The Toronto Peak Oil Meetup group will have a presentation on electric cars this month:

Electric and hybrid auto technologies
and environmental impacts
Wednesday, 2007 March 28, 6:45 pm
Frankland Community School
816 Logan Avenue (near Chester Station) Free

From the announcment:

Meet Eric Jelinski, M. Eng., who converted his Datsun truck to  run on electricity. He’ll talk to us about the electric car,  the hybrid, and hydrogen car, and their performance and programs for development.     Read more »

This is a Toronto Peak Oil Meetup event.  These events are organized by Post Carbon Toronto, and address the problems of oil reliance from an economic perspective, given that we’re about to reach the point where supply can no longer meet demand.  The meetups are followed by socializing at a local eatery, often the Cafe Frappe.

Dr. Al Bartlett discusses the folly and consequences of exponential growth
2006 October 25 at 6:45pm (until we get kicked out of the Cafe Frappe)
Frankland Community Centre, 816 Logan Ave,
2nd floor, community room C.  PWYC.

Please RSVP.

A green paperclip event.

Anthony Perl, the Urban Studies Director at Simon Fraser University, is an old family friend who I met 24 years ago when he and Charlie lived at Massey College in the University of Toronto.  At the time, Anthony’s main claim to fame was that he had become the president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers by sending proxy ballots in pre-addressed envelopes to the entire membership, and therefore came into the convention with half the members in his pocket.  His main competitor was the love of his life, who at the time regarded him as childish and in need of much refinement, but was eventually persuaded to marry him.  He is very engaging.

His fascination with trains led him to focus on public transportation policy in his political science studies, while writing travel articles for train magazines.  In promoting trains, he started to research the environmental benefits of rail transportation and came to be concerned simultaneously about oil depletion and global warming.  And from there he moved onto sound urban planning.  A whole career built around trainwatching with his dad as a boy.     Read more »

On Wednesday night, I went to a Post Carbon Toronto meetup, where Professor Danny Harvey made a presentation about how we are going to survive the perils of peak oil.  It’s nice to know that the technology to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels exists.

Now, for those of you whose eyes are glazing over as you read the words “post-carbon” and “peak oil”, let me explain.  Peak oil and post-carbon groups are basically interested in the time following the point where production of oil peaks.  Standard economics predicts that once supply can no longer keep up with demand, demand will be forced to drop through price increases.  It is clearly in the interest of oil and gas companies to keep telling people that they don’t need to prepare for the upcoming scarcity, which is many years away, because that way they can be sure to extract the highest prices once demand is forced to go down.  If, on the other hand, all world governments sensibly addressed climate change with effective conservation and efficiency programs, demand would go down through less painful measures, and fuel prices would remain low as production declined.     Read more »

The Toronto Peak Oil Discussion Group September Meetup will feature Professor Danny Harvey from the Geography Department of the University of Toronto.  Professor Harvey describes his topic as “Peak Oil is Not the End of the World (although it might seem like it for some)”.

Wednesday, 2006 September 27 at 6:45pm.
Frankland Community School, 816 Logan Ave.