What Energy Crisis?
Cara Chellew
From nature’s point of view there is no energy shortage. The sun is still shinning, gravity still keeps us grounded, and we can still absorb nutrients from our food. Yet, we have still reached a point of crisis. The earth’s climate is changing at an incredible rate because our technologies have radically changed the effect and scope of human action. We have gotten to a point where our consuming behavior is radically altering the chances of survival for many living species, including our own. The burning of fossil fuels, which includes oil, coal, and natural gas, is cheap and convenient for the moment, but at what cost?
Unfortunately, the rate in which the world is extracting and burning fossil fuels is only increasing as the global population increases and parts of the world previously unindustrialized like India and China, join the first world in energy consumption. Around 86% of primary energy production in the world comes from the burning of fossil fuels. Why is this the case when we have an endless supply of free, renewable, clean energy sources spanning from solar technology to human power?
Investment in green energy and infrastructure is essential but only one part of the solution. Humankind’s energy crisis stems from the way in which we use energy and the amount the industrial world wastes. Media distractions, consumer culture, and technological dependence have allowed many people living in the global north to become passive, self-obsessed, and unable to imagine ways of living that are contrary to the consumerist model. Do we really need microwave ovens, mass-produced cheese-in-a-tube, and gasoline guzzling vehicles in exchange for clean air and water?
Advocating for fair economic policies, green energy investment, and government action is only half the battle. We must locate the core issues surrounding our dependence on ‘easy’ energy and our unwillingness to acknowledge that we have some sort of responsibility for the effects of our actions. The promise of technology is seductive as it lures the industrial world to shipwreck. It has allowed us to escape the burden and toil of daily life. The desire to escape discomfort is understandable, but we have unconsciously accepted all technologies as equal and good.
The unconscious attitude of our civilization is the real crisis. Everything from global warming, food and water shortages, abuses of human rights, and war stems from the unwillingness to recognize that our actions have real effects on others and on our surrounding environments. Rather than take responsibility for our actions, we have abdicated that responsibility to the powerful institutions of our day, governments and industry.
We can no longer allow ourselves to remain unconscious.
“Our civilization is locked in the grip of an ideology – corporatism. An ideology that denies and undermines the legitimacy of individuals as the citizen in a democracy. The particular imbalance of this ideology leads to a worship of self-interest and a denial of the public good. The practical effects on the individual are passivity and conformism in the areas that matter, and non-conformism in the areas that don’t.” (John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization.)
Midnight
Cara Chellew
The Western world is black. Oil exudes from every pore. It is in our clothes, carpets, electronics, and water bottles. It is the main ingredient in petrochemicals used in plastics and polyester. Oil powers factory machinery and lubricates engines. It transports our food, our consumables, and our selves. Moreover, it provides conditions for the fulfillment of our basic needs. It powers tractors for agriculture, heats our houses, and allows us to cook our food. Sweet crude is the West’s economic lifeblood.
Fossil fuels are the product of millions of years of heating and compression of ancient plants and animals. Fossil fuels include light sweet crude, natural gas, coal, and non-conventional oil like the Canadian Athabasca oil sands. Since the amount of time for natural processes to create fossil fuels is very large, the burning of fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources. The rate in which the world is extracting and burning fossil fuels is only increasing as the world population increases and parts of the world previously unindustrialized like India and China, join the first world in energy consumption.
Allowing the market to control the price of fossil fuels will inevitably lead to the end of cheap oil. The peaking of oil production is inescapable. There is controversy surrounding the date of peaking as fossil fuel companies seek to misinform the public about the real oil reserve numbers. A few experienced geologists agree that the peaking of world oil production is already upon us. As more of the world demands cheap energy, supply will remain the same and eventually go down as world oil reserves decline. Basic economics dictate that energy derived from oil will be too expensive for the majority of the world to afford. This signifies the need for cheap, renewable energy sources.
The most promising are sources derived from the natural environment. For thousands of years, humans have recognized four basic elements: air, water, earth, and fire. Air is harnessed as wind energy and can power wind turbines and vibrate materials. Fire in the form of solar power can be used to power solar panels and heat water to create steam. Water can be used by capturing tidal energy, powering perpetual motion machines, and fueling hydrogen fuel cells. Heat from the earth can be used to power homes in the form of geothermal energy. The technology is at our fingertips, but with every step forward we are taking two steps back. The lack of political will to create and enforce legislation and the lack of investment in infrastructure and innovation impedes progress on the alternative energy front.
Energy alternatives like nuclear energy and clean coal technologies are popular with big business and big government. Unfortunately, these processes produce waste products that must be stored safely. This poses health and environmental hazards because there is no safe way to store nuclear waste. Toxic waste products last for hundreds of years and studies have shown that exposure to even low amounts of radiation is harmful to human health. Clean coal is not an environmentally friendly process because tremendous environmental damage is done by mining and transport. Furthermore, we do not know the effects of carbon sequestering. This process involves injecting gaseous carbon dioxide deep into the ground. Carbon sequestering is championed as the green way to dispose of waste products from coal powered plants. There needs to be much more debate about this subject.
Issues of great importance such as peak oil, climate change, water and food shortages, overpopulation, human rights, and war can only be addressed by a people that see the world as beautifully interconnected. This calls for the massive task of consciousness raising. Through empathy and logic, we must shift our energy policy to one that respects the biodiversity of the earth. Education and understanding can change our perspectives. The human species has evolved for thousands of years to adapt to ecosystems that we are now purposely destroying and altering at an exponential pace with our obsession with the bottom line. We are creating environments that cannot support life.
Change will occur as communities adapt to their natural environments. We must recognize inherent biological limits and strive for balance. This will be a decentralized process because each community and ecosystem is unique and diversity must be respected and valued for adaptability. We must use our imaginations to create new possibilities for cheap, environmentally responsible, accessible energy.
Images by (www.treehugger.com), Randy Olson
