Transition Culture

1 Dec 2005

The ENLIVEN Report – the nuts and bolts of localised energy systems…

It is becoming clear to me that one of the important elements of the response to peak oil is a relocalisation of the energy grid. Most of the current scenarios about energy for the UK, including those that have prompted the Government’s revival of the nuclear option, are based on a National Grid (and also on maintaining current levels of consumption rather than attempting to rein in our out-of-control consumer culture, but that’s a subject for a later post…). I have yet to see figures for the national implications of a localised energy scenario rather than the National Grid. It would be interesting to see how much it would reduce demand. Very little research exists as to the feasibility of localised grids. **FEASTA** in Dublin have produced a very useful document, the ENLIVEN Report, looking at some of the real nitty gritty of applying this concept to actual settlements.

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24 Nov 2005

Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan

**The Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan** is now available on this site as a pdf. file. This plan was produced at Kinsale FEC by myself and the college’s second year students, and was, as far as we know, the first attempt by a community to design an intentionally designed way down from the oil peak. You can read more about how it was carried out in the article called **”Designing Energy Descent Pathways”** in the Articles section on this site. We printed 500 copies, and they are already very scarce.

We heard the other day that the Action Plan has been awarded Cork Environmental Forum’s prestigious **Roll of Honour Award** for 2005. It is wonderful for the Plan and for the town of Kinsale to be recognised

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