Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Deep Green: peak oil changes everything | Greenpeace UK

Deep Green: peak oil changes everything | Greenpeace UK

Although I am skeptical of his unreferenced claim that the EROI (Energy Returned over Investment Ratio) for Alberta Tar Sands production approaches 1:1, over all I find this to be a well written article that paints a very clear picture of the approach that society needs to take in response to not only peak oil, but the the inevitable down ward slope of production of all non-renewable resources on this planet.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The way we live

The way we live

Not half an hour after writing my hydrogen economy comments, I come across this column by Leonard Stern in the Citizen.

I see this kind of writing, and I begin to think there may be a glimmer of hope.

Enough is Enough!

2009 Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle Review – Full Review of the 2009 Honda FCX Clarity - Honda FCX Road Test

I received this link from an acquaintance recently. "I'm sold," he enthused! "Have already started saving my nickels and dimes!"

It is easy, I suppose, to get quite excited about the wondrous possibilities that technology can bring. An apparently endless supply of fuel whose only waste is water. Who could ask for anything more!

Unfortunately, such proposals don't deal with what is the root of the problem. There are simply too many of us trying to do too many things on the limited confines of our planet. There is nothing sustainable about a world population of 7 billion people that doubles its population within its own lifetime that also collectively thinks that it is reasonable for all of us to aspire to have and consume more. If only we all had a hydrogen fueled vehicle we could all travel around whenever we wanted is what the hydrogen car implies. Instead, we should take the massive investment required to build a hydrogen fuel infrastructure for individual transport and put it into redesigning our urban infrastructure such that it truly is sustainable over the long term.

We need, as a civilization, to find a way to rein in our expanding desires, not feed them. We need to start saying "Enough is enough!"