........NOT OIL!
When I am on a
dance floor, at a football match, or even rush hour on public transport I often
find myself pondered the amount of energy forces catapulting themselves around
me. The Kinetic energy of moving people;
the sound and electric energy, thermal and light energy shining from the sun
and radiating out from beautiful beings, the magnetic energy which brings us
all together! Imagine if we could
encapsulate all that energy….we wouldn’t need to ride the train we could have
personalised Spaceships!
We exist in an
age where energy is a global daily topic.
The general consensus is we need more.
Millions are being spent developing technology to capture and generate
energy. The ever growing demand on fossil fuels needs supporting with a greater
diversity of more sustainable energies such as wind, solar and hydro. But what
is being used to create the technology to develop and capture renewable energy?
More often than not, Non-Renewable Fossil Fuels.
Fossil fuels
such as gas, coal and oil are essentially living creatures, plants and animals
from our geological past, often described as non renewable. Non renewable would
imply that they were irreplaceable. They are replaceable they just haven’t been
replaced at any where near the rate in which they are extracted. This isn’t a
malfunction of nature, but a non compliance of man. I have heard statistics to the tune of ‘For
every one barrel of oil extracted it takes three barrels of oil to power the
process’?! There is energy embodied in
the energy we require.
Embodied Energy-
The direct and indirect sum of all the energy required to
produce any goods or services. Finding
an energy Life Cycle includes assessing the relevance and extent of energy into
raw material extraction, transport, manufacture, assembly, installation,
dis-assembly, deconstruction and/or decomposition.
Rainforests
and Coral Reefs are decreasing, human population is increasing with ever
expanding needs, pollution levels are rising, Mother Nature is under pressure!
Heard it all before?? Our generation are
burdened with statistics of the damage we have caused and continue to cause! Burden
is heavy and unproductive, guilt and worry never started a revolution. So what
can we do?
- Reduce Consumption – use less, share, and
communicate
- Self Regulate – be responsible for your
own consumptions.
- Replace and Replenish – put back what
you take out!
- Integrate not segregate – work with not against.
On face value
it is very simple, maybe too simple? See the small and slow solutions. We live in a world of abundant resources; we
live in bodies full of infinite possibilities.
Consuming less doesn’t mean having
less. How we consume is the key to
change.
There is no
denying technology has been an integral part of our evolution as a species.
Many great teachings have come from our technological advances and I salute the
ingenuity of scientists striving to combat the predicament our planet is
currently in. But, as we transition into
the next stage of evolution, equilibrium needs to be found. There is no need to go back to the dark ages,
I don’t like the bus but it is far more efficient then a pony and trap! Single handedly I cannot replant what has been
lost in the Amazon; but I can (and do) have a compost pile. And together we
could plant a forest. It may not sound
like a revolution but a revolution starts with Revolutionaries!
One resource
we all have the ability to give, receive and grow from and the only resource we
can guarantee is infinite is LOVE – we have infinite love to apply to our
actions. Love creates family and
community; it brings us together as humans to share ideas and to maximise on
resources, creating social power and social power creates change. Acting with love raises awareness to our
planet and its needs. If 100% of us just
changes 1% of our consumption we could really paint a new future full of
abundance for all.
Lilly x