Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Consuming Passions
Given the momentum imparted to conventional energy technologies, the quickest,
cheapest and most equitable way to reduce global GHG emissions is to reduce the
high rates of energy consumption in developed countries (fi gure 31.5). In one of the
most comprehensive assessments of US national energy policy and technology
potential, Brown and colleagues (2001, p. 1179) 'conclude[d] that policies exist that
can signifi cantly reduce oil dependence, air pollution, carbon emissions, and ineffi -
ciencies in energy production and end-use systems at essentially no net cost to the
US economy,' largely by eliminating a large national 'effi ciency gap' between actual
and optimal investment in energy effi ciency due to well-understood market failures
and barriers (Brown, 2001; Banerjee and Solomon, 2003). The problem is not that
the potential for signifi cant effi ciency gains is uncertain - the 'energy intensity'
(energy use per unit of economic output) of developed countries has declined for
decades as technologies became more effi cient, economies shed certain high-energy
industries, and government environmental policies encouraged energy effi ciency.
Indeed, from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, when these factors were accelerated by
energy price increases and a sense of national urgency, US GDP grew by one-third
with no net increase in energy use and emissions. Rather, curbing global energy
consumption requires dealing with a structural economic problem that is com-
pounded by political and cultural forces.
The structural problem is that economies predicated on continuous growth create
constant pressure for increased energy use to produce more goods and services.
Although there is an increasingly infl uential discourse of ecological modernisation
based on ideas of the triple bottom line and technical improvements to 'do more
with less' (see Mol's chapter), the political constituency seeking to support economic
growth by expanding conventional energy systems is typically better funded, organ-
ised and politically connected than are the ecological modernizing advocates of
conservation and effi ciency improvements. For example, until 2007, automakers
and auto labour unions had for two decades successfully defeated legislation that
would have improved US automobile fl eet effi ciency. Beyond politics, Hinchliffe
(1997) fi nds cultural reasons, such as the distance many people feel between their
own actions and the causes and consequences of socio-economic problems, for why
individuals and communities might act neither as economic rationalists nor as envi-
ronmentally conscious consumers in their energy behaviours. Lovell (2005) uses
science and technology studies (STS) concepts to explain why public investment in
low energy social housing may not be a sound strategy for diffusing effi ciency inno-
vation across multiple housing sectors. Both political and cultural insights help
explain why, even in Europe, where support for progressive climate action is strong,
effi ciency 'policy is progressing too slowly and...(t)he most effective policy -
minimum standards - is being replaced with the much weaker industry-promoted
voluntary agreements' (Boardman, 2004, p. 1932).
Mammals in the Land of Dinosaurs: Prospects for Renewable
Energy Resources
Despite the high value of energy conservation and effi ciency, they do not eliminate
the need to develop low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels. The best positioned, but
most problematic, of these alternatives is nuclear power, for which climate change
