The Green Village News Tagged ‘peak oil’

Brixton Pound Moves Town Closer To ‘Transition Town’ Status

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Morleys Brixton pound transition town (photograph: Kake Pugh via Flickr)Brixton will be taking a step in the direction of market towns Stroud, Totnes and Lewes with the launch of the Brixton Pound on Thursday 17th September. As the economy is still in the throes of recession, the concept of transition towns is being looked at as a model that could help ease the economic tensions by encouraging communities to become more self-supporting, as well as helping combat the problems of peak oil and climate change added to by transportation of goods from around the world.

It is hoped the launch of the new currency, which will not replace pounds sterling in Brixton but will be available as an alternative for customers, who will be offered their change in Brixton pound notes, will help keep money within the local economy. The currency will be available in £1, £5, £10 and £20 notes and a large number of businesses in the area have bought into the idea, agreeing to accept payment for goods or services in the local currency, either solely in Brixton pounds or in conjunction with sterling.

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Saudi Arabian Oil Leader Says Renewable Energy Cannot Win Out Over Oil

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

extracting oilFormer President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco, Mr Abdallah S. Jum’ah was the speaker at a Royal Academy of Engineering lecture and dinner on 17th June, which set out to discuss the issue of technology being the key to the sustainability of future energy generation.

In his address, Mr Jum’ah expressed his belief that fossil fuels will never be replaced by renewable energy, as there is still a plentiful supply of oil available for future generations to use; some of this however would be from unconventional sources such as tar sands, such as those in Canada. He argued that renewable energy sources used today, such as wind, solar and geothermal energy, contribute less than 1% to the energy we use, going on to say that he believed without considerable investment such as government subsidies to enable companies to improve efficiency, their market share would not increase.

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