Peak Energy Briefings:

To update the information in the Energy Beyond Oil book, and to introduce some of the new information coming out of Less is a Four Letter Word, we've put together a series of briefings that cover the issue of Peak Energy as a series of themed briefings. Currently there are 15, but we will extend this in the future as time allows –

No.	Title	Content	Files
1	Peak Energy The Limits of Oil & Gas Production	What is "peak energy", and what does it mean for the future of the UK? Although the debate is open for the global peak, in the UK it is not – our own oil and gas production has already peaked.
2	Energy & Climate Energy is the Problem, Not Carbon!	Today many people are focussed on the "problem" of climate change. From our point of view climate change is not a problem, it is a "symptom" of and energy system that is failing.
3	Energy in the UK Putting our consumption into perspective	The government and the media make many statement about or use of energy – unfortunately the debate on energy in the UK is marred by the fact that many of these statements are given out of context.
4	Renewable Energy The Potential and Our Limitations	To put it simply, renewable energy will never meet the current level of energy consumption in the UK. Therefore the future of renewable energy must be based on minimising our need for it.
5	Nuclear Power Why nuclear power isn't a solution to our needs	The government promotes nuclear power as a solution to our energy needs. However, not only does it address only a minor part of our energy use, but nuclear power also has resource limitations.
6	Homes and Efficiency Understanding how we use energy in our lives	The media often present energy in terms of household energy use, and the fact that we can improve energy efficiency. Whilst not incorrect, this approach significantly underestimates the scale of the problem we face.
7	Resources and Waste Addressing consumption and waste management	Our largest use of energy is not our homes, or transport, but our food and use of commodities. For this reason the solution to the energy problem must address consumption, waste and recycling.
8	Limits to Growth Why the only viable solution is to have less	There is a fundamental flaw in our economy – the pursuit of economic growth does not accord with the Laws of Thermodynamics... we have to learn to live with LESS not MORE.
9	Suggested Reading A reading guide on Peak Energy	Peak Energy, and its solutions, is a huge subject. Here is a guide to books on energy, climate change, and building practical solutions to the problems that we will all face in the future.
10	Internet Resources Researching Peak Energy Online	A guide to Peak Energy and related issues that are available via the Internet.
11	Transformation Change your Consciousness	A guide to the more complex, less tangible aspect of energy descent... changing your mind in order to deal with our collective energy addiciton!
12	Food, Agriculture and Energy Understanding the importance, and the costs, of food security	There is only one essential source of energy to the human species, and it's not oil, natural gas, coal or uranium – it's food!. This briefing looks at the important of food, our dependence upon cheap fossil fuels for its production, and how Peak Energy threatens our increasingly technological food supply.
13	Energy Delusions The trade in pseudo-solutions.	An investigation of some of the ideas that we are commonly sold as a "solutions" to our energy problems, but which are misleading or just plain nonsense.
14	Energy and Transport Re-designing our need to move around.	Although transport is probably the individual's third largest use of energy, the transport sector is the largest user of energy in the UK economy. Also, Peak Oil will hit the transport sector first, and hardest. This briefing looks at how energy depletion will affect our transport system.
15	Simplicity Solutions Why "less" can mean "more" in our lives.	Peak Energy will affect our lives, but it is only one in a number of trends that are converging to make life difficult; debt, housing costs and climate change are the three other significant trends that will affect our lives over the next two or three decades. There is a solution that is able to address many of these problems, but in today's "modern" society it's considered extreme: voluntary simplicity.

Presentation slides:

Below are PDF versions of the slides used in the various Energy Beyond Oil Project presentations. Note that we tend to vary the precise order according to the composition/needs of the audience, and we commonly combine elements from different presentations (especially the EBO and Less presentations) where the event needs a more broader range of content –

Presentation	Files
Energy Beyond Oil A presentation that examines how the UK consumes energy, and how the UK is already being affected by "Peak Energy" (in the North Sea). The alternative energy sources are limited, so the only option is less!	(1.6MB!)
Less is a Four Letter Word We are told that solutions to the environmental and energy crisis must work within the current system... capitalism is the only game in town. But what if that's just not possible? If we look at the world in terms of physical reality growth cannot continue in the long-term – both energy depletion and climate change preclude that option. There is only one solution that works in the long-term, which directly addresses both energy depletion and climate change, but unfortunately it definitely doesn't work well within the current system: "LESS!"	(1.0MB!)
Energy and Climate A presentation that examines the links between energy use and climate change, and the fact that solving the issue of climate change requires that we address our total use of energy, which globally is 88% fossil fuelled, first.	(1.7MB!)
Think Globally, Act Personally A special presentation – a variation on the "Less" presentation – on the emerging split between theory and action in the environment movement. The challenge we face is accepting that growth in a finite world is not possible. Unfortunately the mainstream environment movement doesn't/can't say that publicly. Problem is, the solutions they do advocate don't work within a growth-led paradigm. We are appoaching a decision point on which path we take!	(952kB!)