Sustainable Development--Oxymoron

--Fiction--Opportunities

Dr. Jim HenryChemical Engineering

UTC

OxymoronDef– a term that is made up of

contradictory elements

Sustainable development is seeking to meet the needs of the present

without compromising those of future

generations

Our needsOur Earth’s Situation

--Energy--Food

--Water

Our needsOur Earth’s Situation

--Energy--Food

--Water

Global energy supply won't meet demand in 2050, Shell says.Energy companies won't meet the expected power demand from China and India, said officials from Royal Dutch Shell. The company released a white paper examining global energy supply and demand until 2050. The gap "will have to be bridged by some combination of extraordinary demand moderation and extraordinary production acceleration," Shell said.

TODAY’s e-mail

= teraWatts = 1012 Watts = mega-megaWatts

Note: no “Electricity” or “Hydrogen” or “Solar”

“Fossil Fuels” = CO2 sources

Material & Energy Balance

0.3 billion people in US60 TW oil/person

7 billion people on Earth15 TW oil/person

0.3 billion people in US60 TW oil/person

7 billion people on Earth60 TW oil/person

3 ½ times as much!

0.3 billion people in US15 TW oil/person

3 ½ times less!7 billion people on Earth

15 TW oil/person

http://pelicanweb.org/

ANALYSISIn Version 1.4 Scenario 1, the loops shaded in blue are dominant, as in Version 1.0.

In Version 1.4 Scenario 2, the loops shaded in orange mitigate environmental deterioration.The loops shaded in yellow reinforce social/human development even more than in Version 1.0,

and serve as balancing arbiter between the blue-shaded and orange-shaded loops.

MDG 1. End Poverty & HungerMDG 2. Universal EducationMDG 3. Promote Gender EqualityMDG 4. Improve Child HealthMDG 5. Improve Maternal HealthMDG 6. Combat HIV/AIDSMDG 7. Environmental SustainabilityMDG 8. Global Partnership for Development

Millennium Development

Goals

Our needsOur Earth’s Situation

--Energy--Food--Water

Amartya Sen won his 1998 Nobel Prize in part for his work in demonstrating that hunger in modern times was not typically the product of a lack of food; rather, hunger usually arose from problems in food distribution networks or from governmental policies in the developing world

1950-2010: This is the past, so there is nothing we can do about it.

2100-2200: This is the future we want to ensure in order to attain a healthy balance between humanity and the human habitat.

2010-2100: This is the window of opportunity. Both social and ecological time constants are very long, the years from 2010 to 2100 is the time to accomplish the transitions from • patriarchy to solidarity, • consumerism to sustainability, • and imperialism to decisions to the

lowest practical level

http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/

We have to learn our way out of current social and environmental problems and learn to live sustainably.

Education for sustainable development aims to help people to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and in the future, and to act upon these decisions.

We must seek to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental problems we face in the 21st century.“

UNESCO

ESD

Our needsOur Earth’s Situation

--Energy--Food

--Water

http://www.globalwater.org/

Our needsOur Earth’s Situation

--Energy--Food

--Water

WHAT CAN YOU DO?