it).  A nice guy, and he shared a YouTube link with me that featured his conversion of an old Mitsubishi Tredia with internal combustion engine to a fully refitted Electric Vehicle.  He bought the original car for NZ$180 because the engine had blown, and it had a bit of rust.

I was gobsmacked that people were out there giving the bird to petroleum companies and performing DIY EV conversions.  I knew that Ross Blade had been doing it for a while in Harcourt, Vic at Blade Electric Vehicles, but didn’t know about the home enthusiast scene.  How cool, and it really hooked me in.  Gav has made 27 videos, in easy to view steps of how he went about his conversion.  I spent 4 hours watching them last night and it was far better than any of the usual crap on TV.  Educational and funny, and Gav has a flare for the camera.  You can see his passion for getting the EV on the road just dripping from the screen. 

I won’t spoil the ending of his story, but will share with you his last three videos which are a compressed version of the 27 shorts and a grand finale about his next steps in life.

Part One

Part Two. Love the number plate!

And the grand finale… tear.

It just goes to show that two Gav’s are better than one.  Each in their own country, trying to do the right thing.  Now if anyone is getting ready for the immanent gotcha of Peak Oil, it was Gav.  If you want to watch all of his videos in order go to his website, www.kiwiev.com.  Hats off to you Gav!

This Gavin had better get his act together here in Melton West, AU.  I have my own power station on the roof, so the fuel won’t be a problem.  I just have to convince Kim that it is a good idea, and with my lease car expiring in Oct 09, I have the perfect opportunity!  I nearly have her sold on an Earthship (she like the coloured bottles in the walls), so an EV might not be too far behind. :=)

Gav in Melton West.

Earthships

I was just watching a great documentary titled Dennis Weaver’s Earthship which motivated me to do a little more research.  The inventor/architect of the Earthship concept is Michael Reynolds who has been refining the design since the ‘70s.

The houses are built out of recycled tyres, aluminium cans, and bottles.  The tyre walls are held together with compacted dirt, rendered with a coating of adobe made from sand, clay and straw.  In some designs there are strawbale walls as well, depending on availability of local materials.

There are no external utilities connected to these houses.  They collect their own water, are powered by renewable energy (solar PV and wind), and are passively heated and cooled.  The water is reused three times.  First as potable water captured from the roof, then as grey water to water the indoor garden beds, and then reused for flushing toilets.  The black water is processed via a septic tank and a reed bed system.

Pretty cool, and Kim says I can build a mini one in the pool area.  I think she might have been joking!

Please enjoy the documentary, however I apologise for the quality.  It runs for 27 minutes and was made in 1990.  The part about global warming was very interesting.  It mentioned that we only have 10 years to save the environment.  I guess we ran out of time!

Just imagine a whole community based on earthships.  Well there is such a place called the Greater World community in Taos, New Mexico.  That would be worth the trip.  For more information have a look at Earthships on Wikipedia.

Michael Reynolds is also in a recent documentary titled “Garbage Warrior”.  I believe it is out on DVD very soon.  Here is a trailer for it.

It looks really cool.  Earthships are a practical solution to the crisis that now confronts us.  Maybe if we had have listened to Dennis Weaver 19 years ago, we might all be living in Earthships.  Now that has to be better than our current building codes, and uses up all the crap we currently throw into landfill.  What a wonderful way to preserve the environment for future generations.

Waxing The Cheese

As a follow up to this mornings post, I thought I would show everyone how to wax a cheese.

The cheese wax is a special formulation and is not the same as paraffin or candle wax.  That type of wax is too brittle to be used to coat cheese, as the cheese needs a solid yet flexible covering to keep the air and bacteria out of it and to keep the remaining moisture locked in to help with the maturation process.  I received a kilogram of red cheese wax with my kit and it is about $15 per kilo.  It should last quite a while, because you can reuse the wax again after you have eaten your cheese.  I even used some wax that Ben collected off of his baby bell cheeses!  He was very happy to contribute.

So firstly, I set up a double boiler a small pan with about 5 cm of water.

On top of the pan use a stainless steel or glass container that you can reuse specifically for cheese making.  Once you melt the wax in the container, it is very difficult to get it back out again.  Once the water has boiled, keep it at a simmer.  This temperature will be sufficient to melt all of the wax.

Don’t try and put the entire block of wax in like this because you will be there for a month of Sundays!

 

Cut the block up into smaller pieces and it will melt much quicker.

After about 15 minutes, this is what you end up with.  A nice smooth consistency, just ready to dip the wheel into.

So here is the cheese before, nice a dry with no visible liquid.  I turned it about three times a day so that the remaining whey would drain out evenly.

Now the tricky part, and unfortunately no photos, because I had my own safety to consider and the wax was bloody hot!

Grab the wheel firmly and dip it into the wax so that it is half coated.  Without dropping it, let it dry for about 2 minutes, rotate 180 degrees, then holding by the waxed side, dip it again.  Hold for another 2 minutes and allow to dry.  You will find a very thin layer of wax over the entire wheel.  Repeat the process about 3 to 4 more times, ensuring that you don’t hold it in the wax too long, as you don’t want the cheese to melt.  Check for an even coating, and if you are satisfied that it is dry enough, rest the wheel on some baking paper and place in the fridge to harden and mature.  This is what it should look like (I think).

It has no holes in the wax, and is about 3mm thick all over.  In about 3 months, I will let you know how it tastes!

Kim tells me that in 3 weeks time I should make another one!  I think she might just be on to something!

Energy Efficiency Over At the Co-op

Lots of posts in 24 hours.  It was my turn to write today over at the Simple, Green Frugal Co-op.  I thought I would write about the method I used to halve my electricity consumption sustainably in just 15 weeks.

Have a read of Energy Efficiency and Saving Money.

Enjoy.

Gav

Wensleydale Cheese Gromit!

On Saturday, I took part in a marathon cheese making session.  I started at 1230 and finally finished at 2100!  I didn’t realise that it took so long to make a more complex cheese.

I used 7 litres of commercial homebrand full cream milk and had no problems this time getting the curds to set.  You should have seen the smile on my face when I tested the curd for firmness after the allotted time.  After one failure last week, I was a bit dubious of my future as an amateur cheese maker.  Happy days are here now.  Never, ever use UHT milk to make cheese except for Ricotta.

The recipe had so many steps, but easy enough to follow.  It just took a long time.  After I finally go to drain the curds after two hours of stirring every 10 minutes, I had to tie up the cheesecloth and then break the cheese up every 15 minutes for another 2 hours.  I am not sure what this was all about, but I didn’t question the method and just got on with it.  Finally it was time to test out the new cheese press, and I gave the honour to Ben.  He used all his muscles to squeeze out the remainder of the whey.  I left the cheese in the press for an hour, and now have to dry the cheese for two days before waxing it.  It will be mature in about 2-3 months.

Here is the nearly final product before waxing.  It is starting to yellow and get a crust as it dries.  It weighs 750 grams.

Notice the green bits in the middle.  That is a layer of sage leaves, which I hope will impart a wonderful flavour throughout the wheel.  I still haven’t had any luck finding a local dairy, so might have to look a bit further afield.  It would be good to get the milk as fresh as I can get it.  I dare say it would make a wonderful cheese. 

So if you have a lot of time on your hands, you could try this type of cheese out.  I think I will make a quick batch of feta during the week.  At least I know that it only takes 3.5 hours to make that type of cheese!  My marinated Feta is just divine, and I have to make some more.

Buccaneer Brewery

Yes, there is a new brewery in town.  Actually, it is in my shed and it goes by the name of Buccaneer Brewery!  I thought up the name many years ago when I was still in the Navy.  I wrote a post a while back called Gav’s Eco Beer, so have a look for my method of making it.

I have been a busy lad in the brewery today.  I fixed labels that Kim made me to the Dark Ale that I bottled last weekend.  I put 1kg of dextrose in to this batch, with a final alcohol content of 5%.  This batch made 32 bottles.  Dark Ale is a great winter beer, and I am looking forward to cracking this one open in about a month.

Then I bottled the Real Ale that I put in the fermenter last weekend.  It took me about an hour, but it was pleasurable work.  To this batch I only added 500g of dextrose, so the alcohol content worked out at 3.7%.  I managed to get 32 bottles from this batch as well.

Then I decided to make some non-alcoholic Ginger Beer.  I use a brewing kit made by Coopers as I find the flavour of this soft drink second to none.  I have tried other brands of kit ginger beer, but they are horrible.  The entire process only takes 3 hours from fermenter to bottle, and is ready to drink in 3 weeks.  The kit made twenty five 750ml bottles.

I have to stop brewing now, because I have run out of bottles so I better get some more or just save up PETE soft drink bottles.  In three weeks time I will try a bottle of each and let you know if I have been successful.  On average a bottle of beer costs 46 cents to make with Ginger beer a little more expensive at 60 cents a bottle.  Very frugal and very nice!

Ah, The Equinox and Lunar Planting

Once again the time is upon us.  A day of equal daylight and darkness, and a day of transition.  Goodbye Summer, hello Autumn!

For some it is a day of religious significance, but for others it means it is time to plant either the summer or winter crops.  For me it is about the time to prepare the winter veggie patch for planting next weekend.  I have also been researching and learning about moon planting of late, and believe there is something to this ancient practice.  According to the moon gardening calendar, this week is a week to prepare garden beds with compost, weeding, and just relaxing.  After the new moon next week, it will be a time to plant seeds that grow above ground and the weekend after that I will be planting root crops like parsnips.

If you want to learn more have a look at Darren's blog Green-Change.  He has just had an article written about him and his garden in the local newspaper.  Well done mate! 

He is a big fan of Lunar planting and you can find advice in the left hand panel of his blog.  I will certainly be giving it a go this season.  Last winter, I ended up with the most dreadful crop of broccoli, and today I traced back via my blog to the date I planted them.  By my calculations, I definitely planted them at the wrong time of the month, and they just did not grow, and were insect laden within a month.

So, compared to last season, what do I really have to loose.  Time will tell if it all works out. 

Gav

 

Participating in Earth Hour 2009

As in previous years, my family will be participating in Earth Hour on the 28th March at 2030-2130, and I will see if we can rope a few other around the neighbourhood into the event as well.

Now as you know, leading by example is one of my values, so imagine my dismay when I went to this years Earth Hour website and discovered that my local council has not signed up for the event.

Here is my action email for the day, which I sent off a few minutes ago.

"Dear Melton Shire Councillors,

My name is Gavin, and I am a keen advocate for the environment and strong climate change action.

Being a regular participant in Earth Hour since its inception three years ago, I was disappointed to find that Melton Shire is not listed as a participant in this years event as per the link, http://www.earthhourau.org/faq#general-04

As Earth Hour is one of the premier Climate Change events each year, wouldn't it set a shining example to our community if the shire council participated in the event this year.  Leading by example has always inspired others to follow.  I believe that if the shire joins this event, many other families will be inspired to take part, thereby sending a powerful message to our leaders at the Commonwealth level.  Other benefits to the shire would be energy savings, public relations value, and the council would be very visible showing its green credibility. 

We all have families and want them to have a bright future, so by acting in this simple way, we can go part of the way to helping send that message of hope which is so desperately needed in these troubled times.  Please consider joining the many hundreds of other councils throughout Australia by participating in Earth Hour on the 28th of March 2009.

Yours Sincerely,

Gavin"

I will let you know what I get back.  If any councillor of Melton Shire are reading, please consider signing up to this years event. 

Quiz Answers

One of the limitations of the tool I used to create the quiz yesterday, was that you didn't get to see the correct answers after you had pressed the submit button.

So, as planned here are the answers with a little bit of explanation.

 

1. You might have heard the term carbon footprint. What is it?

A.  How many squares in you home

B.  The fuel efficiency of your car

C.  Answer: A person's contribution to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  According to Wikipedia; A carbon footprint is “the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product”

2. What is standby power?

A.  The excess power that is generated by coal fired power stations at night

B.  Answer: The standby energy consumer electronics consume when not in use.  According to Wikipedia; Standby power, also called vampire power, phantom load, or leaking electricity, refers to the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode.

C.  When you leave the porch light on when you go out

3.  What does "photovoltaic" refer to?

A.  Answer: The field of research that involves solar-power technology.  Wiki states; Photovoltaics (PV) is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells for energy by converting sunlight directly into electricity.

B.  The amount of energy it takes to power a device using the sun's energy

C.  A camera that takes pictures in the dark

D.  Those machines that print photos for you at Kmart

4.  What does the term "de-lamping" mean?

A.  Remove your lamps in your house

B.  Answer: To remove every second light bulb in an office space.  According to ResourceSmart Victoria; De-lamping is a strategy which school's or offices can utilise to reduce energy consumption used for classroom lighting. All old or inefficient fluorescent tubes are removed and replaced a reduced number of high efficiency triphosphor lamps. Fewer tubes can be used because triphosphor lamps have a higher light output, a longer life and do not degrade over time.

C.  Blowing out candles after Earth Hour

5. What is the Global Warming Potential of Methane?

A.  3

B.  200

C.  Answer: 21.  Wikipedia states: Global warming potential (GWP) is a measure of how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming. It is a relative scale which compares the gas in question to that of the same mass of carbon dioxide (whose GWP is by definition 1).  Methane has a GWP of 25 (even I get it wrong sometimes!)

D.  22,800

6. Which is a carbon sink?

A.  Coal fired power station (lots of CO2-e emissions)

B.  Answer: A forest.  Wikipedia states; A carbon sink is a natural or manmade reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.

The main natural sinks are: Absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans or Photosynthesis by plants and algae

The main manmade sinks are: Landfills or Carbon capture and storage proposals

C.  A herd of cows (they fart methane)

D.  A flock of seagulls (an 80's band)

7. According to the Kyoto Protocol, which is not a greenhouse gas?

A.  Sulphur Hexaflouride

B.  Carbon Dioxide

C.  Methane

D.  Answer: Hydrogen.  According to the IPCC Fourth Assessment report, the following gases are GHG

• Carbon dioxide has a variable atmospheric lifetime, and cannot be specified precisely.^[45] Recent work indicates that recovery from a large input of atmospheric CO₂ from burning fossil fuels will result in an effective lifetime of tens of thousands of years.^[46][47] Carbon dioxide is defined to have a GWP of 1 over all time periods.
• Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 ± 3 years and a GWP of 72 over 20 years, 25 over 100 years and 7.6 over 500 years. The decrease in GWP at longer times is because methane is degraded to water and CO₂ through chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
• Nitrous oxide has an atmospheric lifetime of 114 years and a GWP of 289 over 20 years, 298 over 100 years and 153 over 500 years.
• CFC-12 has an atmospheric lifetime of 100 years and a GWP of 11000 over 20 years, 10900 over 100 years and 5200 over 500 years.
• HCFC-22 has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years and a GWP of 5160 over 20 years, 1810 over 100 years and 549 over 500 years.
• Tetrafluoromethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 50,000 years and a GWP of 5210 over 20 years, 7390 over 100 years and 11200 over 500 years.
• Sulphur hexafluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years and a GWP of 16300 over 20 years, 22800 over 100 years and 32600 over 500 years.
• Nitrogen trifluoride has an atmospheric lifetime of 740 years and a GWP of 12300 over 20 years, 17200 over 100 years and 20700 over 500 years.

8. What are the two main components in cheesemaking?

A.  Curds and hay

B.  Birds and sway

C.  Milk and cream

D.  Answer: Curds and whey;  Wikipedia states; Curds is a dairy product obtained by curdling (coagulating) milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar and then draining off the liquid portion (called whey)

9. Which one of these is not a potential application for grey water?

A.  Watering fruit trees

B.  Flushing the toilet

C.  Answer: Washing the dishes.  Refer to www.health.vic.gov.au for appropriate uses of grey water recycling.

10. What is the most polluting fossil fuel?

A.  Oil (emissions factor of 69.16 kg CO2-e/GJ)

B.  Answer: Brown Coal. (emissions factor of 93.11 kg CO2-e/GJ)

C.  Black Coal. (emissions factor of 88.43 kg CO2-e/GJ)

D.  Natural Gas. (emissions factor of 51.33 kg CO2-e/GJ)

Source: Australian Government - Department of Climate Change, National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors, November 2008.

 

So there you have it.  I am glad that lots of readers had a go at the quiz.  It wasn't an easy one, but I think it was lots of fun based on the comments.  Next time I will find some software that gives you instant feedback!

Thanks for playing.

Green Quiz Time

How Green is Your Green Vocab?

Are you a walking green dictionary. Find out with my quiz and post your result as a comment!

1. You might have heard the term carbon footprint. What is it?

How many squares in you home

The fuel efficiency of your car

A person's contribution to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

2. What is standby power?

The excess power that is generated by coal fired power stations at night

The standby energy consumer electronics consume when not in use

When you leave the porch light on when you go out

3. What does "photovoltaic" refer to?

The field of research that involves solar-power technology

The amount of energy it takes to power a device using the sun's energy

A camera that takes pictures in the dark

Those machines that print photos for you at Kmart

4. What does the term "de-lamping" mean?

Remove your lamps in your house

To remove every second light bulb in an office space

Blowing out candles after Earth Hour

5. What is the Global Warming Potential of Methane

3

200

21

22,800

6. Which is a carbon sink?

Coal fired power station

A forrest

A herd of cows

A flock of seagulls

7. According to the Kyoto Protocol, which is not a greenhouse gas?

Sulphur Hexaflouride

Carbon Dioxide

Methane

Hydrogen

8. What are the two main components in cheesemaking?

Curds and hay

Birds and sway

Milk and cream

Curds and whey

9. Which one of these is not a potential application for grey water?

Watering fruit trees

Flushing the toilet

Washing the dishes

10. What is the most polluting fossil fuel?

Oil

Brown Coal

Black Coal

Natural Gas

The Great Cheese Rescue

Late this afternoon, I thought I would try my hand at making a Wensleydale cheese infused with sage leaves in the middle.  Kim had bought me a cheese press during the week and I was all set to give it a tryout.  

Well that was the plan anyway.  It all started out well.  I used UHT full cream milk which was apparently OK to use in cheese making.  I added the right amount of Calcium Chloride to de-homogenise the milk (make the fat globules bigger), then added the starter culture, and waited for the prescribed 45 minutes.  So far so good.  I kept the temperature at 32C for the entire time, and then when time was up I added the rennet and waited another 45 minutes for the curds to set.

I checked the milk and expected to see a nicely set curd, but it was not to be.  It was still milk!  That was disappointing, so I added another lot of rennet and waited another 45 minutes.  To my surprise it was still bloody milk!  No curds had set.  I thought back to the cheese making class, and I remembered that one of the ladies mentioned that if the curds doesn't set after a second go, never throw out the milk because you can always make Ricotta Cheese out of it.

So, out with the cheese making book and off I went.  Brought the milk to 90-95C stirring all the time to ensure that the milk didn't burn, and then added half a cup of white vinegar.  This is meant to separate the milk into a basic curds and whey.  Guess what.  Nothing happened.  This was the most stubborn milk I had ever come across.  So in a panic, I threw in another half a cup of vinegar. It finally worked.  The whey was visible and the curds were so tiny that you could just see them.  I strained the curds and whey through cheesecloth in a colander and waited for 5 minutes.  The cheese was still very hot so I had to be careful not to burn myself. 

After a bit of mucking around, I ended up with two containers full of creamy Ricotta.  I added half a teaspoon of salt to each container and stirred well.  This is what the final product ended up like.

 

Here is a close up.

I guess we will be having lasagne tomorrow night!  It tastes very nice indeed and much better than the store bought muck.

So what went wrong with the Wensleydale?  I might have been a bit heavy handed with the bleach when sterilizing all the equipment before I started or the UHT milk might not have been suitable.  I might not have used enough Calcium Chloride to reverse the homogenisation process, which might have accounted for me having to add double the vinegar to separate the curds and whey in the last ditch effort to rescue the milk. 

I think I will give it another go, but this time with fresh milk.  At least I can eliminate one factor from the process.   I still want to taste home made Wensleydale with sage!

The old saying is true; When at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

 

Go Green Team

Like a chip off the old block, my daughter Megan joined the "Go Green" team at her high school about 2 months ago. It comprises of 9 other like minded students in their final year of school. Her school is quite un-green with no recycling bins, no water tanks, no energy efficiency campaign, no Solar PV, no community garden, no composting/worm farms. So the team has lots of potential opportunities to work with.

Last week, Megan spoke at assembly before the entire school, telling them their plans to green up the school. I believe she and the team received a standing ovation, so it just goes to show that there must be a lot of young adults out there who want to help save what is left of the environment.

Their vision for Kurunjang Secondary College is to create a cleaner and healthier environment for living and learning.

The groups aims for 2009 are;

In the short term

Developing a pride and respect for our environment

Reviewing the bin system in the school including the location and use of our bins by cleaning and deodorizing and fixing the bins and if needed obtaining more bins

Teaching others about the proper methods for recycling and then recycling all our bottles, cans and paper

In the long term

Obtaining grants for solar panels to make our school more energy efficient and then ultimately putting electricity back into the system

Obtaining grants for water tanks, plants and trees so we can not only beautify the school, but also create areas of shade and be water self sufficient

When Megan told me that she had joined a green group at school, I was very proud of her and the teenagers who created and joined the group.  It gave me faith in the next generation to make a difference, and not accept the current norms.

Just for the record, in no way did I force Megan down this path, it must have just happened via osmosis.  I suppose that when she is part of a family that aims to live sustainability, she doesn't have much option than to be a part of the movement!  I am not saying that Megan is an green evangelist, far from it.  I still have to remind her occasionally to turn her PC off at the wall to minimize standby power leakage, or to turn the kitchen light off when she was the last one in the room, etc.  Other than that she is a quite achiever!

Well done Go Green team from Kurunjang Secondary College. If you ever want me to come along and speak about sustainable living, just let my daughter know.  Happy to share what I know.

Feed-in Tariff Sensibility

Finally, some half decent news for the renewable energy sector in Victoria. A Bill, the Electricity Industry Amendment (Premium Solar Feed-in Tariff) Bill 2009, was tabled in the state parliament yesterday. After many letters to our politicians, and lobbying by environmental groups.

The Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor sent me this press release.  Wasn't that nice of him.  It must have been the 3 letters and 4 emails I sent him about the issue that might have prompted him to notify me personally!

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VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT TO FUND NEW SOLAR POWER STATION

The State Government will provide up to $100 million to develop a new large-scale solar power station in Victoria, Premier John Brumby announced today.

“Our Government is taking action to change Victoria’s energy mix and promote renewable energy and we will be seeking proposals for a solar power station which can produce about 330GWh of electricity per year or enough power to run 50,000 homes,” Mr Brumby said.

“Alternately, this would be enough power to run all Victorian Government departments and agencies, including public schools, police stations, VicRoads and even the Melbourne Zoo.

“Solar has huge potential in Victoria and large-scale solar is the most economical form of solar energy generation which is why we are providing this funding.

“This project is expected to drive investment and create jobs in regional Victoria.

“Expressions of interest will be called for immediately and the aim will be to have the plant operating by 2015.”

Mr Brumby said the Victorian Government funding would be subject to the project receiving matching funding from the Federal Government.

“We have fast-tracked this project so companies can tap into the Federal Government’s funding available under the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program,” he said.

“Solar power generation is expensive because the solar industry is still in its infancy. The way to drive down the cost is to speed up development of solar plants which is why the Victorian Government will provide funding for a new solar power station.”

Mr Brumby said the funding was just one of many Victorian Government initiatives designed to increase renewable energy sources such as solar energy.

“This Government is supporting the full spectrum of solar generation and has provided a $6 million grant for the Organic Solar R&D project and $50 million through our Energy Technology Innovation Strategy for the Solar Systems 154MW large-scale solar plant near Mildura,” he said.

“Our Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) has already attracted $2 billion in renewable energy investment and will create more than 2000 jobs, and we have invested $5 million to install solar power infrastructure in 500 schools and community buildings.”

Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said the latest proposal would provide a massive boost to large-scale solar development in Victoria and would help diversify the state’s renewable energy mix.

“These projects coupled with the announcement today represent more than $1 billion worth of investment in solar projects in Victoria,” Mr Batchelor said.

“It will be the second large-scale solar project in Victoria and will make us the most solar friendly-government in Australia.”

The large-scale investment will be complemented by a Bill introduced into Parliament today to support Victorian households to invest in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Mr Batchelor said the feed-in tariff scheme was about increasing the number of Victorian households with solar panels by making them more affordable.

“Under the Bill, Victorian households with solar PV systems will be eligible to receive a credit of 60 cents per kilowatt for energy they feed back into the grid,” he said.

“The premium feed-in tariff scheme is capped at 3.2kW, which is about the maximum size system for a large house.

“The Brumby Government recognises the importance of assisting individual households prepared to act on climate change and this scheme encourages households to be energy efficient, as the more power they save the higher their payments.

“Our scheme strikes a balance between helping households implement solar technology and minimising the cost imposed on all Victorian residential electricity customers.

“This premium feed-in tariff scheme will run for 15 years, be available to new and existing small scale systems and will allow up to 100,000 households to participate.”

Environment Minister Gavin Jennings said the Victorian Government’s broad support for solar generation, from households to large-scale, would help ensure solar was established as an affordable and integral part of Victoria’s energy mix.

“We want to help Victorians do their bit to reduce their carbon footprint, but for those unable to afford solar panels we want to continue to encourage investment in large scale solar so everybody can access cleaner, greener energy.”

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I feel that this is a partial win for people trying to do the right thing by the environment.  I also like the fact that they are building a second large scale Solar Power plant in the state.  However, they need to build at least 100 more by 2015, so we might get part of the way to reducing our reliance on coal fired power stations. 

I am still holding my breath because the bill is yet to pass through both houses in to law. This should happen over the next few days. It has passed its first reading in the lower house, but was ordered to have a second reading today.

I have put together a list of pros and cons regarding the FIT legislation

Pros

• Cap for PV systems increased from 2kW to 3.2kW
• System owners are paid 60 cents per kWh for each kWh fed into the electricity grid
• Scheme runs for 15 years
• New and existing installations are eligible

Cons

• Feed-in tariff is based on net metering only
• Does not apply to other forms of renewable energy e.g. residential wind, micro hydro
• Is capped at a limit of 100,000 homes
• Only applies to residential homes and not businesses
• Not a national gross feed-in tariff

So what does this mean for me? Well, because the system cap was raised, I am now eligible for the FIT like so many more families, which is great news. I have calculated that we use most of our electricity during the evening, and we will feed most of the energy back into the grid during the day.  This means that we receive a premium for it. So on an average spring or autumns day, we produce, on average 13 kWh (more in summer) and would feed about 11 kWh back into the grid. That gives us a payment of roughly $6.60 per day, and if you calculate that out for 6 months equals $1205 in tariffs paid to yours truly for half the year. Winter generation is much lower, and Summer is much higher, so they will probably equal out over the two seasons. So a whole year could be as high as $2400 for a system of my size with maximum feed-in during the day. As we only draw a small amount from the grid at night, we will not be paying much over all. Happy days!

So, who says that sending letters to our elected officials doesn't count for anything! I consider this a small win for people power, the reduction of greenhouse gasses globally, and the renewable energy industry in Victoria.  About bloody time!

The Age of Stupid

I have just had the pleasure to watch an advance screening organised by the Climate Action Network Australia, of the movie The Age of Stupid.  So advanced in fact, that the world premier has not even taken place!

Here is the basic premise straight from my invitation;

"This is a chance for you to see the film George Monbiot picked as "the one thing we'll be talking about in 2009", calling it "a captivating and constantly surprising film: the first successful dramatisation of climate change" (for more about the film go to: http://www.ageofstupid.net/)

'The Age of Stupid' features Pete Postlethwaite (Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects) as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking back at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Directed by McLibel-filmmaker Franny Armstrong and produced by Oscar-winning John Battsek (One Day In September) 'The Age of Stupid' will be released in March 2009 across the UK, and then around the world, with the Australian launch planned for June / July.   Alongside the movie, we will be launching the "Not Stupid" action campaign, which aims to turn 250 million viewers into virtual or physical activists, all focusing on Copenhagen."

I felt that the movie was harder hitting than An Inconvenient Truth and it left me asking myself, 'why are we all so blind and stupid that we can't see the events of climate change unfolding in front of us'.  At first I felt depressed, then a big fist of anger and the urge to do something further than I am already doing hit me.  I know that I am only one person, but together with others, we can begin to turn this emergency around before it is too late.  The movie was well filmed, and the message sang out to me loud and clear.  The only criticism I have is that there were no solutions presented at the end of the movie, and it left the viewer asking, "What can I do now?".  My only fear is that the shock effect will be too strong.  I suppose that is where the local Climate Action Groups or Transition Towns come into play.  They are the groups where these people can turn to for getting at least some of their questions answered.

So, here is the trailer for the movie.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be jolted quickly into the reality of climate change, peak oil and consumerism.

I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

 

Nine Meals From Anarchy?

Back in the year 2000, a fuel protest bought London, the capital of the United Kingdom, to within three days of running out of food.  The then Blair government commissioned Lord Cameron of the Countryside Agency to investigate, who came back with a chilling report: "The nation is just nine meals from anarchy."

Lets just think about that for a few minutes.  Only 9 meals between order and chaos.  What did Lord Cameron mean by this?  Will there be zombies knocking on our doors? 

Well, once again readers, it is all about the supply and demand of crude oil and that Oil = Food.   Let me explain.  The majority of our food distribution is what is known as "just in time" distribution.  Your local supermarket only has small stock out the back, and most of the stock on the shelves.  It is transported from large distribution centres by trucks to each supermarket, each day.  These transportation systems use oil which is a finite resource.

So when the transportation flow stops, or in other words, the oil supply gets disrupted, so does our food security.  A recent example were the recent floods in Far North Queensland.  Within a few days all of the supermarket shelves were bare, partly because of stockpiling by townsfolk, but mainly because there were no food deliveries via rail or truck for over a week.  What if there were no food deliveries for two, three or even four weeks?

Sounds a bit apocalyptic doesn't it.  I am not trying to scare people, just attempting to make people think about where their next meal or few will come from. 

So what can we do about this?  Well, of course the scouts motto comes to mind, "Be prepared".  Here are a few tips that have kept us going in troubled times.

 

Grow your own fruit & vegetables.  By growing your own, you poses the skills to be able to overcome food shortages.  If you can convince your neighbours to grow their own food, then you can swap excess produce.

Get a few chickens.  Chickens are easy to keep, with most councils allowing you to keep a few birds in your back yard.  If you have a large enough backyard, you will also be able to grow feed crops for the hens.  Not only are the eggs a great source of protein, but the manure is just gold for your fruit and vegetables.

Stockpile essentials.  We stockpile essentials, mainly because Kim and I dislike frequent shopping, and feel more secure having a cupboard full of food and personal needs.  Don't forget to practice good stock management, older stuff to the front and newer stuff to the back.  We have had to draw upon the stockpile once so far, when I was laid up for a month in August last year.  We still count our blessings to this day that we thought ahead.  The other good thing about stockpiling is that it gives you room to prepare a backup plan in the event of a prolonged food shortage.  We have about three months of supplies on hand, which would give us ample time to increase our vegetable production.  Don't forget about water either!

Preserve excess produce.  If you have more than you need and loath feeding it to the worm farm, learn how to preserve your own food.  I love eating plums in the winter that I have preserved in February.  You can even buy bulk fruit or vegetables from markets and preserve that if you can't grow it yourself.

Menu plan your meals.  During a crisis you are going to have to plan your meals, because the last thing you need is wasted food.  This way you can feel secure in the knowledge that you have the ingredients that you require for the next few weeks.  

Share your skills with others.  As I mentioned above, share your food growing skills with others around you now!  Not only do you help your fellow man, make good friends, but you build resilience into the community around you.  What is the point of securing your own food supply, when the zombies are knocking at your door trying to get the neighbourhoods only food source?  Share your knowledge in the good times, and you will reap the rewards in the difficult times.  No zombies will visit your neighbourhood because everyone knows how to grow their own!

Read a few good books about all these subjects.  Who knows if the Internet will be available during the crisis you may face, or electricity for that matter.  A good book always beats any other source of information (besides experience) hands down when it comes to crunch time.  Learn now, but keep the information so that you can share with others if the need arises.

As I have said above, this post is not meant to shock you into a stupor of inaction, but just give you food for thought (pardon the pun), and give you some ideas how you can provide your own food security.  I hope I never have to use these skills that I have learned over the last few years, but it is best to be prepared.

To finish off today, I give you two relevant quotes:

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."
-- Ben Franklin

and

"People only see what they are prepared to see."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Heat On The Hill

I have just watched a very informative ABC 4 Corners story titled "Heat on the Hill".  For those who didn't catch it, you can view the entire story and extended interviews at the 4 Corners site. 

It opened my eyes to just how really powerful that vested interests are in our political system, and how hard they have lobbied the government to change the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.  It made me sick to the core to see carbon intensive industries initiating a campaign to derail our political system.  I thought that people voted for governments, not companies, that put profit before people.  I trust the goodness and kind intentions of ordinary Australians to do the right thing by reducing their personal carbon footprints, not the perceived good will of a money grabbing company trying to weasel themselves out of their corporate responsibilities.

The government of the Commonwealth of Australia introduces draft CPRS legislation into the lower house tomorrow with a proposed 5-15% reduction in GHG's from year 2000 levels by the year 2020.  Too little, too late as far as the majority of the climate scientists tell us.  Not only will we loose iconic Australian natural areas because of our lack of action, but this low target does not send a strong message to other countries who will be formulating a global scheme at Copenhagen in December of this year.  This is the moment that true leadership is required, not some watered down target to appease short term thinking, carbon intensive industries.  What hope do other countries have in convincing their citizens to take larger cuts in emissions, if Australia, who emit more GHG per capita than any other nation in the world, are not willing to act decisively on this issue.  It is not a small issue either, but only the largest self created problem that mankind has ever faced in its existence.  How ironic that it is a problem of our own making!

Albert Einstein once said;

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

It is these real and dangerous problems that cannot be solved by a business as usual approach in our current economical model.  The market will not magically solve our problems.  Only the concerted and collective efforts of all of the worlds citizens, each doing their fair share and the right thing by each other that will help to claw our way out of this mess we have created. 

People power is the only way to solve this Climate Crisis, and by acting in your own small way to reduce your carbon footprint, will we make a true difference to the overall picture, until such time that our elected officials get with the program and do the right thing by all of us!

Also, the results of my poll are in which asks;

Do you think the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme should be delayed due to the Global Financial Crisis?

A massive 92% of respondents believe that there is no time to waste in implementing a fair CPRS.  Surely, the will of the people must count for something in the overall scheme of things, or do I just have my rose coloured glasses on today? After all, not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts!

Alas, poor Chookie

Sad news for the neighbours yesterday.  Their sick chook passed away last night.  Whatever was stuck in her crop just didn't want to dislodge.   They only had the chook for a week, so didn't get too attached to it, which was probably just as well.

Danni & Dale took the carcase down to the local Vet who for $15 will get the pet cemetery to cremate it.  More like roast chicken, with potatoes and a nice gravy, me thinks at the Vet's house for dinner tonight (not nice, I know). 

On the subject of chickens, Edwina has done something to her leg whilst mucking around in the back yard this afternoon.  I had a look at her and there is no blood or broken skin, so I think she may have just landed hard on it when she jumped off of the garden bed wall.  She is walking with a bit of a limp, and in some pain.  Hopefully she will be a lot better tomorrow. 

There will be no post tomorrow (or gardening), as it is Kim and my 12th wedding anniversary.  So we will be celebrating with a nosh up dinner.  I am making Beef Rogan Josh, with all the trimmings and Kim is making a simple desert.  Kim's sister Lydia and her boyfriend Matt are coming over for dinner as well, so we are looking forward to a relaxing, memorable day, with a lot of champagne and giggles!

Poll Time - Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

I read today that the PM is seriously thinking of bowing to big businesses and may delay the very ordinary CPRS.

Now, I believe that even a dud scheme is probably better than no scheme at all, but I am going to put the question out there in the form of a poll.

Let me know what you think. For more information on the media speculation have a look at these couple of articles.

Kevin Rudd signals delay in emissions trading scheme.

or

Shrinking economy no reason to delay ETS: Rudd

Now I am really confused. Does the PM really know what he is actually talking about, or is it a media smoke screen. Maybe a bit of both?

Adopt a Tree

My friend Jen has managed to get her picture in her local newspaper.  She is an advocate for helping save trees planted by local council on the nature strips in her area (amongst many other environmental activities).

Have a look at the article in the Stonnington Leader under the title of "Our Trees Need Loving".  Nice photo Jen, but dare I say that as Melbourne's climate gets dryer, we need to loose this fascination with planting water hungry Elm trees in the city, and start planting native eucalypts in their place.  That is all we have out in the dry west of the city and they are all doing well.

Just food for thought.

 

Sustainability Leadership

I have been approached by Dianna Kha from the Centre for Sustainability Leadership for an unpaid plug today.  After a bit of thought, and still reflecting on yesterdays post, I thought it was a great idea.  We need a few leaders in these troubling times!

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BECOME AUSTRALIA’S NEXT EMERGING SUSTAINABILITY LEADER

Are you someone who is passionate about sustainability and committed to make our future a better place to live and work? If you have answered yes, then the Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program can help you realise your vision!

The Fellowship Program is a seven-month program run annually by the Centre for Sustainability Leadership, a not-for-profit organisation with a unique vision for building a bridge to a more sustainable future by creating real and systematic change through sustainability leadership and innovation.

We provide a cutting edge curriculum, open doors to unparalleled networks, and give participants access to leadership experience rarely available in the early stages of a career. Weekly workshops, group project activities, a mentorship program and residential retreats are key components of this dynamic leadership development program.

We welcome people in any field to apply. Successful applicants will be joining an esteemed network, dedicated to making a difference that includes everyone from artists to engineers, lawyers to graphic designers, academics to accountants.

The Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program is scholarship-based. The only cost to participants is a $2500 contribution cost (the full cost of us running program is approximately $15,000 per participant, funded by our generous sponsors and in-kind support). If an applicant cannot afford the $2,500 contribution cost there are a significant number of full scholarships available. No worthy applicant will miss out due to genuinely not being able to pay.

To apply or find out more, visit www.csl.org.au or email info@csl.org.au. In addition, The Centre for Sustainability Leadership will be hosting the following information sessions:

Sydney: 12th March, 6:30- 7:30pm, Location: Sydney CBD. Check website for details.

Melbourne: 18th March, 6:30- 7:30pm, Location: EPA offices, HWT Tower, Ground Floor, 40 City Road, Southbank Victoria

Applications are NOW open and close March 30.

We Are Oil Junkies

Did you get your daily dose of oil today?  You didn't? 

Well, just between you and me, I think that you may be in denial and you have had a hit of some of the "black" stuff today.  Let me show you what I mean and how oil permeates the very fabric of current our civilization.

Oil is all around us

Did you brush your teeth this morning?  Guess what? Most commercial toothpastes are derived from oil based products, as is most shampoos.  Not to mention the plastic containers they came in and the toothbrush you are brushing with.  The water that washed your mouth out with was transported to you by infrastructure made by machines powered by oil in the form of diesel or petrol.

Did you turn on the light to see what you were doing?  Powered by coal fired generators, you say.  That's not oil.  Too right it is not, but how do you think they dig it out of the ground.  That's right, with machines powered by diesel.  The transmission line infrastructure is repaired by people driving vehicles powered by oil and keep the energy flowing.  But I have GreenPower I here some of you say.  How were the wind turbines made?  At least some of the manufacturing process used some form of oil based material and in the transportation of the turbine to its current site.  You just can't get away from oil.

Did you have breakfast this morning?  Did you buy the cereal or bread from the supermarket?  How did it get to the supermarket shelves?  That, right friends, it was transported by oil powered vehicles, with your cup of coffee probably travelling many kilometres from some exotic location on the other side of the planet.  How far did your milk travel?  At least 200km I'm betting.

How did you get to work?  Beside the obvious use of petrol/gas in your car, somewhere along your journey, you would have used oil to get there.  Even your bike has plastic parts that are oil based!

Not convinced yet?  I shall continue.

Did you use your computer today?  If you are reading this, you must be.  Loaded with oil based plastics and components.  No oil means no PC's, and no PC's means no Internet.  Oh dear.

What was for lunch?  A nice salad sandwich maybe?  Those lettuces and tomatoes (if not home grown or organic) would have been grown with the assistance of natural gas based fertilisers and kept pest free with petroleum based pesticides and herbicides.  They would have been transported long distances to your plate via truck or train all driven by oil.

Do you need to take a daily medication.  There is a good chance that the pharmaceutical company made it from a hydrocarbon derived from oil.

I could go on forever, but in the interests of not shocking you any further, I think I have made my point.

Oil = Civilisation as we know it

So now that we know that "Oil = our current way of life", what happens when we can't get enough of the stuff?  Yes, I am talking about Peak Oil.  I am not talking about going cold turkey, but a slow and probably bumpy decline in cheap energy.  We can still get our daily dose (for a while), but it will get very expensive, very quickly as oil prices begin to rise again and demand outstrips supply.  Some experts believe that global oil production has already peaked in 2007, but others believe we still have a few more years.  Either way, there is no fuel known to mankind that can rapidly replace oil as a cheap energy source in such a short space of time.  

Civilization as we know, it has become so reliant on the stuff that the only way to wean ourselves off will be by way of a sudden shock to our collective system.  What sort of emotions do you think the average global citizen will feel when they find out that there is not enough oil to go around like the glory days.  Duped, I reckon, and possibly very angry.  So much so, that civil unrest may become the norm.  I bet this issue is not on many peoples radar.  Most are just coming to terms with Climate Change, let alone another king hit like this one.  The video below might describe it better than my attempt at documenting the issue.

Transition Towns

How can we prepare ourselves for this issue?  Some say we can't, and that we should stock up on food, guns and ammunition.  I personally believe that is crazy talk.  The "Survivalists" as they are known, will survive of course, but only for a while.  History has shown that humans survive better in collective groups and have more meaningful lives (unlike our current state of affairs!). 

I believe that a community that lives locally has far more resilience than those individuals who go it alone.  A single person or family cannot possibly learn all the skills necessary to survive for a long period of time without outside help.

So, building local community is probably the best way to combat the onset of an energy decline.  One proposed way of preparing ourselves is via a Transition Town initiative.  According to the TT site, a Transition Town kind of begins like this;

"It all starts off when a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change?

They begin by forming an initiating group and then adopt the Transition Model with the intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative.

A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question:

"for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"

So building resilience in our local community, we have to embark on a social experiment on a massive scale.  The creators of the transition process are convinced that;

• if we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late
• if we act as individuals, it'll be too little
• but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.

I believe that they are spot on.  Reskilling for the future is what will be necessary.  Cuba were forced to do it after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's.  They survived Peak Oil, by changing they way they did everyday things, but now they are getting hammered by nearly every hurricane that enters the Mexican Gulf each year.  Have a look at this clip from the documentary "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".  It is simply amazing what a determined community managed to achieve.

As you know I am very vocal in this blog about both Climate change and Peak Oil.  How do they go together?  Well think of it this way;

• Climate change makes this carbon reduction transition essential
• Peak oil makes it inevitable
• Transition initiatives make it feasible, viable and attractive

I like the sound of TT so much that I am attempting to gather a few good people in my local area to kick it off.   If there are any local readers who are interested in helping to start up a TT initiative in Melton, Victoria, please drop me an email.  I am meeting with some people from our shires Environment & Sustainability department in the next few weeks, and am going to ascertain what their reaction is.   With a lot of determination we can all have a go in our own towns, villages, or cities and become resilient against these two major problem that we have brought upon ourselves.  We don't want a repeat of these behaviours, now do we?

Let just hope we can all act fast enough.