Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
happy to experience by 2025 the quality of life that was
enjoyed by people in Lyon or Kyoto during the 1960s.
It would be an immense improvement, a gain that would
elevate them from barely adequate subsistence to incipi-
ent affluence. But lowering the rich world's average
TPES (as well as that of a few hundreds of millions of
rich urbanites in the poor world) seems to be an utterly
unrealistic proposition. Leaving aside the accumulation
of ephemeral junk, what is so precious about our gains
through high energy use that we seem unwilling even to
contemplate a return to lower, but still (by any reason-
able standard) generous,
sustain a decent quality of life and the imperative of not
affecting the biosphere in ways inimical to human sur-
vival. Achieving this grand compromise is not inevitable
or certain. Possibilities of other futures easily come to
mind, and there is no shortage of dark visions (Rees
2003; Meadows, Randers, and Meadows 2004; Kunstler
2005). Our best hope is that we will find the determina-
tion to make choices that would confirm the Linnaean
designation of our species—sapiens.
levels of fuel and electricity
consumption?
There is no benefit in pushing food supply above
13 MJ/day; waste and spreading obesity are the only
''rewards.'' And the activity that has been shown to be
most beneficial in preventing the foremost cause of death
in Western populations is a brisk 30-60-min walk most
days (Haennel and Lemire 2002), not living in a virtual
electronic universe. As unrealistic as reductions of more
than 50% of average per capita TPES appear to be, the
comparison should be on our minds as we think about
the future energy consumption, bridging the gap be-
tween rich and poor worlds, and establishing a more se-
cure global civilization. After all, North America's levels
of consumption cannot become global means. Extending
the pattern of 5% of the world's population consuming
25% of global TPES would call for a quintupling of
global energy use. And perpetuation of existing inequal-
ities only aggravates endless global strife.
We must realize that the quest for maximization of en-
ergy flows that has marked the ascent of fossil-fueled civ-
ilization is not an inevitable evolutionary trend. We must
hope that during the twenty-first century humanity will
work out a new balance between adequate energy use to
