Welcome to the British National Party’s Peak Oil Discussion Group.

You may not have heard of the phrase “peak oil” just yet, but you will hear and see that phrase more often in the months ahead. It is a term that is being discussed at supra-governmental level, in government departments, universities, research institutes, think-tanks and even in the media.

“Peak oil” is going to become a household term in the same way that “global warming”, “climate change”, “third world poverty” and “consumer society” filtered down from academia to the popular press and media to become everyday terms.

Peak oil spells the end of cheap oil and gas. It is the moment when 50% of the world’s reserves of these two finite fuel sources are used.

It is not about completely running out of oil or gas. There will always be some reserves remaining but the monetary cost and more importantly the energy cost of exploiting those reserves makes such activity prohibitive.

Oil is a finite resource, it took several million years to produce the earth’s oil fields, no new oil is being made and the human species is devouring those finite reserves which lay untouched for millions of years.

World demand for oil continues to rise, our insatiable demand for oil based products – everything from cheap air travel to plastics drives the exploitation of the oil reserves. With the burgeoning populations of India and China eager for rapid industrialisation the global demand is soaring.

The crossover before falling production and rising demand will cause almost immediate economic chaos, with recessions, business failures, high unemployment, trade disputes and inevitably wars to secure the last remaining oil supplies.

The consequences can be interpreted as either apocalyptic or a window of opportunity for radical change in society and how we live with Nature. It will either be seen as an end of civilisation or the heralding of a new age when we learn to live with the resources of the planet.

These pages are designed to inform and educate. It would be foolish and morally wrong to avoid discussion of the issues even if those issues are both technically difficult to master and pessimistic in their analysis.

There is nothing the British National Party can do to avert the energy crisis. We have no political power to change the way our society functions. What we can do is make our people aware of the issues, prepare them psychologically for the potential troubles ahead and where possible work with communities to ensure survival and continuity when the effects of peak oil make themselves manifest.

We will be examining energy alternatives at a community level and advising on transport, food and energy issues to allow our people to survive and function.