Now that we have reached the bumpy plateau of Peak Oil, the inevitable economic contraction awaits us.
As you know, I am an advocate of re-localisation. I have written many posts about Peak Oil, and the suburban fiasco that awaits us. The time to re-localise is now, not a few years in the future, because it takes time to learn the post peak oil skills required to run a low energy society.
Contrary to the popular media belief that the end of Peak Oil has arrived like this article at Bloomberg (read the comments, which tell the real story), the real experts at the Oil Drum and ASPO, still predict a global contraction of the oil supply sooner rather than later.
So just to refresh everyone about exactly what is at stake, I found this video that explains the link between Peak Oil and Economic contraction.
I followed the link on the video and found a very cool spreadsheet, if you want to figure out if you are in a decent position as we get closer to the long descent. The originating website is www.poaec.com
You can find the MS Excel spreadsheet titled POAEC_Report_Card_v1.4.xls at the link which will help you figure out your current status. It even has lots of solutions should you want to learn more from decent sources.
I used the spreadsheet and this is the score I received.
It goes to show that I am not perfect, as we do not have essential medicine on hand for our health issues, or have reliable rainfall in our local area. Our local community network also has to strengthen before I am comfortable that we are resilient enough.
The only thing I found at fault was the lack of consideration about potential climate change impacts. I would have asked questions about height above sea level and things like that as well. It would make it a more rounded test.
So, why don’t you have a go at the spreadsheet (if you can) and let me know your score and potential areas to focus on via a comment? I think it would be a discussion. Tag, you’re it!
Wow, great exercise. I got a “B” overall. Our weakest area is potable water – got a D for that, which is a bit of a wake up call. We did get an A for shelter (no debt, well insulated, etc)
Cheers Dawn. I need to fix up our insulation due to the extremely hot weather we are now experiencing more frequently.
Gav x
BRILLIANT exercise and it’s got me thinking long and hard (as I guess it’s made to). We got an overall grade of B and I am pretty sure we would survive but our personal protection isn’t great (D+). Energy isn’t wonderful either. As for medications, we’re into herbal treatments, natural medicines and homeopathy which are all renewable in a post peak oil world.
The friends and family question is difficult as, being relatively new in town we are still getting involved in the community but we are getting there. Financially we are in an odd situation and it could go either way.
I think a blog post directing my readers here is in order.
Love your post Jessie. A good breakdown that will make your readers think deeper about the issue.
Gav x