Sustainability and the web of 7Es - Energy, Ecology, Employment, Equity, Entropy, Ethics, Economy

transcript

Sustainability and the Web of 7 Es

Energy P.L.Dhar

I.I.T Delhi

Employment

• Dimensions of Sustainability

Ecological -- Climate Change - Water Scarcity

Resource Depletion –Dwindling minerals, metals, Fossil Energy

…………………………………………………Social – in-Equity – Economy -- un-Employment-

- Greed

Ethical – Wars , Terrorism -- Anger

• The WEB

Energy

Ecology

Economy

Entropy

Equity

Ethics

Employment

Economy

Energy

1. Change in Prime Energy Source has always brought about a revolution in the Economy

2. Global Economy has been possible only because of availability of Oil to power IC Engines.

3. When oil finishes ….

• Need for Energy ConservationSlide 10

Energy 1. Fossil Fuels produce CO2 on Oxidation…. stocks depleting rapidly

2. Nuclear waste is highly hazardous

3. Even RES result in GHG emission

4. Hydrogen is not a naturally available fuel; but a carrier of Energy

Ecology

1. Promoting Consumerism by ‘Creating’ Demand is an integral part of Globalizing Economies.

2. More the industrial activity more the Global warming.

3. JOBLESS GROWTH !

4. Over 90% of the workforce in employed in the unorganized sector

Ecology

Economy

Employment

Globalization is increasing in-equity.

In India for every Rs 100 generated by growth the poorest 20% receive only Rs 8.9 while the richest

20% receive Rs 43.3

Inequity is the root cause of increasing social turmoil

EcologyEconomy

EquityEmployment

• For example, when unemployment goes up 1%, there's a 4% increase in homicides, a 6% increase in robberies, a 2% increase in burglaries, and measurable effects on rape and other crimes : Milton Friedman

psych.mcmaster.ca/dalywilson/iiahr2001.pdf

SUSTAINABLITY & RESPONSE BASED ON THE 5Es

• Conserve Energy

• Shift to Renewable Sources of Energy………………………………….…………..• Reduce Emissions

• Carbon Capture

• Carbon Trading…………………………………………..…..• Liberalize --Increase growth rate

• Counter intuitive results of increasing energy efficiency– Increased fuel economy of cars boosted their

sales with a net increase in fuel consumption in India

– Increased recycling of aluminum cans , reduced their costs and it resulted in doubling the number of canned soft drinks consumed in US

– Improvement in the efficiency of lighting systems has motivated use of higher intensity of illumination in UK Slide 3

• These only defer the day of reckoning !• Anyone who believes that exponential growth can

go on forever in a finite world is either a mad man or an economist . ---- K.E.Boulding

• Sustainable development demands “Steady state “ working of planet earth

Limitations of this responseR

To evolve a more whole-some response we need to appreciate the role of other two strand of this web , viz.

Entropy and Ethics

• The Second Law : All natural processes involve exergy destruction

…………………………………………………………………….N.Georgescu Roegen :

• Like energy matter is also not destroyed , but is continually dissipated: loose metal (matter) molecules get dispersed in the soil and can’t perform useful work like the original chunk of metal (matter).

• You can never recycle 100 %.“Dissipation” is a more serious problem with matter-- Earth receives useful energy from Sun , but no useful matter

• The Extended Second Law : All natural processes involve exergy/material dissipation

• Economist belief : M/C + Labour create value is not tenable : They can only transfer the existing available energy/matter supply from a usable state to unusable state providing some utility along the way.

• What governs the rate of dissipation ?

LIFE STYLE Consumer Society or a Conserver SocietyEN

• What is progress, Development ?….. More or less consumption ?

• What is efficiency ?

• Ecological perspective of productivity– Exergy/matter dissipated

per unit output rather than

production per unit time

“ Haste makes waste”L C A

• Limits to Growth : Finite stock of minerals/energy and finite flow of solar energy can not sustain limitless growth !….…shift to sustainable consumption

NO Poverty NO Opulence Society

• Minimizing Consumption ……. How ?Re-look at the need satisfied by the

product & find a better alternative

Inquiry into values => ETHICS

Ethics

Ethics : May all beings be happy !

1. Compassion – sharing –reduce inequity

2. Right Livelihood

3. Do no harm .. Deep ecology

4. Eco-friendly production techniques

5. Do not steal .. Do not take more than your share of natural resources

6. Happiness is a state of MIND

Employment

Equity

Ecology

• QOL is a multi dimensional concept :

• physical well being +• emotional development +• intellectual development +• spiritual development

Living More with Less

You can not fill spiritual vacuum with goods !

• There are many activities that bring pleasure with little need for materials or commercial energy: looking at a beautiful sunset, listening to music , interacting with friends and family, expressing and receiving love and friendship, reading, sitting quietly, taking a walk , practicing whatever spiritual program we may find individually rewarding…….

• A transition to a new set of values will benefit both

• those who suffer from isolation and • those who are overstressed from the

hectic and over programmed life.

Living More with Less

Sustainable energy , Tester et al, MIT PressETH

Learning from the web

Energy

ebThe crisis of

Energy Ecology Economy Employment Equity

Is more a Crisis of Ethics & Values

than a Technological one !

How much and what ….. does one need ?

SMIL 2005

uch…

h…..d

? • Your subtopics go here

How much is good enough ?

• Smil : 50-70 GJ / capita ( 1.2-1.7 TOE) <US 350GJ, Germany 180GJ, Australia 250GJ>

• Global Mean per capita energy consumption in 2001 : 58 GJ

• As efficiencies of equipment improve , much more can be done with lesser energy consumption !

• Need for equitable sharing of energy resources … ETHICS

h…..d

Can these countries reduce energy consumption?

Transition strategies….

cutting down energy consumption through……

Technology and Product Choice

• The total energy consumption in building a bamboo house is less than 10% of that used in modern RCC houses with fired brick walls

Bamboo Construction

• Thermodynamics and the Green Revolution – Grain production increase by 250% means similar

increase in energy output– Where did this additional energy come from ?– The energy flow increased by an average of 50

times the energy input in traditional agriculture

• About 400 gallons of oil equivalent are expended annually to feed each American

• => we are eating fossil fuels !! • Besides this we have the energy costs of loss

of topsoil, ill effects of pesticides, draining water supplies

Energy efficiency of AgricultureC

Rice and maize production by modern, transitional and traditional methods

Rice production Maize production

Modern (US)

Transitional(Philippines)

Traditional(Philippines)

Modern(United States)

Traditional(Mexico)

Energy input (MJ/ha)

64,885 6,386 170 30.034 170

Productive yield (kg/ha)

5,800 2,700 1,250 5,083 950

Energy input/ yield (MJ/kg)

11.19 2.37 0.14 5.91 0.18

Energy in AgricultureC

The future of agriculture ?

• If we keep copying the western model of high energy intensity agriculture =>– Reduction in number of farmers and need

to find new employment opportunities for them

– Further increase in energy consumption in the agricultural sector

– Decreasing productivity increasing soil degradation, food ‘pollution’, ground water mining

– Increase in GHG emission

ZERO Fossil Energy Farming

• Natural Farming{ Fukuoka} ,Organic farming

• Ideally suited for low farm holding• Small farms have higher

productivity levels• Energy through

– Biogas– Draught animal power– Biomass– Solar

•Why are Agricultural scientists not bringing this to the fore ?C

Food habits – energy perspective

www.arcytech.org

Why are we not looking into this possibility seriously ?C

• 1350 kilograms of corn and

soybeans is capable of

supporting one person if

converted to beef.

• However, 1350 kilograms of

soybeans and corn utilized

directly without converting to

beef will support 22 people!

• Perhaps most effective would be to eliminate meat from our diet altogether

Why are we not looking into these issues seriously ?

• Bottled water

• Frozen foods

• International Trade in fruits and vegetables

• Paper towels …………

Energy wasting habits

ESCountry

Military expenditures -dollar figure

World $1100 b

Rest-of-World [all but USA]

$500 b

United States $623 b

China $65.0 b

Russia $50.0 b

France $45.0 b

United Kingdom $42.8 b

Japan $41.7 b

Germany $35.1 b

Italy $28.2 b

South Korea $21.1 b

India $19.0 b

Total Development aid : 100 b

Why can’t we reduce our defence expenditure and direct it to poverty alleviation ’ Debt relief’ ?

Military Expenditure

Concluding Remarks

• Sustainability has many dimensions– Inequity and terrorism are as much a

threat as climate change and energy crunch !

• Inequity and poverty alleviation urgently need “Ethical Inputs” rather than technological innovations or economic growth

• ……………………………………………………………………………

• Exhaustion of oil will demand a drastic change in Global economy

• Rather than trying to increase supplythrough massive production of bio fuels, there is an urgent need for demand management

• A decent standard of living can be ensured with a per capita annual energy consumption of ~ 50 GJ

• Equity demands massive reduction in the energy consumption of affluent countries/sections of society

• Energy conservation is a MUST but not sufficient in itself for sustainability

• Energy requirements can be drastically reduced by appropriate choice of technologies for housing, agriculture, transportation, etc

• RES based decentralized production systems promote pro-poor growth.

• Long term sustainability of society demands transition from – Consumer to Conserver Society

• This needs change in attitudes and values – from acquisitiveness to sharing

• Happiness depends not on quantum of goods we have but the state of our MIND

Value Education – inculcating compassion -- as a part of education system worldwide

• Historically energy transitions have been accompanied with improving QOL – energy crisis is an opportunity for improving QOL through change in values !!

• As humans we respond well when disaster strikes – let us now respond well before the disaster strikes !!

THANK YOU