Last Light

[jewittenator]

SO anyone know where we can buy sardines / pilchards in bulk at reasonable prices? I thought a quick Google search would do it but for some reason it doesn't seem to lead anywhere.

[adam2]

SO anyone know where we can buy sardines / pilchards in bulk at reasonable prices? I thought a quick Google search would do it but for some reason it doesn't seem to lead anywhere.

To use a trade supplier you will generally need either an account or a trade card.
A local supermarket can be almost as cheap, especialy if you look for special offers.
Unless you particularly enjoy sardines/pilchards, I would advise a more balanced selection of food stuffs.
Stocking up is disscussed in more detail in the preperations forum
http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... php?t=5420

[LiamCostas]

Just finished reading this about half an hour ago and have been googling 'peak oil' as the author suggested I do. I'm left feeling stunned and very...very unsettled by the disturbing nature of the book and all the things I've been reading on the net since.

There's a 'for those who want to know more' link at the back of the novel which is indirectly how I've ended up on this forum, btw.

This book reads like a cross between a George Romero film and a beginners guide to PO. Thrilling (well terrifying actually) and pretty informative. I'd certainly reccomend it for those people who've never heard of PO and need a real kick in the pants to get up to speed on the issue of energy security/PO. But I'm keen to find out from people who've been living with PO awareness for a while....is it really as bad or as imminant as the author of Last Light suggests it might be?

[Keela]

Hello Liam and welcome to the Powerswitch forum. I too found Last Light a thought provoking read.

If you want to discuss various issues raised in the book, you'll find a few opinions here. I'm sure you've read around the forum a bit already, but do feel free to chip in. They're a friendly bunch on here really!

[RenewableCandy]

... But I'm keen to find out from people who've been living with PO awareness for a while....is it really as bad or as imminant as the author of Last Light suggests it might be?

We're a "broad church", we range from out-and-out doomers to people like me who aren't doing anything drastic in a hurry. We also have a tame troll from across the Pond who may (or may not) be an industry insider and who can be good value at times.

The "shopping list" thread from Preparations is a good starter-for-10, and Peak Oil Music is one of my favourite threads.

Anyroad, welcome on board!

[adam2]

This book reads like a cross between a George Romero film and a beginners guide to PO. Thrilling (well terrifying actually) and pretty informative. I'd certainly reccomend it for those people who've never heard of PO and need a real kick in the pants to get up to speed on the issue of energy security/PO. But I'm keen to find out from people who've been living with PO awareness for a while....is it really as bad or as imminant as the author of Last Light suggests it might be?

Opinions of course differ as to how bad and how quick PO would be.

If peak oil occured naturaly as supplies deplete, then this should be a relativly gradual process, bad certainly, but sudden, no way.
This may well have started, the recent economic downturn may perhaps have been started by the record oil price of nearly $150.

On the other hand, events could turn very bad very quickly indeed, perhaps as a result of a coup or civil war in Saudi Arabia.
A number of potentialy unstable states have nuclear weapons, or seek to obtain such, imagine the effect on the price and availability of oil if such weapons were to be used in the Middle East.
The blowing up of a large oil tanker in the straights of Hormuz could start a panic, even if it was later found to be an accident.

The present decline in oil prices has reduced public/political interest in PO, but its still a real problem.

[happychicken]

I bought Last Light for my husband for Christmas and I've just finished reading it. I thought it was fantastic - definitely an un-putdownable read and very cleverly written. I like the way the chapters were written about the individual characters with a cliff-hanger at the end of each chapter necessitating the reader to read 2-3 chapters before finding out the outcome.
It reminded me a bit of Dan Brown's novels, especially Angels and Demons, but if anything it was better because it's more likely to come true, so more scary!

[jewittenator]

Adam I was very remiss in not thanking you for your reply. Sardines just because you can pretty well survive on them and full of Omega 3. But thanks for pointing me to the list too. Though I have only bought a relatively small quantity of what is needed, I blow hot and cold, don't want to admit the problem is there some times!

[adam2]

Adam I was very remiss in not thanking you for your reply. Sardines just because you can pretty well survive on them and full of Omega 3. But thanks for pointing me to the list too. Though I have only bought a relatively small quantity of what is needed, I blow hot and cold, don't want to admit the problem is there some times!

To keep a stock of food and other essientials is IMHO prudent, not just for PO but in case of industrial disputes, extreme weather or other problems.

"Last Light" is still fiction, but thought provoking and worrying, I dont think that the world would end in only a few days, I am such an optimist that I believe it would take at least a month!

Was not the author going to publish a sequel?
Looking forward to it with interest!

[alexscarrow]

I sure am publishing a sequel.

http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/Twilight-Alex-S ... 358&sr=1-6[/url]

[adam2]

I sure am publishing a sequel.

http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/Twilight-Alex-S ... 358&sr=1-6[/url]

I have started a new thread re this, in the hope of keeping this thread more or less on topic.
http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... 368#102368

[fifthcolumn]

Alex,

Thank you very, very much for writing this book and I am going to buy your sequel as well.

The book scared me shitless.

The reason is that the plausibility of the thing has much more valid assertions than the dieoff theory which I dispute utterly.

Peak Oil in my opinion is a big problem but not an insurmountable one.
Depending of course on how sudden the crash in supplies is.
If we crash (due to war or terrorist events) then your scenario is very, very plausible and that's what makes it so scary. In fact I think there's a small but significant possibly of such an event taking place if things get "hot" over Iran and they spill over. In a wartime scenario, what would happen to Britain or other countries if the enemies took out the refineries, never mind the entire oil supply.
FWIW I have now started to refer to this kind of scenario (sudden sharp crash) as an "Alex Scarrow event" and I think you are doing a great service by publishing this book.

If I have one criticism, it's that if you do indeed google peak oil you will inevitably hit more doomer sites that propagate the dieoff mantra and much less that show what can really be done.

For example: while it is quite true that there is no substitute in a sudden crash during an Alex Scarrow event, there DEFINITELY are substitutes in a crash measured in a scale of a decade or more. It is the slow crash will scope for arrestment of decline that I hope and pray for.

In any case, congratulatins and kudos, this is an excellent book and I will be ordering your new book ASAP.

PS I wish a movie could be made out of it. Perhaps you should talk to Danny Boyle.

[welshgreen]

movie would be good, but no doubt it would be dumbed down.

[alexscarrow]

Thanks for your comments fifthcolumn.

It's funny...(well, maybe not funny-ha-ha) but it's not peak oil that seems to be doing us in, but 'peak money'. Ironically, with the world in recession there's a dip in demand for our finite reserves of oil. Whilst this crash is painful for everyone, perhaps there's a positive in there somewhere. I hope, that in the aftermath people will learn to live within their means, be less consumerist. That the lesson is learned that the world's future can NOT be entrusted to unfettered freemarket economics.

Perhaps this crash is the warning we needed, to slow down. Because if things don't change in the aftermath, if we don't change our habits then one way or another, we're going to hit a wall; whether it's peak oil, peak fresh water, peak minerals, peak fertile soil, rapid beehive collapse, bird flu, global warming etc etc.

Anyway, thanks for the f/b...and please keep spreading the word (a review on DODGY TAX AVOIDERS would help...hint hint)

[GordyJ1984]

forgot to mention that this was how I got into Peak Oil too

Started off on lifeaftertheoilcrash but it was too americanised and crying and whinging about conspiracies around the corner

I like it better here.

I dont believe we could crash in 7days though

Look at the oil protests nearly 10 years ago now but it took a few days for everything to grind to a halt.

And the governent have a plan in place if the oil supply is ever threatened. I know too as I volunteered to administer the remaining petrol/diesel should it come to that