My Post-Carbon Present

Our car wouldn't start (again) this morning. So, I bundled up, packed my lunch and a change of clothes in my panier, lowered the seat, and headed out on my husband's bicycle. It seems ironic to me that last night I had a strange dream about the gasoline running out, and cars being stuck on the highway. People were mad at being forced to leave their cars on the highway, but some just started walking.

The synchronicity here is almost eerie. As a handful of our UAF Rural Development students attend the climate change talks in Copenhagen, I ponder my own post-carbon life. How will life in Dillingham look when we run out of oil? Many economists have already named the time period that we are currently in as "peak oil." What does Peak Oil mean exactly? If you google peak oil, you are likely to be overwhelmed by the amount of information on this topic - some of it a little apocalyptic, some if it a little optimistic, and some of it downright scary.

Here is the definition of Peak Oil, according to the omniscient source, Wikipedia:

Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. The concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. The aggregate production rate from an oil field over time usually grows exponentially until the rate peaks and then declines—sometimes rapidly—until the field is depleted. This concept is derived from the Hubbert curve, and has been shown to be applicable to the sum of a nation’s domestic production rate, and is similarly applied to the global rate of petroleum production. Peak oil is often confused with oil depletion; peak oil is the point of maximum production while depletion refers to a period of falling reserves and supply.

When I think of what Peak Oil implies for life in our little village of Dillingham, Alaska, I am a little heartened by a few key insights. First, Dillingham was a town prior to the advent of the combustion engine. Yes, it was a small, predominantly Native village (and still is today). Villagers traveled by dog sled or boat, if they traveled at all. My ancestors, some of them still living, told me stories about cutting over 100 salmon in a day to feed their dogs during the winter months. I'm not advocating for turning back the clock - that would be impossible anyway. What I would like to see is a discussion the what a post-carbon future looks like for Dillingham. Our residents and community leaders need to come together to have this ongoing discussion. In other cities across the globe, there is a movement toward resiliency and adaptation as strategies in the post-carbon end game.

Here is an interesting TED talk on the post-carbon future by Rob Hopkins: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/696.