Thousands are installing solar panels every week, but why?
Since Sir Richard Branson announced in February 2010, that we should all prepare for an 'energy crunch' within the next 5 years, which makes the following article more poignant:
Fore warned is fore armed
Did you know: The UK will soon import 70% of our overall energy requirments.
Why we're passionate about solar panels
In 2004, Stuart Lovatt the founder of Heat my Home first coined the phrase:
"The fight for civilisation, is won! The challenge of keeping it, has just begun!"...
... as a result of coming across a term being repeated over and over from within the global oil industry was "Peak Oil".
To indulge a cliche, a journey began and Heat my Home was born. Out within the internet are thousands of websites devoted to the Peak Oil subject. Simply put, Peak Oil refers to the point at which all the easier-to-extract oil has been extracted out from within the ground leaving only the harder to reach and very expensive to refine, stuff.
On my desk is a set of graphs with the horizontal axis of each represents the years 1750 to 2000. The graph shows population levels, exploitation of marine fisheries, destruction of forests, number of motor vehicles, overall water use, the rate of animal extinctions and the totality of our economic gross domestic product.
The thing that grips me about these graphs (and graphs don't usually grip me) is although they show very different things, they have an almost identical patterns.
Learn about Solar Panels
The benefits
1. First in your area
Solar panels are a long term investment for homes across the UK. Be the first on your street to install and encourage others to follow.
2. House value
Installing solar panels to your property is similar to adding a conservatory, to give you a possible increase in your property value.
3. The UK energy crunch
The UK Industry Task force on Peak Oil and Energy Security concluded last year that the economy faces a clear and present energy-security threat. Our shared opinion is that peak oil merited serious study as a business risk. Sadly, we are now of the view that peak oil is a high-risk, high-consequence issue.
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The lines begin on the left, rising gradually as it moves to the right of the graph. Then, in the last inch in the year 1950, they all veer upwards; just like a aeroplane pilot banking after a mountain has suddenly appeared from the clouds.
The cause of all these trends is always the same: a rapacious human population growth which is bringing the planet quickly to the brink of chaos. We all know this to be true; some of us even attempt to prevent it from occurring, but all of these destructive trends continue to get worse with no sign of that changing anytime soon. The graphs show better than anything else is the cold reality of all our situations: there will be a serious crash within most of our lifetimes.
Very few are prepared to look honestly at the situation that this reality is screaming at us: The modern civilisation we are all a part of is going to hit the buffers at full speed. Most of us and I am included within this generalisation much of the mainstream encourages the pedal to the metal consumer growth even though every environmental system we exploit is already over stretched?
The belief that we can continue consuming to achieve the same comfortable lives (albeit with more wind farms and better light bulbs) and that we can then extend it to the extra 3 billion people who will soon be joining us on our already gasping planet. I think the whole human race is in denial. The writing is on the wall and has been since the 1950's and no amount of ethical shopping, eco cars or eco homes will change that fact.
Our civilisation is built on the myth of humans being 'special' and outside of nature influence with a deeply embedded cultural attitude to "nature"; add a blind belief in technological progress; then power the whole thing with a fuel source that has been discovered to be destructive, but only after we have exploited it to grow our population and appetites for creature comforts. What is the result of this destructive experiment? We are only just beginning to find out.
It's time to get real and prepare for the worst. Global warming is on the point of no return while our political leaders bang the drum for more growth? The economies we rely upon cannot be tamed without a collapse, because everything about it relies upon growth to function. Most people in the rich world won't be giving up their cars or holidays without a fight, so its full throttle until either the tank runs dry or a wheel falls off.
Perhaps you believe that these things shouldn't be said, even if true? Saying them will deprive people of hope, and without hope there'll be little chance of "saving the planet", But false hope is worse. As for 'saving the planet', what we are really trying to save, as we erect wind turbines on mountains, is not the planet itself, but our grip on material culture, which none of us, myself included, cannot imagine living without.
There are so few of us that see what is coming, but so many who are blind to the consequences coming our way. Welcome to the solar panel century!
Stuart Lovatt Founder of Heat my Home
The fight for civilisation, is won! The challenge of keeping it, has just begun!
