Fossil Fuel and Mineral Exhaustion - No Future for Human Life?

Since the Industrial revolution and earlier civilisation has been plundering the World's resources. All our machines use fuel that is derived from fossil remains, and it is now getting harder and harder to find new deposits. I know that we are not going to run out yet, but we will.

All those people that were borne in the middle of the Twentieth Century will not be affected but it will be the Twentyfirst Century children who will be hit hard and their children,  unless real action is taken now. There has to be a replacement for the materials that we are consuming. Maybe my fear that those who could do so are doing nothing, or even worse don;t know what to do.  Is there new technology available? Perhaps. The video link below is to the Bloom Box a new invention

Watch CBS News Videos Online

I am starting to feel a bit happier after watching this video.  I'll be happier still if the planned third runway at Heathrow is scrapped.

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I have burnt eight big bags, builders bags, of wood, to heat my cottage since a week or so before Christmas. I switched off my night storage heater system and have only just turned it on again, as I have run out of wood! Apparently, one of those buider's bag which can hold a ton of sand or other building material can only hold about half a cubic meter of wood. So, I needed 4 cubic meters of wood to keep warm for 8 weeks but, it has been very cold. To grow my own timber sustainably, I would need to own about 1ha (one hectare) which is rougly two and a half acres of land and plant trees for a year's supply. 

I have learnt quite a lot about burning wood, stacking up the fire at night with huge logs was a big mistake as the wood doesn't burn properly and is largely wasted, quite apart from creating pollution. Wood is carbon neutral and is clean if burnt properly. I have found a website which I think is the most useful resource of information I have found so far: wood stove warehouse  I have a Jetmaster fire which is quite efficient for an open fire (50 per cent). I have been researching with a view as to whether to buy a wood stove - they are more efficient than an open fire and can be used for cooking. Aparently to use wood to also heat water is difficult as a simple water jacket lowers the temperature of the gasses to the point where the wood is not burnt efficently and tar and pollution is increased. For a really good review of all the issues I think the link I have included above is excellent.  There are of course many local suppliers.

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Our rubbish was not collected when it should be, last fortnight.  I had to phone Wiltshire County Council to get it collected. This has confused residents, but apparently, has also confused Wiltshire County Council refuse collection who have not collected rubbish on the day when it is due, today: Tuesday 10th March 2009 (every other Tuesday). If the council can't even understand when they should collect rubbish then what hope is there for the rest of us - who might not have the benefit of Microsoft's Outlook Calendar to regulate their activities?

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Until recently I wasn't aware of the Airsprung Cafe in Trowbridge. The cafe serves employees and is also open to the public. One might think that a works canteen might not be able to produce good food but if  only I had known about this cafe earlier. The cafe is bright and clean, the staff are friendly and the food is remarkable. It is obvious that Airsprung are subsidising the meals as one pays about half what one would have to pay elsewhere. Twenty-two pence for a cup of tea and two pounds for fish and chips!

The canal road area of Trowbridge is a bit of a wilderness in terms of catering for local workers and the public. When Airsprung decided to allow the public to use their canteen they were thinking that they had spare capacity and there are workers in the area who have no place to buy a meal.

I hope that more people will use the cafe and it will remain open. It's possible to get to the cafe by walking along the canal from Bradford. Another option is to do some shopping at Lidl either after a breakfast at Airsprung or after lunch.

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A few days of snow and we are low on salt for gritting the roads. Our own supplies of salt used to be plentiful. But salt deposits are probably not growing and we mine it just as we mine for fossil fuel. But it can be produced by evaporation so we are unlikely to really run out.

 Watching a Michael Palin BBC video "Sahara" I was amazed that native people were trekking with their camels over 60 miles to collect salt which they bring back to sell! Fancy walking 120 miles to get salt! Out salt comes from the Cheshire area, Northern Ireland and Spain. an interesting website is: Saltsense the Wikipedia is also an excellent source of information: Salt

I understand that although many people consume too much salt in their diet I don't think I do as I eat very little "manufactured" food, preferring to eat fresh vegetables and fruit. There is a danger that some people may be lacking salt in their diet because of well publicized advice on the danger of consuming too much salt. A similar argument could be made for those who are not eating enough fat.

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Often I make two cups of tea from a tea bag and then drink both cups. Often I leave too Long between cups and the tea bag is cold, too cold to make a decent cup. I have found that if I place my cup with tea bag in the microwave oven and give it 20 seconds or so on full power the second cup of tea is very good. The technique works for the third cup as well. The fourth cup is much milder! If you subject your tea bag to 1 - 2 minutes on full power you could then store your used, but now dry tea bags in a jar for later use.

Most of the caffeine is contained in the first pot so sharing a tea bag is probably better for you.

I understand that China tea (leaf) is best after several cups have been made. I always put used tea bags in my compost bucket, however there are a lot more uses for tea bags! a dozen uses for used tea bags

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Offshore wind turbines?

In the Spring of 2007 I spent some time in France. In an area similar to Salisbury Plain I found a field of wind turbines. I happened to encounter a team of engineers who were servicing one of the wind turbines. There were two giant articulated cranes that were being used to erect scaffold towers to access the wind propellers. The wind propellers are located at the top of the mast or pillar that is required to mount the wind propellers above the ground. The design is similar to those hand held toys that we all used when we were children. These toys consisted of a stick and and a propeller at the end of the stick. However, with real electrical generators there has to be a dramatic increase in scale to take advantage of the power of the wind. Technical information

The diameter of the "stick" is in fact larger than the average car and the height of the "stick" is in excess of 200 metres (600 feet). The engineers were completing their maintenance operations so although I had an armoury of video and digital camera equipment I was too late to record their activity. I am sure that they would have been delighted for me to have recorded their work, but with my scant knowledge of French I was unable to ask them whether they were merely replacing a light bulb! Or something more serious.

Looking around I saw that there were over twenty wind turbines and at least a quarter of these turbines were not turning. since the rest were turning I presumed that the others were broken and would need service. The accompanying photos give some indication of the scale of the operation. I have no idea how much it would cost to call out two massive mobile cranes but let's suggest £2500 a day. These "windmills" are located on land and I thought how much would it cost to service offshore "windmills"? I leave it to the reader to check that electric pylon riggers get in excess of £1000 a day and that is only the labour for one man. The cost of the gear is another matter.

The people who propose such off shore installations must be barmy! I think that the wind turbines would be quite likely to be mowed down by some ship, before they even needed maintenance! How on Earth do you maintain wind turbines located in the sea anyway? Servicing Oil rigs is OK, at least they cover an extensive area apart from being high above the sea, but a wind turbine! The French wind turbine farm was at least located in an almost featureless landscape but I wouldn't like to see these monsters off our shores.

The photos below show the apparatus that is required to service those wind turbines that are located on land.

The road is 7 metres wide and the turbines are quite a long way off. Gigantic aren't they?

The two mobile cranes that were used to erect a tower to access the wind turbine generator

View of part of the access tower. Note the scale of the tower in relation to the engineer.

The wind tower base with access door

In this bleak landscape the wind turbine adds an element of interest. Note my car in the background!

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What a nasty surprise. I read in the "Your Letters" page of the Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News that without warning Winsley post office has closed. Apparently without warning not only to the villagers but also the staff behind the counter. Residents will now need to go to Bradford-On-Avon.

Apparently the letter is misleading. The previous week in the same paper there was a story about the actual situation that I had managed to miss. The company that owns the shop and post office and many other similar properties has had to go into adminstration. Unfortunately, the Winsley shop and post office has got caught up in the problems that the company has. Many residents of Limpley Stoke travel to Bradford-on-Avon via Winsley rather than Staples Hill and use the shop and post office.

I hope when we are supposed to be avoiding  wasting fuel as much as possible we should all try to support Winsley and try to shop and use local services as much as possible. I don't often use the shop at Winsley as I live closer to the Westwood shop but I know that it is very popular.

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I have read this article on WikiHow and thought that it would be a good idea to republish it here. WikiHow is a good resource for advice on all sorts of problems.

 

How to Save Money by Shopping Once a Month

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
How often do you go to the supermarket? Could you get by with making only one trip per month? What if it saved you money? When people shop more often, they buy more stuff. Supermarkets and grocery stores know this, and that's why they often bury the most common items in the back of the store - so you have to walk through the aisles to get there, and the probability of an impulse purchase goes up![1] Besides making a list and sticking to it, another way to limit your spending is to minimize the amount of time you actually spend in the store. Why make four or more trips per month when you can make just one? That's right--go grocery shopping 12 times a year. It takes time. It also takes organization. Here's how to pull it off.

Steps

1. Make a list of the things you need, which you should update continually.
   • Start saving your receipts. Ideally, you should have all of your shopping receipts from a typical month. Go through them all and highlight the essentials (the stuff you ended up using/eating). Skip over impulse items (you know what they are, like the four cartons of cookies and cream ice cream that was on sale and that you know are incongruent with your dreams of having six-pack abs).
   • Plan your meals. Imagine that your home is a restaurant - what is on your menu? You could go all out and plan every meal on a calender (like once-a-month cookers do) but even just thinking of some "master recipes" that can be adapted to several different dishes will help. Take a large amount of cheap, normally tough meat, for example, and put it in a slow cooker until it's tender, then shred it and use it in hot sandwiches, enchiladas, etc.[2]
2. Accumulate coupons and ads for the things you use and the stores you frequent. During the days before your monthly shopping trip, match sales and discounts to the items on your list.
3. Divide and conquer. One person tackles the perimeter of the stores (meat, produce, dairy, and baked goods) while someone else scours the center (processed food, household goods, baking supplies). Each monthly shopping trip takes longer than a weekly shopping trip, so a division of labor will make for a smoother shopping trip (with fewer frazzled nerves).
4. Hit multiple stores. Different stores have different strengths. If you shop every week, it may not make sense to drive all over town to save a few pennies. By shopping just once a month, however, travel costs are diminished.
5. When you bring the food home, prioritize. Certain produce (grapes, bananas) need to be consumed earlier in the month. Other foods (milk, bread) may need to be frozen.
   • If you're concerned about not having a supply of fresh fruits or vegetables, consider growing your own or perusing the local farmers' market for good deals. Or, you can focus on eating fresh fruits and vegetables in the beginning of the month, then eat canned or frozen fruits and veggies towards the end of the month.
   • For milk, you have several options.
     • drink fresh milk for the first half of the month
     • freeze milk to drink in the second half of the month
     • powdered milk
     • ultra-pasteurized milk (long shelf life)
     • OR if you like Soy Milk, it lasts for a couple of months! (However, it is much more expensive than regular milk.)
     • Rice Milk is also a good alternative, also lasting a couple of months (You can't even taste the difference after mixing it with cereal or in cooking/baking).
     • Almond Milk is especially healthy.
6. Evaluate and adapt. When you start off, there will be a little trial and error. There will be some trips to the store to get something you forgot. Just don't let those "emergency trips" become a habit. Make sure that you only come home with the item you needed, and nothing else. Then add that item to your monthly shopping list.

Video

Tips

• You can start by cutting your trips to twice a month (with a supplemental weekly run for milk and eggs). On the other hand, some people take this concept to the extreme - they go shopping only once a year![3]
• You might find that shopping once a month �eforces�f you to use up all of your food that you can. You know what it�fs like to buy a bunch of broccoli thinking you are going to eat it but when you go shopping in another 4 days you just buy something else and cover it up.
• This can be paired with once-a-month cooking for maximum efficiency and savings.
• You will need adequate storage space for all of your groceries. If you are shopping for a family of 4 or more, or if you live in a small apartment, you probably won't have enough food storage space. You could utilize a spare closet or a guest bedroom if you have one. Or don't forget about the space underneath kitchen cabinets, or odd drawers and shelves around your living space. Cans and jars can be stored quite safely all over the apartment or house. Just don't forget where you put them!
• If you are serious about once a month shopping, then a large freezer would be a good investment. Energy star chest freezers have large capacities and low running costs.[4]
• If you are lucky enough to have a greengrocer, small alternative grocer, or grocery co-op nearby, you may be able to shop there without having to contend with many of the "impulse items" or the stress of larger supermarkets. (They're often much like just the perimeter of larger stores, without the junky innards.)
• If you live near a drive through dairy you can have fresh milk as needed without going into a store.

Warnings

• Leave younger children with a babysitter. You can save time and money by leaving younger children at home instead of letting them distract you from the task at hand. Older children, however, can actually help.

Related wikiHows

• How to Do Once a Month Cooking
• How to Resist a Sales Pitch
• How to Save Money at a Farmers' Market
• How to Reduce Expenses
• How to Have a Successful Day of Shopping
• How to Be a "Locovore"
• How to Get Started in the Slow Food Movement

Sources and Citations

• GetRichSlowly.org - Save more by shopping less. Original source of content, shared with permission.
• America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money. By Steve Economides, Annette Economides. ISBN 0307339459. Source of many of the ideas in this article.

1. �ª http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/11/09/how-not-to-get-ripped-off-at-the-grocery-store.htm
2. �ª http://www.fractured.net/article/beginners-guide-to-once-a-month-cooking.html
3. �ª http://www.christianitytoday.com/mp/2006/summer/7.44.html
4. �ª http://www.thefrugalzone.com/money-saving-tips/

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Save Money by Shopping Once a Month. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Whilst Bath is over five miles from Freshford it is a place where many locals work and prefer to shop. Whilst I enjoy the occasional shopping trip to Bath I usually shop a little nearer in Trowbridge. I also often cycle to shop, so a congestion charge is not all that relevant to me. 

I am not really sure where the traffic in Bath is going and whether it can avoid the central area? There must be vehicles that need to head for Bristol who are travelling from North of the river Avon who can't head up the A46. It does seem unfair to penalise these drivers. Are all the other drivers going shopping? As Freshford is located South of the Avon I usually head for Sainsbury's Homebase car park via the A36 and lower Bristol Road and walk. I can always manage to find something to buy in Homebase or Sainsburys, as payment for my free parking -which is only fair. If I did have to pay a congestion fee or car park fee I would probably arrange for Home Delivery instead.

The present government is hell bent on building more, and more, houses in this area without considering the infrastructure. So there will be even more demand on Bath as a shopping centre, or perhaps not.

Napoleon's observation that we are a nation of shopkeepers, whilst perhaps true in his time but altered by the rise of the supermarket in the Twentieth century - which swallowed up the small shops, still has some relevance today.  But now we are a nation of shoppers!

However, whilst this might be good for Bath and Cribb's Causeway and Cabots Circus and other out of town shopping centres, shopping  does rely on people having money to spend. Shopping requires money. This money should come from earnings and a return from investments. But is it coming from those sources? No! shoppers' money is coming from those who have cashed in some of the value of the rise in their property value (which could fall and has fallen!) and ignorant youngsters who pay through the nose to use their credit cards, as if there to be no tomorrow.

There will not be so many people who are ready to go shopping in future. These shopping cities and out of town shopping centres are probably going to become white elephants in future,  probably in the near future.

An increase of thirty per cent in home energy bills doesn't help! Fuel whether for the home or the road is never, never going to get cheaper, is it? Unless the government reduces the fuel tax  (and pigs can fly!). So travelling by car will get more and more, and more expensive.  It will take several hundred million years to recreate the conditions for fossil fuel to be created again, and then by and by we will repopulate the world and use up nearly all of that fossil fuel in a little under two hundred years once again.

I won't be paying any congestion charge and I don't expect many others will be doing so either. I don't even see any need for a congestion charge.

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I regret to see a notice in The Inn, last night, that it will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays from June the 2nd 2008. I understand this is because of the A36 closure affecting trade. I don't suppose the recent poor weather in "flaming June" (well almost June). has helped.

As for the A36 damage; I don't believe their reasons for why the work is needed. Whilst subsidence caused by regular flooding in the valley may be a partial contribution, the main reason is the Juggernaut lorries that may weigh in excess of 38 tons that use the A36. The A36 is not a trunk road. Sainsburys and other lorries should use the appropriate roads that do not have ancient bridges.

And Bristol docks should be used properly rather than the A36 road which goes through some of the most beautiful parts of our countryside.

Incidentally, I saw a tanker with a tanker trailer (never seen one before) go over Bradford On Avon's ancient bridge this week (Tuesday) One must wonder how much damage this will cause that we will have to pay for, eventually. So much for Shared Spaces. The only way to control these events is to capture the law breakers with decent HD video-cams and prosecute them.

It is so nice to be able to have a drink when one is out walking. I like walking to Iford, but I can't have a drink there - no pub. Locals and visitors (from all over the world) can have a drink in the Inn and the Cross Guns and The Hop Pole, not to forget The New Inn and the Hungerford Arms and the Rose and Crown, when they use local footpaths. Short of subsidizing these pubs they must be supported by locals.

It is not enough to occasionally visit these watering holes they should be visited regularly. Alternatively, perhaps country pubs should be given a grant.

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Maybe, just maybe, there is some hope for a better, a sustainable future. This link provides some information about the production of green oil from algae: renewable Fuel 

In the past we have been lead trustfully into the future; believing that our scientists, if not our government, will find the solutions to our problems, whether that is illness or in the present, the growing predicament of waht may be used to replace fossil fuel. And this needs to be not only a renewable or rather sustainable source of energy but a source of energy that will not continue to increase global warming.

Nuclear energy is at best only a stop gap, as Uranium is also going to be used up; and what is worse the cost of keeping the waste until it is harmless (secure storage for up to 100,000 years) is astronomical!

Perhaps the production of oil from algae may not be the solution to the immanent loss of our oil supplies  but it may be part of the solution and it reminds us that chemical and physical processes are not some modern invention but, whilst the technology maybe, they have existed from the beginning of our world and before. The dinosaurs saw electrical energy, but it took a long time before humans (their descendants?) could make use of it.

 

 

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I understand from my MP Andrew Murrison's recent activity in the House of Commons that the Trowbridge Driving test centre is to be closed and anyone wanting to take the driving test must travel to Chippenham. The full exchange can be accesssed by following the links below:

speaker:Andrew Murrison : 2 Commons debates ===========================================

Driving Standards Agency (13 May 2008)

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-05-13a.1356.0&s=speaker%3A11132#g1356.2

Andrew Murrison: On Friday I made the journey from Warminster to Chippenham. The hon. Gentleman may be interested to know that his Conservative opponent made a similar journey from Frome to Chippenham.

Both journeys took well over an hour on a good day, and that does not allow for people who come from places outside the main towns in our area.

Driving Standards Agency (13 May 2008)

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-05-13a.1356.0&s=speaker%3A11132#g1359.0

Andrew Murrison: As the hon. Gentleman will know, Chippenham is not exactly easy terrain for those who do not know the lie of the land. He is right to say that the driving test is taken on the basis that the person involved does not necessarily have any familiarity with the stretch of road used, but people who are familiar with Chippenham are clearly at a distinct advantage in comparison with my constituents...

speaker:Andrew Murrison : 2 Written Answers ===========================================

Anyone can register for alerts about their MP 's activity on your behalf. You may only register for your MP. It is a very interesting service, and provides some insight into what your MP is doing for you and your neighbours. To register for email alerts visit:  http://www.theyworkforyou.com

It is many years ago that I failed my first driving test which was for a motorcycle licence. I took the test in St Albans whilst I was familar with Finchley. I had a lot of difficulty remembering where I had to go and probably seemed unsure of my driving, whereas the truth was that I didn't know the locality and got lost and had to retrace my route.

This present proposal means that motorists and instructors will have to spend more time and fuel driving an unnecessary distance at a greater financial cost.

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The following article is copied from a Google cache of the Wikipedia article for Freshford. Since the article used to read as below, it has been edited 'dumbed down' one might say (although I don't like the phrase). The alterations although on the whole good, do remove the fact that a lot of residents have spent many hours trying to deter Bath and North East Somerset and councillors from permitting the development. The argument is that what is written below is one sided and does not give the other side of recommending that the application should be permitted. I have not had any comment on why this development should have been permitted from any of those parties involved: B&NES Planning, Government Office of the South West, councillors. Ypres Rose Devlopments have also refrained from putting forth their argument for wanting to build at Freshford Mill. Of course I just may be too close to the issue and maybe many will accept the present article.

If anyone wants to edit the present Wikipedia article they are quite entitled to do so. On an earlier date the complete article section below was just removed in its entirety.

<The most important issue facing Freshford is the current development at Freshford Mill.^{[citation needed]} For the whole of the 21st Century, Freshford and its parish council, have had to spend a great amount of time trying to stop a development at Freshford Mill that would increase the population of the village and put great stress on the local roads^{[citation needed]}. There has been some disagreement as to whether the development now being undertaken by Ypres Rose is unwelcome^{[citation needed]}. The facts are that 80 percent of the village objected to the development that was proposed by Southern and Counties and only 1 person was in favour (provided the transport problems could be overcome). These facts come from the Freshford Parish Council's Extraordinary Meeting of the 22nd July 2002. The document may be found with some difficulty on the BANES Planning website but is more easily found (reproduced under APPENDIX F : DEMOCRATIC CONSULTATION AND PARISH COUNCIL EXTRAORDINARY MEETING) at [1]

The development which is in progress, is to convert a disused industrial site within a Zone 3 flood plain into a residential estate. Flood plain zones as defined by DEFRA state that Zone 3 is one of high probability of annual flooding [2]>

On reflection, the request for 'citation needed' is met by the reference to the 'Appendix F: Democratic . . .' Or is that not enough?

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This is just a note to inform villagers, planners and those who are searching the Internet that a video survey of the visibility of Freshford Memorial Hall and the proposed new village shop has been completed. and can be seen at: Freshford Video Survey

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Living on Staples Hill means that if I want to use gas as a fuel I will have to pay several thousand pounds for its supply. Instead I use electric powered night storage heaters. Only one is switched on at present. In addition, in the evening, I light a wood burning fire, unless I go out, an evening down the pub means that I share heat with others -its part of the price of a pint of beer or glass of wine.

I estimate that I need 40 kgs of wood a day for one third of the year for heating. Thats 122 days x 40 which equals 4880 kgs per year, or approximately 5 tons of wood. Possibly I could also cook but my Jet Master fire is not designed for cooking.

Instead of using my electric cooker I mainly use my electric wok using a little oil and a lid to partly steam my food. I also use a steamer on the electric hob -using hot water from my kettle to save energy. A lot of my food hardly needs cooking but is nicer hot!

Burning wood is carbon neutral but does release toxic fumes. Can our population currently 60 million or about 25 million households use wood from the UK? We need at least 25 million x 5 tons or 125 million tons of wood a year to rely on wood as fuel for heating.

The facts are that roughly we are using less than 11 million tons of wood from our forests and importing timber. We also use thousands of tons of timber for paper and for other purposes -don't ask! Ideally we should be using wood as fuel, not fossil or nuclear fuel. Now what we produce from the forestry commission wood production annual is only part of what we could produce and use, but can we with our present population, grow 125 million tons of wood a year? Because that's what we need (probably more)

At present I love my wood fire and believe that we should be using wood as a fuel, and live in a small space that we can keep warm easily.

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I have published my comments on the planning application below:

Although a Wilsthire resident I live closer to Freshford village centre than to Westwood. To save fuel I would prefer to shop in Freshford as it is only a short walk away. The proposed application does provide parking for those who need to do more shopping and who are dropping off or collecting children from the school. This will reduce the congestion along Freshford Lane.  As the proposed shop is located adjoining the Freshford Memorial Hall and is close to a children's playground the shop will foster community relations and reduce the risk to children from traffic. I don't think that the location  of the shop would detract from the appearance of the neighbourhood.

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Where ever the proposed village shop needs to be, it does need to be large enough to provide the range of goods that we need and at reasonable prices. The combined shop and post office at Winsley is a good example.

I am concerned that there should always be a range of fresh vegetables available. There is a danger that because there is not much profit on fresh produce this part of the produce for sale will be neglected and disappointed shoppers will just go to Bradford On Avon. 

One of the great things about supermarkets are that it is unusual to not to be able to buy what you need, whatever the time of day. And often, whatever the time of day there are usually bargains.

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Whilst I felt that the Eden Project would, no doubt have been able to make use of the funds to further the development of the most  important centre in the World for the preservation of the environment (my opinion!) I also liked the  Sustrans Connect 2 project. Why not money for both folks, £50 million is only 83 pence each!

Tim Smits' Eden website has sent an email message to its supporters: Eden Message from Director Yes, we really do need a means to get from A to B without risking being mown down by traffic. Money well spent, provided Sustrans can manage it. Tim Smit is a financial genius and the money would not have been wasted. I hope that Sustrans will be able make efficient use of the money.

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Quite remarkable news Ypres Rose has put the development up for sale at:  Land4Developers Strange but this link no longer works -one has to subscribe to view the details of the sale.

 

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Anyone interested in the village of Freshford in England and also in Ireland who is concerned with our ability to sustain our present ability to live, and our children to thrive, into the future should be interested in this document. The conclusions are reprinted below.

I believe that Freshford Parish Council England has statistics that can be compared to those collected in Freshford Co. Kilkenny. I have mislaid my document with the summaries of the UK Freshford survey, but, I believe that there is a remarkable similarity.

The researchers from the University of Limerick chose Freshford Co. Kilkenny a small village typical of many in Ireland as such villages had been left out of national sustainable development research to date (in Ireland, and probably here). I suspect that the situdation in Ireland is similar to that in England.  And likewise the probable effects on sustainability not only in Ireland but also in England are to be noted.

The question is what can we do?

The research document can be accessed here:

EXAMINING MATERIAL FLOWS IN FRESHFORD,

CONCLUSIONS (from that research)
The current trends of personal transport in the small settlement of Freshford indicate unsustainable patterns of resource use are facilitating the residents’ requirements. Contributing factors include the
location of services such as employment, shopping and recreational services and the transport modes with which these services are accessed. The implications of these findings, especially if mirrored in
other small settlements nationwide, represent a challenge for policymakers to combat the unsustainable patterns of personal transport emerging from small settlements like Freshford.

The title of the research:

EXAMINING MATERIAL FLOWS IN FRESHFORD, CO. KILKENNY: AN ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD TRANSPORT CONSUMPTION
Pauline Ryan, Bernadette O’Regan and Richard Moles

ABSTRACT
This research proposes to advance the pursuit of sustainable development in small Irish settlements by means of exploring the link between materials consumption and sustainability in a small settlement setting. This initiative will facilitate a pattern of development and  esource use promoting positive effects on our current supply of natural capital. Natural capital, defined as stocks of natural assets, facilitates our materials consumption, and a criterion for sustainability is now deemed to be non-declining natural capital, thus enabling material flows to be maintained indefinitely (Hinterberger et al. 1997, p2;
Bartelmus 1999, p159). The consumption component of personal transport has been accounted for in Freshford, Co. Kilkenny. Ecological footprint (EF) analysis was applied as a tool to indicate the sustainability of current transport patterns within the settlement. The results have indicated that reliance on the private car to facilitate the majority of journeys is the primary contributing factor to unsustainable transport patterns in the settlement.

When I have more time I will provide my views on this research and its relationship to Freshford in the UK. In the mean time apart from reviewing Irish research one might care to enjoy traditional Irish music at a neighbouring village pub: The Fox and Badger in Wellow, Somerset, BA2 8QG.

Irish music is on every Sunday night, and the food is very good and reasonably priced.

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