The Web of 6 Es

Energy

P.L.Dhar

ENER

GY

• Its importance : Change in the prime energy source always brought about a revolution in the society

• Increasing concentration of the Energy source { from HMP => DAP => Coal => Petroleum => Nuclear }

• Versatility of Electricity as an energy carrier => a boon and a bane ?

• Modern Industrialization => Centralized Production systems => Pollution

• Centralized habitats => Mega Metros• Modern Economical system

ECO

LOG

Y• Present status of planet Earth

– AIR , WATER , LAND

• Relationship to energy consumption & modern centralized production systems– AIR => combustion of fossil fuels used in

power plants, automobiles , refrigeration and other industries

– WATER => industrial effluents , synthetic fertilizers in agriculture , centralized sewage disposal

– LAND =>, Soil degradation due to HYV farming , deforestation , land fills for solid waste management, brick making etc.

ECO

NO

MY

• Modern Economical system => Globalization , International Trade

• Before the advent of fossil fuels trade was limited to barter

• National system of markets started after Industrial revolution

• Adam smith’s ideas were shaped by mechanization of mills based on steam power

• Since machines don’t tire => no limits to wealth of Nations , to growth !

• Globalization / GATT / WTO after 2nd World war

Current Status

ENER

GY

Fossil fuel reserves-to-production (R/P) ratios at end 2005

ENER

GY

Oil reserves-to-production (R/P) ratios at end 2006

What will happen after 2050 ?

ECO

LOG

Y

ECO

LOG

Y

ECO

LOG

Y

ECO

LOG

Y

ECO

LOG

Y

ECO

NO

MY-

ENER

GY

ECO

NO

MY-

ENER

GY

SMIL 2005

ECO

NO

MY-

ENER

GY

Ecol

ogy-

Econ

omy-

Ener

gy

0200400600800

10001200

USD

bottom20%

next20%

top20%

Per capita Income distribution in India-

1999

• 25% below poverty line-huge unemployment

• Unaccounted money in circulation: 30-50% of GDP

• Transparency International : India nearly at the top in corruption

• Total Debt : ~ Rs2,000,000 crores ( 35% external)

ECO

NO

MY

–EQ

UIT

Y-VA

LUES

#1 India has 41.01 % of world's poor

T &D LOSSES ~ 23% {40=50%}

ECO

NO

MY

-EQ

UIT

Y

ECO

NO

MY

-EQ

UIT

Y

EQU

ITY-

VIO

LEN

CE

• For example, when unemployment goes up 1%, there's a 4% increase in homicides, a 6% increase in robberies, a 2% increase in burglaries, and measurable effects on rape and other crimes : Milton Friedman

psych.mcmaster.ca/dalywilson/iiahr2001.pdf

One suicide every 8 hoursJaideep HardikarSaturday, August 26, 2006 22:40 IST Vidarbha remains a grim statistic. One suicide in every eight hours. More than half of those who committed suicide were between 20 and 45, their most productive years. The Maharashtra government says as many as 1920 farmers committed suicide between January 1, 2001 and August 19, 2006. Nearly 2.8 million of the 3.2 million cotton farmers are defaulters, reports Jaideep Hardikar

IMPLICATIONS :DNA

The widow and children of Lokeshwar Bhoyar, a cotton farmer who committed suicide in Kosara village of Yavatmal district in Vidarbha

Suicide countThere are no authentic figures on the exact number of farm suicides in Vidarbha, but the Maharashtra government accepts a figure of 1920 from January 1, 2001 to August 19, 2006. The Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a farmers' movement, puts the toll at 782 from June 1, 2005 to August 26, 2006. And, in the last three months, there has been a suicide every eight hours. ECO

NO

MY

-EQ

UIT

Y

RESPONDING TO THE CRISIS

RED

UC

TIO

NIS

TIC

RES

PON

SE

• Conserve Energy

• Shift to Renewable sources of energy………………………………….…………..• Reduce emissions

• Carbon Capture

• Carbon Trading…………………………………………..…..• Liberalize --Increase growth rate

IPCC

• Counter intuitive results of increasing energy efficiency– Increased fuel economy of cars boosted their

sales with a net increase in fuel consumption in India

– Increased recycling of aluminum cans , reduced their costs and it resulted in doubling the number of canned soft drinks consumed in US

– Improvement in the efficiency of lighting systems has motivated use of higher intensity of illumination in UK

• These only defer the day of reckoning !• Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on

forever in a finite world is either a mad man or an economist. ---- K.E.Boulding

• Sustainable development demands “Steady state “ operation of planet earth

• Economic growth is highly pro- rich and will only increase inequity

Limitations of This responseR

EDU

CTI

ON

ISTI

C R

ESPO

NSE

Hol

istic

RES

PON

SE

To evolve a more whole-some response we need to appreciate the role of other two strand of this web , viz.

Entropy and Ethics

ENTR

OPY

L

AW

• The Second Law : All natural processes involve exergy destruction

• N.Georgescu Roegen

• Like energy matter is also not destroyed , but is continually dissipated: loose metal (matter) molecules are no longer in a concentrated form , they get dispersed in the soil and can’t perform useful work like the original chunk of metal (matter).

• You can never recycle 100 % => recycling m/c would loose matter and gobble energy.“Dissipation” is a more serious problem with matter--Earth receives useful energy from Sun , but no useful matter

• The Extended Second Law : All natural processes involve exergy/material dissipation

What governs the rate of dissipation ?

LIFE STYLE Consumer Society or a Conserver Society

ENTR

OPY

LA

W

• What is progress ?….. More or less consumption ? What is efficiency ?

• Q.O.L and Consumption

• Economist belief : M/C + Labour create value is not tenable : They can only transfer the existing available energy/matter supply from a usable state to unusable state providing some utility along the way.

• Ecological perspective of productivity – Exergy/matter dissipated per unit output

rather than production per unit time “ haste makes waste”

Entr

opy

Law

&Pr

ogre

ss ?

• Limits to Growth : Finite stock of minerals/energy and finite flow of solar energy can not sustain limitless growth !….…shift to sustainable consumption

NO Poverty NO Opulence Society

• Minimizing Consumption ……. How ?Re-look at the need satisfied by the product & find a better alternative…e.g.

AUTOMOBILE

Inquiry into values

Entr

opy

Law

& D

evel

opm

ent

ETH

ICS

& V

ALU

ES

• Present world view => materialistic Materialism

Life is fleeting and has just one aim,Enjoy yourself, till the body is consigned to flames!

Maximize the wealth, feel no shame,Survival of the fittest is the name of the game!

Wants become needs

consumerism

Increasing demand for goods and services

Planned Obsolescence

Increasing industrial activity

Energy, ecology, economy, equity syndrome

Its values : Aggressiveness, acquisitiveness, conceit, selfishness

Cha

nges

in li

fe s

tyle

, val

ues

IPCC

If we sincerely wish to cut down energy consumption ………..

Technology and Product Choice

• The total energy consumption in building a bamboo house is less than 10% of that used in modern RCC houses with fired brick walls

Bamboo Construction

Cha

nges

in li

fe s

tyle

, val

ues

Bamboo Construction

Cha

nges

in li

fe s

tyle

, val

ues

Cha

nges

in li

fe s

tyle

, val

ues

Cha

nges

in li

fe s

tyle

, val

ues

• Thermodynamics and the Green Revolution – Grain production increase by 250% means similar

increase in energy output– Where did this additional energy come from ?– The energy flow increased by an average of 50

times the energy input in traditional agriculture

• About 400 gallons of oil equivalent are expended annually to feed each American

• => we are eating fossil fuels !! • Besides this we have the energy costs of loss

of topsoil, ill effects of pesticides, draining water supplies

Energy efficiency of AgricultureC

hang

es in

Tec

hnol

ogy

Rice and maize production by modern, transitional and traditional methods

Rice production Maize production

Modern (US)

Transitional(Philippines)

Traditional(Philippines)

Modern(United States)

Traditional(Mexico)

Energy input (MJ/ha)

64,885 6,386 170 30.034 170

Productive yield (kg/ha)

5,800 2,700 1,250 5,083 950

Energy input/ yield (MJ/kg)

11.19 2.37 0.14 5.91 0.18

Energy in AgricultureC

hang

es in

Tec

hnol

ogy

The future of agriculture ?

• If we keep copying the western model of high energy intensity agriculture =>– Reduction in number of farmers and need

to find new employment opportunities for them

– Further increase in energy consumption in the agricultural sector

– Decreasing productivity increasing soil degradation, food ‘pollution’, ground water mining

– Increase in GHG emission

Cha

nges

in T

echn

olog

y

ZERO Fossil Energy Farming

• Natural Farming ,Organic farming• Ideally suited for low farm holding• Small farms have higher

productivity levels• Energy through

– Biogas– Draught animal power– Biomass– Solar

•Why are Agricultural scientists not able to see this Truth ?C

hang

es in

Tec

hnol

ogy

Food habits – energy perspective

www.arcytech.org

Why are we not looking into this possibility seriously ?C

hang

es in

life

sty

le, h

abits

• 1350 kilograms of corn and

soybeans is capable of

supporting one person if

converted to beef.

• However, 1350 kilograms of

soybeans and corn utilized

directly without converting to

beef will support 22 people!

• Perhaps most effective would be to eliminate meat from our diet altogether

Why are we not looking into these issues seriously ?

Cha

nges

in li

fe s

tyle

, hab

its

• Bottled water

• Frozen foods

• International Trade in fruits and vegetables

• Paper towels

Energy wasting habits

Cha

nges

in v

alue

s Country

Military expenditures -dollar figure

World $1100 b

Rest-of-World [all but USA]

$500 b

United States $623 b

China $65.0 b

Russia $50.0 b

France $45.0 b

United Kingdom $42.8 b

Japan $41.7 b

Germany $35.1 b

Italy $28.2 b

South Korea $21.1 b

India $19.0 b

Total Development aid : 100 b

Why can’t we reduce our defence expenditure and direct it to poverty alleviation ’ Debt relief’ ?

Disentangling from the web

Energy

Dis

enta

nglin

g fr

om th

e w

eb The crisis ofEnergy Ecology Economy

EquityIs more a MORAL Problem Than a Technological one !

How much…..does one need ?

SMIL 2005

aH

ow m

uch…

..doe

s on

e ne

ed ?

How

muc

h…..d

oes

one

need

? • Your subtopics go here

Energy and QOL• 1995 Gallop poll on % of people

satisfied with their personal life• Germans 74%• Thais 74%• Americans 72%• Average per capita energy use in

1999• Germany 180 GJ Thailand 40 GJ• USA 350 GJ

How

muc

h…..d

oes

one

need

?

How much is good enough ?

• Smil : 50-70 GJ / capita ( 1.2-1.7 TOE) <US 350GJ, Germany 180GJ, Australia 250GJ>

• Global Mean per capita energy consumption in 2001 : 58 GJ

• As efficiencies of equipment improve , much more can be done with lesser energy consumption !

• Need for equitable sharing of energy resources

How

muc

h…..d

oes

one

need

?

Why can’t they reduce their energy consumption?

Livi

ng M

OR

E w

ith L

ESS • QOL is a multi dimensional

concept : • physical well being +• emotional development +• intellectual development +• spiritual development

Living More with Less

You can not fill spiritual vacuum with goods !

• There are many activities that bring pleasure with little need for materials or commercial energy: looking at a beautiful sunset, listening to music , interacting with friends and family, expressing and receiving love and friendship, reading, sitting quietly, taking a walk , practicing whatever spiritual program we may find individually rewarding…….

• A transition to a new set of values will benefit both

• those who suffer from isolation and • those who are overstressed from the

hectic and over programmed life.

Livi

ng M

OR

E w

ith L

ESS

Living More with Less

Concluding Remarks

• Le Chattelier’s Principle

If any in-homogenity develops in a thermodynamic system in equilibrium, the system would respond in a manner that tends to eradicate the original in-homogenity

Concluding Remarks• A decent standard of living can be

ensured with a per capita annual energy consumption of ~ 50 GJ

• Short term measure : reduce Carbon emissions & fossil fuel consumption – Need for higher energy efficiency norms at

par with pollution norms– Judicious switching to bio fuels– Arresting deforestation needs highest

priority– Innovative methods of removing CO2 from

the atmosphere

The

Web

of 6

Es

• To stabilize energy consumption at this value in an equitable manner globally needs massive reduction in the energy consumption of affluent countries– ( need for proper pricing: in US Gasoline costs ¼ th

of bottled water; subsiding energy intensive agriculture )

• It can be done only by changing attitudes and values – from acquisitiveness to sharing

• Imperatives of Globalization – Need for a level playing field– Increase in inequity will lead to crime and

violence

Concluding RemarksTh

e W

eb o

f 6 E

s

• Change in value system would release enormous money and energy locked in military equipment and lost in wars ( US armed forces consumed annually 25mTOE in 1990s = energy consumption of 2/3 of worlds countries)

• Historically energy transitions have been accompanied with improving QOL – energy crisis is an opportunity for change in values !!

• As humans we respond well when disaster strikes – let us learn to respond well before the disaster strikes !!

Concluding RemarksTh

e W

eb o

f 6 E

s

THANK YOU