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About Us
Welcome to the organization of Los Angeles outposts of the
Post Carbon Institute. Our industrial society is approaching
the end of the oil age, and is completely unprepared for the
consequences. Our aim is to educate the community on the issue
of oil depeltion and the coming peak in global oil production,
take action in our community to prepare for the post-carbon
age and have fun along the way.
Global Relocalization
We advocate for relocalization
projects as a response to peak oil, climate change and declining
earth resources.
When fossil fuel extraction goes into decline, there is
no renewable source that will replace either the quantity
of energy we get from oil, or the quality. The most significant
renewable source of energy right now is hydro-electric, which
is still less than 3% of the US energy production, and most
of the best places for hydro-electric have been utilized already.
Solar represents 0.06% our energy production in the United
States. Even if we started a massive program of building solar
panels now, it would only make a dent in replacing the energy
we get from oil before oil was well into decline. At that
point the oil needed to make solar panels would also be desparately
needed for our agriculture which is extremely dependant on
oil (see Eating
Fossil Fuels by Dale Allen Pfeiffer). With oil in decline,
any huge investment in infrastructure will be competing for
the available oil with food production, transportation and
other economic activity.
There is a place for renewable energy in our future - but
it will not solve our energy problem. The most direct path
to making supply meet demand is conservation and voluntary
population reduction. To conserve, increasing efficiency is
not nearly enough To significantly reduce our energy consumption,
we need to travel less and produce goods locally. We also
need to consume less - particularly of products the have significant
fossil fuel inputs. This project doesn't need to be completed
overnight. It needs to be completed at least at a rate that
keeps up with the rate of fossil fuel decline - estimated
to be 2-3%/year.
For more information refer to:
Peak
Oil: An outlook on Crude Oil Depletion
By Colin Campbell
Alternative
Energy Sources
A look at the options, by geologist Walter Youngquist
Nine
Critical Questions to Ask About Alternative Energy Sources
Global
Relocalization
By Julian Darley
Preparations
and policies for petrocollapse and climate distortion
By Jan Lundberg
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