1. Relocalization Network update

2. Oil Depletion Protocol update

3. Interview with Daniel Lerch, Municipal Response Coordinator

4. Solar Panels donated to the Energy Farm, First Wind Turbine Constructed

5. Featured Post Carbon Group: Post Carbon Eugene

6. Calendar of Events

7. Next Newsletter Preview

1. Relocalization Network update

The Relocalization Network Coordinators have been hard at work this month, posting resources on www.relocalize.net, putting the finishing touches to the first version of the Outreach Toolkit and helping new Local Groups get started in the Network. They enjoyed a wonderful visit with the producers of Peak Moment Television and were featured in one of their episodes filmed in Vancouver, which will soon be posted on GlobalPublicMedia.com in the Peak Moment special section.

With the operating system successfully upgraded, we are ready to start adding new features to www.relocalize.net and improving the tools that are already there. In order to help users and site administrators get the most out of the website and its features, we plan to develop comprehensive help documents that will be posted under the help section on www.relocalize.net.

2. Oil Depletion Protocol update

The first month of the website (www.oildepletionprotocol.org) has been very successful!

In response to our email alert in which we encouraged you to visit the website and adopt the Protocol, more than 300 people signed up as Individual Adopters! We also received a lot of positive, informative, and useful feedback which we have incorporated into the website. Thank you to all who signed up and passed our email alert along to others. If you haven’t yet visited the website, do so now - read about the Oil Depletion Protocol, sign up as an Individual Adopter, and learn how you can reduce your oil dependency. Join others who have pledged to reduce their oil consumption by 25% over the next 10 years.

Already taking action? Let us know how you are reducing your oil dependency. Send us an email at: share@oildepletionprotocol.org.

“The Oil Depletion Protocol represents a straightforward route to minimizing human misery and is one that is easy and practical to apply.” —Chris Skrebowski, Editor of Petroleum Review

3. Interview with Daniel Lerch, Municipal Response Coordinator

Post Carbon Institute will publish “Responding to Energy Vulnerability: A Guidebook for Municipalities” in late 2006. We spoke with Daniel Lerch, coordinator of the Municipal Guidebook project, about the impetus behind the Guidebook, the research being done to develop it, and the benefit municipalities might expect to gain from it.

Other than fueling police cars and keeping the lights on at City Hall, why would energy vulnerability be any more of a concern for municipalities than for a large business?

In both the U.S. and Canada, municipal governments can have an enormous range of responsibilities, from providing basic services like water, police and schools to implementing long-term plans for future land use and transportation patterns. All of these responsibilities are affected, in the short run or in the long run, by energy supply and price.

For example: Nobody knows if the price of oil will steadily increase by 100% over the next five years, or spike next month for just a week, or stay right where it is for a decade. But each scenario will have different implications for municipal responsibilities, and municipalities need to think through what’s possible, what the ramifications may be, and what they should do about it. This can be from as simple as, yes, “How might this affect the municipal budget for vehicle fuel,” to as complex as, “How might this affect regional goods movement, and thus the local economy, and thus municipal tax receipts and the demand for municipal services?’

Read the rest of the article on www.postcarbon.org.

4. Solar Panels donated to the Energy Farm, First Wind Turbine Constructed

Post Carbon Institute's initial Energy Farm demonstration at UBC Farm, has just received a donation of our first 'energy harvesting machines', namely three solar photovoltaic panels donated by innovative local solar panel manufacturer, Day4Energy based in Burnaby BC (Canada). These were some of the very first panels from Day4's new production plant and we are both delighted and grateful for this donation.

The panels are extremely unusual in that they are able to accept concentrated sunlight (thanks to having copper not silver surface conductors). Even when assembled into conventional flat panels (the type we have), their efficiency is higher than normal panels. We are building an adjustable frame for the panels, which will allow the angle to be changed for each season. We are now sourcing an inverter and charge controllers and plan to begin testing in September. The electricity generated is intended to be part of the power for a future energy processing plant and a fabrication workshop.

We have also taken delivery of our first Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), built by Post Carbon Institute board director and Energy Panel advisor, Tony Duggleby (left image). VAWTs are still quite rare, but they have great promise for an urban environment, especially in combination with solar panels. Hence, this small beginning is an experiment toward a much wider implementation in both town and farm across the world.

Energy Panel Advisor Professor Rob Millar is pictured here on the right with the new VAWT, which is laying on its side at UBC Farm awaiting installation.

If you would like more detailed news of the Energy Farm Network, please subscribe to our Energy Farm Network newsletter. If you are interested in joining the Energy Farm Network and beginning an energy farm or extending your existing food farm, please email energyfarm@postcarbon.org.

5. Featured Post Carbon Group: Post Carbon Eugene

Post Carbon Eugene and the Eugene Permaculture Guild held their 10th Annual Northwest Permaculture and Bioregional Gathering this weekend in Eugene, Oregon. The Gathering, August 25th to 27th, featured workshops, panel discussions and presentations as well as delicious meals and opportunities to network.

The Gathering's primary goal was to help facilitate the creation of region-wide networks based on particular interests such as local food security, "people's" media, human potential, urban land use, rural land use, small town and rural networking, health and well-being, Social Forestry, renewable energy, relocalizing the economy, water issues and eco-building. In order to facilitate this networking the group designed a "Connecting Exchange" center that helped to connect people based on common interest and geography.

For more information or to view the schedule, please visit Eugene Permaculture Guild’s website.

6. Calendar of Events:

Third U.S. Conference on “Peak Oil” and Community Solutions

Friday, September 22 – Sunday, September 24, 2006, Yellow Springs, Ohio

This annual event is a key educational and networking opportunity for all those concerned about Peak Oil and climate change and who are working to make the necessary changes in their lives and communities.

Speakers include Vicki Robin, David Orr, Richard Heinberg, Julian Darley, Peter Bane, Richard Olson, Jeff Christian, Sharon Astyk, Pat Murphy, Faith Morgan, and Megan Quinn.

At the conference you will:

• Learn the latest information on Peak Oil and how it will affect our economy and our lives.
• Discover the limitations of the proposed energy alternatives and how many could speed up global climate change.
• Hear about solutions for food and farming, housing and transportation.
• Explore the concepts of relocalization, sustainability, agrarianism, and more.
• Strategize with fellow Peak Oil activists, academics and community organizers in the largest gathering of the Peak Oil movement in the country.
• Learn about lifestyle solutions based on conservation, curtailment, and community that will lead to a sustainable and equitable future.

For registration information, a detailed conference schedule, and speaker bios, visit www.communitysolution.org.

7. Next Newsletter Preview

• Next month, a special update on the Local Energy Farm at UBC, including an interview with farm manager Mark Bomford.