Frequently Asked Questions
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- Why do we need to act at a community level, won't scientific research come up with the answers to peak oil and climate change, what about biofuels for example?
- Scientific solutions can make a contribution to solving these problems but will take a long time to develop and so far science has not come up with any practical, affordable or quickly achievable ideas to enable a 'business as usual' way of life. The problem is, our 'business as usual' way of life is depleting the planet of resources so our way of life needs to change. Biofuels are extremely energy intensive to produce and if grown on a large scale would take up valuable agricultural land, so are not proving to be the panacea they were hoped to be.
- Governments are too slow to act - the UK government is only just beginning to take Climate Change on board and is not taking Peak Oil seriously; individual action will be too little, too late; so it is only by acting together in our communities that we can change things.
- Isn't the transition project asking us all to give up our modern lifestyles and return to a pre-industrial way of life?
- Our current lifestyles are unsustainable. If everyone in the world lived like we do in Europe we'd need at least 3 planets to supply all the resources and raw materials needed. So, yes, we do need to reduce our consumption, of everything, but that doesn't have to mean a less fulfilling life. Surveys in the western world consistently show that increased wealth has not made people happier since the 1960s!
- We already throw away huge quantities of perfectly edible food, put the heating up higher instead of putting another layer of clothing on, have inadequate buildings insulation, use the car when a short walk, cycle ride or bus ride would do the trick and so on. Some changes can be made with very little effort and many others with only a bit of extra effort.
- I would like to get involved, but don't have much time to spare!
- Any help is welcome, however little time you can spare.
- I don't have any special skills or experience, I can't imagine that I could be much help?
- Your interest and willingness to learn with us about ways we can work together to move to a lower energy and more resilient way of life would be very welcome :-)