Peak this, Peak that
New Scientist magazine recently (19 Jan 2008) ran an article by peak oil expert David Strahan, entitled ‘The Great Coal Hole’ [1]. Many people are aware of the concept of peak oil and we have all started to feel the pain when filling up our cars. However, Coal has long been presumed to be different, the conventional wisdom being that reserves are sufficient for 200 - 300 years. Strahan isn’t so sure and cites a group called Energy Watch that claims coal production could actually peak as early as 2025 [2].
The lesson here is that any energy source that is not renewable will by definition eventually run out. As Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, notes ‘Renewable Energy is the only energy source that we can use once and then use again and again’. And guess what ? Wind power is currently the only renewable energy source ready to roll out on a large scale.
An economy not based on renewable power is one ultimately doomed to fail. Gas and even Uranium are other peak supply stories waiting to unfold [3]. Given the terrifying social and economic costs of not making a large scale switch to renewables, projects such as Benington Wind Farm should command our wholehearted support. The transition to renewables will take time and we need to start now, here in Benington. In the long term, can we in all honesty say that we have so many other attractive options?
Chris S
[2] http://www.energywatchgroup.org/fileadmin/global/pdf/EWG-Coalreport_10_07_2007.pdf
[3] http://www.energywatchgroup.org/fileadmin/global/pdf/EWG_Press_Uranium_29-11-2006.pdf