Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Saving energy
Getting better all the time
The first parts of this topic stressed our absolute need, in order to try
to preserve a habitable planet, to move to a low-carbon economy.
We have surveyed today's energy landscape, the range of fossil fuels
and renewable energies and highlighted some of the existing draw-
backs - many of which have nothing to do with climate change - of
living in a fossil-fuelled world. So now we arrive at the prospects
for change. It's important to look at why the world has shown such
inertia in changing our energy system, at what progress we have
made in using less energy, and at the remaining barriers we face in
saving energy.
Given that we know we're travelling along the wrong energy path, the
prospects for changing direction ought to be better than they are. But
climate change is a uniquely difficult problem for many reasons. Among
them are the fact that the costs and benefits of tackling (and of not tack-
ling) it are unevenly spread - both across time and between countries.
The obstacles
In terms of time, it's today's generation that will have to pay the cost of an
emissions reduction that will largely benefit only future generations. The
four- or five-year electoral cycle in democratic countries is far too short
to take this into consideration, favouring policies that will appeal to voters
making decisions in the here and now.
There is also a geographical mismatch. Generally, the industrialized
countries most responsible for the build-up of greenhouse gases are not
those feeling the first effects of climate change, which have mainly been
felt in poorer developing countries. Americans, for instance, might be
more motivated to cut their high-level emissions if they were as generally
threatened by rising sea levels as Bangladeshis are. Rich nations are also
