It's official. The 7 billionth human has just entered the race. And chances are you will find the talk centred around this arrival, whether in energy circles or environment. For, the 7 billion holds big consequences to the way ahead.
More than 200,000 people are added to the population each day, and we're expected to keep growing for years to come, reaching anywhere from 8 billion to 11 billion mid-century.
Now comes the important question: who or what is to blame for the world's problems - the total number of people, or the amount of water, food, mineral ores or clean air each demands?
An extra child born today in the United States, would, down the generations, produce an eventual carbon footprint seven times that of an extra child in China, 55 times that of an Indian child or 86 times that of a Nigerian child, said a Oregon university research.
Slowing population growth could provide 16 per cent to 19 per cent of the emissions reductions suggested to be necessary by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change.
In other words, it can make a contribution. But the other 81-84% will have to come from reducing consumption and changing technologies.
Across time and geography, countries that have reduced birth rates have got richer and so more consumptive. The CIA World Factbook data for countries' birthrates and average purchasing power of each person shows a pretty strong correlation between the two. At the same time, study after study shows environmental damage rises with income, and often more steeply as developing countries begin to industrialise.
Environmental degradation can be helped by reducing the number of people and equally by what they use.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
White roofs heat the planet!
Once it was thought that HFCs were better than CFCs till HFCs came up with their own plate of woes! White roofs are the simplest solutions in hot cities, and one would have thought that reflecting back sunlight would reduce global warming. But no!
Mark Jacobson’s (of MIT) computer modeling concluded that white roofs did indeed cool urban surfaces. However, they caused a net global warming, largely because they reduced cloudiness slightly by increasing the stability of the air, thereby reducing the vertical transport of moisture and energy to clouds. In Jacobson’s modeling, the reduction in cloudiness allowed more sunlight to reach the surface.
The increased sunlight reflected back into the atmosphere by white roofs in turn increased absorption of light by dark pollutants such as black carbon, which further increased heating of the atmosphere!
There is no solution to all our problems, it seems. When one is solved, another pops.
Mark Jacobson’s (of MIT) computer modeling concluded that white roofs did indeed cool urban surfaces. However, they caused a net global warming, largely because they reduced cloudiness slightly by increasing the stability of the air, thereby reducing the vertical transport of moisture and energy to clouds. In Jacobson’s modeling, the reduction in cloudiness allowed more sunlight to reach the surface.
The increased sunlight reflected back into the atmosphere by white roofs in turn increased absorption of light by dark pollutants such as black carbon, which further increased heating of the atmosphere!
There is no solution to all our problems, it seems. When one is solved, another pops.
Friday, October 21, 2011
UK schools to cut energy use
Hundreds of schools across England have signed up to take part in the Carbon Trust’s recently announced energy saving challenge.
The Trust’s Collaborative Low Carbon Schools Service will help over 400 schools in 52local authorities tackle the sector’s £543 million annual energy bill.
Through the implementation of simple, cost-effective energy saving measures like switching off lights when not in use and installing more efficient heating systems, the initiative aims to save up to £40 million in costs and 270,000 tonnes of carbon.
The pilot programme will run for 10 months, with the aim of saving schools up to 25% on their energy bills. The Carbon Trust will offer an expert advice on installing measures like energy efficient lighting and heating.
On average, a typical secondary school could save £21,500 a year in energy costs – almost as much as employing a newly qualified teacher.
“The Carbon Trust’s work with local authorities shows that schools can play a pivotal role in helping the public sector to save millions of pounds while slashing carbon emissions,” says Richard Rugg, director of Carbon Trust Programmes.
The Trust’s Collaborative Low Carbon Schools Service will help over 400 schools in 52local authorities tackle the sector’s £543 million annual energy bill.
Through the implementation of simple, cost-effective energy saving measures like switching off lights when not in use and installing more efficient heating systems, the initiative aims to save up to £40 million in costs and 270,000 tonnes of carbon.
The pilot programme will run for 10 months, with the aim of saving schools up to 25% on their energy bills. The Carbon Trust will offer an expert advice on installing measures like energy efficient lighting and heating.
On average, a typical secondary school could save £21,500 a year in energy costs – almost as much as employing a newly qualified teacher.
“The Carbon Trust’s work with local authorities shows that schools can play a pivotal role in helping the public sector to save millions of pounds while slashing carbon emissions,” says Richard Rugg, director of Carbon Trust Programmes.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Behaviour psychology and energy
"The most efficient light bulb is one that is switched off...Behavior is messy, motivations are messy, but they're still a crucial part of the puzzle."
That is how Jon Bird sums up his attempts to make people change their ways. A senior research associate at University College London who divides his time between the computer science and psychology departments, he recently enlisted a group of 17 households on Tidy Street in Brighton, a seaside town south of London, who agreed to record their electricity use over time. To make their progress (or lack thereof) plainly visible, he enlisted artists from the nearby Goldsmiths College to stencil a giant graph down the street.
When they started, the residents of Tidy Street were about average for Brighton, but within three weeks, they had reduced their electricity use by 15 percent. Bird credits the change to the fact that residents were 1. Paying attention 2. getting some public notice for their efforts, both from the press and from inquisitive passersby. Each time their performance improved, they felt a little community pride. When they slipped back, the giant public display gave them a variation on the magic buzzer treatment.
But… three weeks later a few households bowed out, but 80 percent agreed to carry on. Six weeks into the experiment, however, they were down to just 50 percent participation. And now, six months in, only three households are checking their meters each day. Of those, only two have kept their electricity use down. How to sustain changed behaviour is a challenge still unsolved.
Bird's work falls within a growing body of what is known as "nudge" theory, which looks at ways to use behavioral psychology to encourage citizens to make smart choices. Social norms marketing" -- providing people with the data to compare themselves to their neighbors -- can inspire change, yes, but soon people fall back on old ways.
It's tough but .. well, it's needed. Perhaps the nudge will have to become a push?!
That is how Jon Bird sums up his attempts to make people change their ways. A senior research associate at University College London who divides his time between the computer science and psychology departments, he recently enlisted a group of 17 households on Tidy Street in Brighton, a seaside town south of London, who agreed to record their electricity use over time. To make their progress (or lack thereof) plainly visible, he enlisted artists from the nearby Goldsmiths College to stencil a giant graph down the street.
When they started, the residents of Tidy Street were about average for Brighton, but within three weeks, they had reduced their electricity use by 15 percent. Bird credits the change to the fact that residents were 1. Paying attention 2. getting some public notice for their efforts, both from the press and from inquisitive passersby. Each time their performance improved, they felt a little community pride. When they slipped back, the giant public display gave them a variation on the magic buzzer treatment.
But… three weeks later a few households bowed out, but 80 percent agreed to carry on. Six weeks into the experiment, however, they were down to just 50 percent participation. And now, six months in, only three households are checking their meters each day. Of those, only two have kept their electricity use down. How to sustain changed behaviour is a challenge still unsolved.
Bird's work falls within a growing body of what is known as "nudge" theory, which looks at ways to use behavioral psychology to encourage citizens to make smart choices. Social norms marketing" -- providing people with the data to compare themselves to their neighbors -- can inspire change, yes, but soon people fall back on old ways.
It's tough but .. well, it's needed. Perhaps the nudge will have to become a push?!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Place them panels below power lines!
Instead of building new infrastructure or searching for land, how about using existing ones? That is what energy experts are thinking out in the US.
Transmission right-of-way, providing 20% of U.S. electricity from solar, is just one piece of the puzzle, with another 20% possible using existing rooftops and a solar potential of nearly 100% from solar on highway right-of-way.
What if the U.S. could get 20 percent of its power from solar, near transmission lines, and without covering virgin desert? It could.
Transmission right-of-way corridors, vast swaths of vegetation-free landscape to protect high-voltage power lines, could provide enough space for over 600,000 megawatts of solar PV. These arrays could provide enough electricity to meet 20% of the country’s electric needs.
There are 155,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the United States(defined as lines 230 kilovolts and higher). According to at least two major utilities (Duke Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority), such power lines require a minimum of 150 feet of right-of-way, land generally cleared of all significant vegetation that might come in contact with the power lines.
That’s 4,400 square miles of already developed (or denuded) land for solar power, right under existing grid infrastructure. But given that the lines would amke for some shading, and assuming that half of transmission line right-of-way is unsuitable for solar, even then it leaves 2,200 square miles of available land for solar.
With approximately 275 megawatts (MW) installed per square mile, over 600,000 MW of solar could occupy the available right-of-way, providing enough electricity (over 720billion kilowatt-hours) to supply 20 percent of U.S. power demands. Howzatt??
Now that should apply for many places the world over. Pronto, you have the place you have been searching for to set up panels, right?
Transmission right-of-way, providing 20% of U.S. electricity from solar, is just one piece of the puzzle, with another 20% possible using existing rooftops and a solar potential of nearly 100% from solar on highway right-of-way.
What if the U.S. could get 20 percent of its power from solar, near transmission lines, and without covering virgin desert? It could.
Transmission right-of-way corridors, vast swaths of vegetation-free landscape to protect high-voltage power lines, could provide enough space for over 600,000 megawatts of solar PV. These arrays could provide enough electricity to meet 20% of the country’s electric needs.
There are 155,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the United States(defined as lines 230 kilovolts and higher). According to at least two major utilities (Duke Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority), such power lines require a minimum of 150 feet of right-of-way, land generally cleared of all significant vegetation that might come in contact with the power lines.
That’s 4,400 square miles of already developed (or denuded) land for solar power, right under existing grid infrastructure. But given that the lines would amke for some shading, and assuming that half of transmission line right-of-way is unsuitable for solar, even then it leaves 2,200 square miles of available land for solar.
With approximately 275 megawatts (MW) installed per square mile, over 600,000 MW of solar could occupy the available right-of-way, providing enough electricity (over 720billion kilowatt-hours) to supply 20 percent of U.S. power demands. Howzatt??
Now that should apply for many places the world over. Pronto, you have the place you have been searching for to set up panels, right?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Food for 7 billion
An international team of scientists has unveiled a plan that they say would double food production by 2050 while reducing the global environmental impact of agriculture.
Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Germany said that the only way the world community could sustainably feed the estimated 9 billion to 10 billion people expected on the planet later this century would be by taking the five following steps:
halt expansion of farmland into tropical forests and wild lands; more efficiently use large swaths of underutilized farmland in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, boosting current food production by nearly 60 percent;
make more efficient use of water, fertilizers, and chemicals, which are currently overutilized in some areas and underutilized in others;
shift diets, especially in the developed world, from excessive meat consumption;
and reduce the amount of food that is discarded, spoiled, or eaten by pests, which currently amounts to about a third of the food supply.
The University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment which came out with the study has summarised it well as the world prepares to welcme its 7 billionth homo sapien. Increasingly, sustainability will become more than a fancy word used at all forums. It will mean the only way we can carry the race forward. Optimisation of resources and minimisation of waste will play a big role.
Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Germany said that the only way the world community could sustainably feed the estimated 9 billion to 10 billion people expected on the planet later this century would be by taking the five following steps:
halt expansion of farmland into tropical forests and wild lands; more efficiently use large swaths of underutilized farmland in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, boosting current food production by nearly 60 percent;
make more efficient use of water, fertilizers, and chemicals, which are currently overutilized in some areas and underutilized in others;
shift diets, especially in the developed world, from excessive meat consumption;
and reduce the amount of food that is discarded, spoiled, or eaten by pests, which currently amounts to about a third of the food supply.
The University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment which came out with the study has summarised it well as the world prepares to welcme its 7 billionth homo sapien. Increasingly, sustainability will become more than a fancy word used at all forums. It will mean the only way we can carry the race forward. Optimisation of resources and minimisation of waste will play a big role.
Friday, October 14, 2011
2 million lives at stake due to inefficient stoves
What is the most primal need of energy for? Cooking. And when it comes to that, millions still do not have access to electricity. Nearly half the world's population uses biomass (wood, crop residues, charcoal or dung) or coal as fuel for cooking and heating.
Rural and poor across the world's developing nations still use smoke stoves that are bad for the environment and health. Indoor air pollution from such inefficient stoves affects about 3 billion people -- nearly half the world's population. In addition to respiratory disease caused by smoke, the fuel needed by inefficient stoves leads to deforestation, and environmental degradation. Women and children are at greatest risk for the adverse health effects posed by inefficient stoves.
An international effort to replace smoky, inefficient household stoves that people commonly use in lower and middle income countries with clean, affordable, fuel efficient stoves could save nearly 2 million lives each year, according to experts from the National Institutes of health.
The study authors cited a recent report by the World Bank, which noted that, in addition to improving public health, clean, efficient stoves could have benefits to the environment and the climate, by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
In recognition of the problem, the United Nations launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. A public-private partnership, the alliance seeks to create a global market for clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels in the developing world. To succeed, strategies for replacing the world's inefficient biomass stoves with clean, efficient stoves must be market driven, the researchers rightly noted. Equally important is the need for awareness among the people on the need for a clean stove, right?
Rural and poor across the world's developing nations still use smoke stoves that are bad for the environment and health. Indoor air pollution from such inefficient stoves affects about 3 billion people -- nearly half the world's population. In addition to respiratory disease caused by smoke, the fuel needed by inefficient stoves leads to deforestation, and environmental degradation. Women and children are at greatest risk for the adverse health effects posed by inefficient stoves.
An international effort to replace smoky, inefficient household stoves that people commonly use in lower and middle income countries with clean, affordable, fuel efficient stoves could save nearly 2 million lives each year, according to experts from the National Institutes of health.
The study authors cited a recent report by the World Bank, which noted that, in addition to improving public health, clean, efficient stoves could have benefits to the environment and the climate, by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
In recognition of the problem, the United Nations launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. A public-private partnership, the alliance seeks to create a global market for clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels in the developing world. To succeed, strategies for replacing the world's inefficient biomass stoves with clean, efficient stoves must be market driven, the researchers rightly noted. Equally important is the need for awareness among the people on the need for a clean stove, right?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Solar on top of the world!
Here's a question for you: which is the best place to capture solar energy?
Desert? Right, for obvious reasons. But wait, a recent study has found another more optimal place and that's the mountains!
It concludes that some of the world's coldest landscapes -- including the Himalaya Mountains, the Andes, and even Antarctica -- could become Saudi Arabias of solar. The research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Many hot regions such as the U.S. desert southwest are ideal locations for solar arrays. However, they also found that many cold regions at high elevations receive a lot of sunlight -- so much so that their potential for producing power from the sun is even higher than in some desert areas.
The team found, for instance, that the Himalayas, which include Mt. Everest, could be an ideal locale for solar fields that generate electricity for the fast-expanding economy of the People's Republic of China. Chances are that the Chinese, on hearing this will start building a massive solar array for the Himalayas! The roadways and railways are almost in place anyway (in fact, the holy Kailash will soon see motorised parikrama!)
Desert? Right, for obvious reasons. But wait, a recent study has found another more optimal place and that's the mountains!
It concludes that some of the world's coldest landscapes -- including the Himalaya Mountains, the Andes, and even Antarctica -- could become Saudi Arabias of solar. The research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Many hot regions such as the U.S. desert southwest are ideal locations for solar arrays. However, they also found that many cold regions at high elevations receive a lot of sunlight -- so much so that their potential for producing power from the sun is even higher than in some desert areas.
The team found, for instance, that the Himalayas, which include Mt. Everest, could be an ideal locale for solar fields that generate electricity for the fast-expanding economy of the People's Republic of China. Chances are that the Chinese, on hearing this will start building a massive solar array for the Himalayas! The roadways and railways are almost in place anyway (in fact, the holy Kailash will soon see motorised parikrama!)
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Drops make the ocean
More than 1 billion people in poor countries around the world could have access to electricity within 20 years, if the international community is prepared to make the effort, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.
Giving poor people access to electricity – more than a century after it became available to the rich – would cost about $48bn a year, and would have huge advantages in terms of health, education and economic growth, a global study for the IEA concluded. Moreover, it would not require a leap in greenhouse gas emissions, as low-carbon energy could make up a large part of the new energy sources to bring the poor into step with the modern world.
If done properly, providing electricity access to those who lack it would increase carbon dioxide emissions by about 0.7%, according to the IEA report, which it said would be "equivalent to the annual emissions of New York State but giving electricity to a population more than 50 times the size".
People with access to electricity suffer far less from indoor air pollution, mostly caused by cooking over traditional wood fires. Close to 3 billion people around the world currently have no access to clean cooking facilities, and indoor air pollution is one of the world's biggest "silent killers", causing millions of deaths and many more cases of respiratory illness every year, mostly in women and children, who are more exposed to the pollution.
The IEA calculates that of the money needed, $18bn could come from multilateral and bilateral development sources, $15bn from the governments of developing countries and $15bn from the private sector.
The United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All and what better than to take up such a noble cause?
Giving poor people access to electricity – more than a century after it became available to the rich – would cost about $48bn a year, and would have huge advantages in terms of health, education and economic growth, a global study for the IEA concluded. Moreover, it would not require a leap in greenhouse gas emissions, as low-carbon energy could make up a large part of the new energy sources to bring the poor into step with the modern world.
If done properly, providing electricity access to those who lack it would increase carbon dioxide emissions by about 0.7%, according to the IEA report, which it said would be "equivalent to the annual emissions of New York State but giving electricity to a population more than 50 times the size".
People with access to electricity suffer far less from indoor air pollution, mostly caused by cooking over traditional wood fires. Close to 3 billion people around the world currently have no access to clean cooking facilities, and indoor air pollution is one of the world's biggest "silent killers", causing millions of deaths and many more cases of respiratory illness every year, mostly in women and children, who are more exposed to the pollution.
The IEA calculates that of the money needed, $18bn could come from multilateral and bilateral development sources, $15bn from the governments of developing countries and $15bn from the private sector.
The United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All and what better than to take up such a noble cause?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Battle lines re-drawn
The Kyoto Protocol was once again in focus at climate negotiations in Panama last week, indicating that a fight is brewing ahead of Durban's COP17 climate change talks. The Panama talks are the last round of official United Nations climate change negotiations ahead of COP17 at the end of November in Durban.
In Panama, old battle lines were redrawn when Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States insisted they would not sign up to a second commitment period for Kyoto when it expires at the end of next year.
But many developing countries that have rallied behind the Group of 77 and China insisted that Kyoto should not die.
The chairman of the least developed countries group, Pa Ousman Jarju of Gambia, stressed that poor countries needed the financial mechanisms embedded in Kyoto to help them cope with climate change. Meanwhile, the EU is discussing proposals that would extend Kyoto without dealing directly with the protocol in name, providing the financial mechanisms developing countries want.
Industrialised countries have pledged to provide $30bn of fast-start funding between 2011 and 2013 to support climate adaptation and emission-reduction projects in developing countries.
However, there have been consistent complaints from developing countries that not all the money has been awarded, and there has been absence of transparency over how the cash has been distributed.
Poorer nations are also increasingly concerned that there are no firm commitments on funding for post-2013 beyond a pledge delivered in Cancun to investigate providing up to £100bn a year in funding from 2020.
From such indications, it is clear that Durban will not make a big change!
In Panama, old battle lines were redrawn when Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States insisted they would not sign up to a second commitment period for Kyoto when it expires at the end of next year.
But many developing countries that have rallied behind the Group of 77 and China insisted that Kyoto should not die.
The chairman of the least developed countries group, Pa Ousman Jarju of Gambia, stressed that poor countries needed the financial mechanisms embedded in Kyoto to help them cope with climate change. Meanwhile, the EU is discussing proposals that would extend Kyoto without dealing directly with the protocol in name, providing the financial mechanisms developing countries want.
Industrialised countries have pledged to provide $30bn of fast-start funding between 2011 and 2013 to support climate adaptation and emission-reduction projects in developing countries.
However, there have been consistent complaints from developing countries that not all the money has been awarded, and there has been absence of transparency over how the cash has been distributed.
Poorer nations are also increasingly concerned that there are no firm commitments on funding for post-2013 beyond a pledge delivered in Cancun to investigate providing up to £100bn a year in funding from 2020.
From such indications, it is clear that Durban will not make a big change!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Costs play dampener on CCS
After the brake on the US FutureGen project and closure of a CCS unit in West Virginia, now it is the turn of UK to face some truths in the area.
A major carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project planned in Scotland may soon bite the dust. The project, slated for the Longannet coal power station, to the northeast of Edinburgh, has been heavily supported by the government, but apparently the price tag might be too high in current economic and political conditions.
The Longannet station owned by ScottishPower, has a massive generating capacity of more than 2300 megawatts. The idea was to capture some of the CO2 emissions and bury them under the North Sea. But the report in The Guardian noted: "The investment case for CCS remains uncertain due to the absence of a firm timetable and a clear roadmap for how these demonstrations will enable and form part of a large scale deployment of CCS in the UK."
The report also notes that most likely 20 to 30 gigawatts of CCS-fitted power plants must be in operation by 2030 in order to meet emissions targets and a growing energy demand.
Perhaps CCS is an idea before its time, at least for now!
A major carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project planned in Scotland may soon bite the dust. The project, slated for the Longannet coal power station, to the northeast of Edinburgh, has been heavily supported by the government, but apparently the price tag might be too high in current economic and political conditions.
The Longannet station owned by ScottishPower, has a massive generating capacity of more than 2300 megawatts. The idea was to capture some of the CO2 emissions and bury them under the North Sea. But the report in The Guardian noted: "The investment case for CCS remains uncertain due to the absence of a firm timetable and a clear roadmap for how these demonstrations will enable and form part of a large scale deployment of CCS in the UK."
The report also notes that most likely 20 to 30 gigawatts of CCS-fitted power plants must be in operation by 2030 in order to meet emissions targets and a growing energy demand.
Perhaps CCS is an idea before its time, at least for now!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Riding merry on fossil fuels
Global fossil fuel consumption subsidies rose in 2010 despite a pledge by G-20 nations to take steps to reduce them in coming years, according to a new analysis.
The International Energy Agency estimated that subsidies that artificially lower fuel prices reached $409 billion in 2010, an increase of almost $110 billion above 2009 levels.
The changes “closely tracked the sharp rise in international fuel prices,” according to the IEA.
The IEA’s top economist told reporters in Paris that subsidies could reach $660 billion in 2020 absent better reforms, according to Reuters.
The Paris-based IEA and the OECD released a joint analysis that follows the G-20’s 2009 pledge to phase-out subsidies that encourage waste, hinder energy security, and impede development of renewables and climate change initiatives.
The International Energy Agency estimated that subsidies that artificially lower fuel prices reached $409 billion in 2010, an increase of almost $110 billion above 2009 levels.
The changes “closely tracked the sharp rise in international fuel prices,” according to the IEA.
The IEA’s top economist told reporters in Paris that subsidies could reach $660 billion in 2020 absent better reforms, according to Reuters.
The Paris-based IEA and the OECD released a joint analysis that follows the G-20’s 2009 pledge to phase-out subsidies that encourage waste, hinder energy security, and impede development of renewables and climate change initiatives.
Tech boomerangs
China with its aspirations may have overtaken the US in emissions but the US continues to be bullish about fossil fuels and emissions. Climate change deniers and a populace unwilling to let go on a carbon rich lifestyle have fuelled a feeling that life simply has to go on, in the same track.
Hence the new interest in geo-engineering. The idea being, let us pollute and then clean up the atmosphere. A panel is recommending that the government begin researching the possibility of directly manipulating the Earth’s climate to lower the temperature. This despite the fact that a few days ago, the UK-based Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering project, or “SPICE,” a project aimed at cooling the earth’s climate, was delayed due to environmental concerns.
Not only is geo-engineering a distraction from climate change mitigation, it also presents ethical and political challenges. But more important, it presents the problem of unintended consequences. For instance, sulphate clouds could alter weather patterns and cause droughts. We have enough instances of technology turning the trigger backwards.
In early last century, Thomas Midgley helped stop engines from “knocking” by adding lead to gasoline. This was good for the engines, though highly toxic to humans and the environment. Advocates called for regulation, but catalytic converters ultimately came to the rescue. The converters couldn’t handle the lead, and so the lead was dropped.
Midgley went on to help solve the refrigeration problem presented by the highly flammable and/or toxic refrigerants of the day – ammonia, sulfur dioxide, methyl chloride and butane. He worked his way through the periodic table to discover that CFCs which were then used till found to affect the ozone layer. They were replaced by HFCs till it was found that HFCs are greenhouse gases!
When using sulphate to cool, we do not know the consequences besides the theoretical and lab based cooling.
Is it wise to continue on a carbon rich energy path or shift? What do you think?
Hence the new interest in geo-engineering. The idea being, let us pollute and then clean up the atmosphere. A panel is recommending that the government begin researching the possibility of directly manipulating the Earth’s climate to lower the temperature. This despite the fact that a few days ago, the UK-based Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering project, or “SPICE,” a project aimed at cooling the earth’s climate, was delayed due to environmental concerns.
Not only is geo-engineering a distraction from climate change mitigation, it also presents ethical and political challenges. But more important, it presents the problem of unintended consequences. For instance, sulphate clouds could alter weather patterns and cause droughts. We have enough instances of technology turning the trigger backwards.
In early last century, Thomas Midgley helped stop engines from “knocking” by adding lead to gasoline. This was good for the engines, though highly toxic to humans and the environment. Advocates called for regulation, but catalytic converters ultimately came to the rescue. The converters couldn’t handle the lead, and so the lead was dropped.
Midgley went on to help solve the refrigeration problem presented by the highly flammable and/or toxic refrigerants of the day – ammonia, sulfur dioxide, methyl chloride and butane. He worked his way through the periodic table to discover that CFCs which were then used till found to affect the ozone layer. They were replaced by HFCs till it was found that HFCs are greenhouse gases!
When using sulphate to cool, we do not know the consequences besides the theoretical and lab based cooling.
Is it wise to continue on a carbon rich energy path or shift? What do you think?
Monday, October 3, 2011
Gadgets in the times of scarcity
Go visiting a friend and chances are that the talk will veer around to some new acquisition, a gadget. Guest and host will discuss the new models, the tricks it has up its sleeve, the price, and so on. Very rarely will the discussion touch on the aspect of efficiency or power use!
In developed countries this is more so, but developing nations with fast rising aspirations are catching up on their electric toothbrushes, smartphones, big fridges, flatscreen TV, tablet PCs. In the UK, a report from the Energy Savings Trust has warned of the nation falling below meeting its target on reducing emissions if this gadget craze continues.
The number of domestic gadgets and appliances in the average UK household increased by three and a half times between 1990 and 2009, according to the report, and overall energy consumption from consumer electronic goods rose by more than 600% between 1970 and 2009.
The new report finds that despite householders' efforts to switch to energy-efficient products, we are actually consuming more energy than five years ago, with almost a third of all the UK's carbon emissions coming from the home.
The proliferation of new gadgets such as laptops, tablets and powerful desktops shows no sign of abating, however. Between 2000 and 2009 electricity use from home computing more than doubled, and the number of devices in Britain's homes rose from 30,000 to 65,000!
This could well be the truth for most cities across the globe. The cost of running gadgets is often forgotten given the cheap and subsidised rate of fossil backed power. This awareness must be strengthened if homes are to stop being energy guzzlers.
In developed countries this is more so, but developing nations with fast rising aspirations are catching up on their electric toothbrushes, smartphones, big fridges, flatscreen TV, tablet PCs. In the UK, a report from the Energy Savings Trust has warned of the nation falling below meeting its target on reducing emissions if this gadget craze continues.
The number of domestic gadgets and appliances in the average UK household increased by three and a half times between 1990 and 2009, according to the report, and overall energy consumption from consumer electronic goods rose by more than 600% between 1970 and 2009.
The new report finds that despite householders' efforts to switch to energy-efficient products, we are actually consuming more energy than five years ago, with almost a third of all the UK's carbon emissions coming from the home.
The proliferation of new gadgets such as laptops, tablets and powerful desktops shows no sign of abating, however. Between 2000 and 2009 electricity use from home computing more than doubled, and the number of devices in Britain's homes rose from 30,000 to 65,000!
This could well be the truth for most cities across the globe. The cost of running gadgets is often forgotten given the cheap and subsidised rate of fossil backed power. This awareness must be strengthened if homes are to stop being energy guzzlers.
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