A hard look at 7 pretty radical energy policies – put in the context of trying to prevent mass human premature death from climate change.
I’m 72 and I’ve been watching this unfold it seems like since I was 10. We all know that old age can disabuse people of their optimism but honestly I was never very optimistic that people could ever bring themselves to voluntarily limit their own consumption.
Despite ongoing technical innovation the situation has gone from bad to worse to terrible. My family were conservationists by nature, I drove small cars, didn’t eat beef, and eventually moved offgrid and began tracking my total energy footprint. The report is grim.
I am able and inclined to radically conserve but I cannot get my own energy use below the Leeds University estimate for sustainable consumption that limits warming to 1.5ºC, I am unable to add their graph to this comment but their estimate is 24giga joules per year. I am stuck at 35Gj. The average American is at 220Gj. If I can’t do it with all my effort wtf is the average family to do? Well better than not trying at all for sure..
My annual footprint:
– propane = 4714.2 kWh (heating/cooking)
– electrical = 547.5 kWh (100% solar)
– gasoline use = 6813.6 kwh (35 miles/week)
– total energy footprint = 9523Kwh = 34.28 giga joules
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A hard look at 7 pretty radical energy policies – put in the context of trying to prevent mass human premature death from climate change.
I’m 72 and I’ve been watching this unfold it seems like since I was 10. We all know that old age can disabuse people of their optimism but honestly I was never very optimistic that people could ever bring themselves to voluntarily limit their own consumption.
Despite ongoing technical innovation the situation has gone from bad to worse to terrible. My family were conservationists by nature, I drove small cars, didn’t eat beef, and eventually moved offgrid and began tracking my total energy footprint. The report is grim.
I am able and inclined to radically conserve but I cannot get my own energy use below the Leeds University estimate for sustainable consumption that limits warming to 1.5ºC, I am unable to add their graph to this comment but their estimate is 24giga joules per year. I am stuck at 35Gj. The average American is at 220Gj. If I can’t do it with all my effort wtf is the average family to do? Well better than not trying at all for sure..
My annual footprint:
– propane = 4714.2 kWh (heating/cooking)
– electrical = 547.5 kWh (100% solar)
– gasoline use = 6813.6 kwh (35 miles/week)
– total energy footprint = 9523Kwh = 34.28 giga joules