Our legacy

I am going to look beyond the intellectual vandalism of individuals and groups who want to Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody (BANANAs), whom I view as one of the most destructive influences in modern society. (Visit Wikipedia for more information on this term and others such as NIMBY.)

I want to explore how we might preserve the best of our heritage whilst building a thriving community which enjoys all the benefits that the 21st century can bring. How do we decide what is worth preserving for posterity? How do we identify developments that will bring long-term benefits to our community? How do we strike a balance between all the competing short-term and long-term pressures? If we can get it right we'll earn the respect and gratitude of the folk living in Thornbury in 2050.

Every month or so I will consider the future for Thornbury in an area such as education, healthcare, energy supply, homes, crime, shopping, industry, employment and leisure. I welcome your comments - whether you agree or disagree with my point of view - and will be very happy to enter into a meaningful debate on any of the issues that you wish to raise.

Energy 1: How much benefit do we enjoy from energy?

1. How much energy do we use?

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the average annual energy use in the UK in 2010 was equivalent to about 3.3 tonnes of oil per man, woman and child. Quantities of gas, coal, renewables, nuclear, etc are adjusted for the energy they provide and are converted to the amount of oil that would need to be burnt to provide the same amount of energy, i.e. tonnes of oil equivalent (toe).
(IEA key world energy statistics)

Putting UK consumption in a global perspective:

World	1.7 toe/person
USA	7.3 toe/person
China	1.8 toe/person
Senegal	0.2 toe/person

Individual UK consumption is about twice the global average, less than half that in the USA and more than ten times that in Senegal. China is around the global average and rising fast. Since so many goods for UK consumption are manufactured in China, we must never forget that we are consuming a large amount of energy by proxy.

South Gloucestershire folk probably consume more than 3.3 toe/person if we were to take account of the prosperity of the area and our consumption of goods manufactured in China.

2. What are the benefits from its use?

Some benefits are immediately apparent:

• heating and lighting our homes, shops, offices, hospitals, schools and factories
• fuel for our cars, taxis, buses, delivery lorries and emergency services
• fuel for rail and air transport for business and leisure

Some are less obvious but are vital to the economy on which we all depend:

• Production of steel, bricks, cement, glass to build our homes, shops, offices etc.
• Production of vehicles, aircraft, goods and services for domestic use and export
• Construction and maintenance of roads, tunnels, airports

Some people in South Gloucestershire may have made personal choices which will reduce their consumption of energy. For example, they may have decided to cycle everywhere, seek their entertainment at home, use only local shops and shun holidays involving air travel. Others may have fewer options because this is a rural area and they may need a car to get to work. There will be some variation from one person to the next but overall our energy consumption is averaging about 3.3 toe/person.

So which communities suffer inconvenience as a result of Thornbury's energy consumption?