Published 28 Sep 2005 by EnergyBulletin.net / Permaculture Magazine

by Rob Hopkins

'Traveller, there are no roads. Roads are made by travelling.'
- Spanish proverb

Reaching the Peak

There is an emerging consensus now that we are either very close to or have passed the peak in world oil production. As someone who has been involved in environmental issues for 16 years, and permaculture for 13 years, I have to ask myself how I didn’t see this one coming. Its implications are profound. No longer is it in any way an appropriate response to say ‘we need to recycle’, when the process of recycling require transporting recyclable waste long distances. We have to look much deeper at the whole waste question. An excellent recent report by Tim Lang and Jules Pretty “Farm Costs and Food Miles: An Assessment of the Full Cost of the UK Weekly Food Basket