Now that the UN Climate Conference COP 24 in Poland has
wrapped up we all know what we need to do. The only way to reduce emissions of
CO2 and save the planet is to stop using fossil energy and switch to renewable
energy. Exactly what would we have to do? I mean, what specific steps? I read
the other day that 100 globalized companies are responsible for 70% of
industrial emissions The article did not mention who they are but I would
assume they are the power companies, mining companies, shipping and
transportation companies and manufacturing companies needing vast amounts of
carbon based fuel like for concrete and sheet rock. It would seem that they
should reduce their emissions since the impact would be far greater than
asking us serfs to reduce our carbon footprint by riding our bikes to our
cubicles. Surely they could stop
making so much electricity, mining and refining and moving stuff around. To see where we can cut CO2 emissions we need
to know the sector energy consumption (EIA 2015):Warning:contains some irony
and sarcasm which may not be suitable for all viewers):
Industrial 33%,Transportation 29%,Residential 20%,
commercial 18%.
Over 50% of industrial energy is for chemicals(22%),petroleum refining(16%),
metals, ferrous and non ferrous(14%). Concrete and building materials
particularly gypsum are each about 10%. In order to cut the industrial sector
we will have to de-industrialize the country:mining and refining less, reducing
chemical production. Easy enough.
Transportation
energy: gasoline uses 61%, diesel 21%(seems low!), and av fuel 12%. This seems obvious: we will drive less, fly
less and ship less. The way to reduce energy here is stop commuting to
work and school and shopping
centers in gas guzzling suvs and pickup trucks and take public transportation.No
more flying vacations to Cabo. Un fortunately our suburban lifestyle of
sprawling housing, shopping and work sites mandates the private automobile.
Outside of a few large cities on the East Coast, mass transportation doesn’t
exist. J. Kunstler describes the American suburban experiment as the “greatest
misallocation of resources in world history.” The easy solution here is to
leave that vinyl and sheetrock shitbox in the burbs and move to a walkable city
and find a new job where the kids can bike to school and play in the park. Get
a mortgage from George Bailey at the Building and loan and fire up your
American dream. What’s not to like? If you got a wife like Donna Reed you’re
practically there. A guardian angel will come in handy, so find one.
Residential: Most of the energy use here is heating/AC and lighting, appliances and electronics. To cut energy use
here we need smaller insulated houses with solar water heating and energy
efficient appliances. Move out of those
slab sided McMansions and into smaller
houses. Maybe move into a tiny house. I
have personal experience with this suggestion. I built a super insulated 300 sq
ft tiny house for $22,000 which consumes
almost no energy even in a Wyoming climate. It has the additional advantage of
becoming an escape module from toothless meth snorting zombies if the SHTF. I could tow it to Manitoba behind the Cummins
and live among peace loving unarmed taciturn Canadians. This energy sector
offers the easiest opportunity to cut energy use which is almost entirely
electricity based. Unplug from the grid and nail up a few solar panels.Net Zero, brother. Of
course there is the issue of taxes and water and sewer……..
Commercial: as expected most energy use here is electricity
supplied heat/AC and lighting. Once
the suburbs wither away so will the big box stores and nail salons and office
parks. We will be able to get what we need from Amazon drones flown to Bailey
Park landing inside of our white picket fences.
Permit me to now get a bit serious. If we really want to hit
the 80% emission reduction of the Paris Accords by 2033 there is only one simple way:price Carbon
use. If you want to reduce the use, you have to tax it. This the easiest
quickest and best way and would require every person and business to share in
the burden. It would mean a tax on fuel,coal and gas, implemented in stages.
There would be no breaks for farmers, fishermen , truckers or the military. No
subsidies, no exemptions. For this to work it would have to be applied equally
world wide to keep the playing field level. A minimal goal would be to consume the
same amount of energy per capita as Europe.Americans use twice what Europeans use. We could and should tax transport fuel in the US the way most of the world does.
The taxes collected could go to programs to mitigate the consequence of de
energizing the society. Canadians and Europeans pay $5-7/gallon for fuel and so
should Americans. There is virtually no tax on Av Fuel. A $5/gallon tax wouldn’t
faze your average Gulstream owner. This simple step would start undoing the damage
caused to the planet and the country by virtually free fuel. Oil is a finite
precious resource which should be priced like one. Would this one simple step
reduce economic growth and GDP? Almost certainly. Increasing economic growth increases energy use and increases emissions of world warming gasses.
The notion that we can make a wholesale switch to a renewable solar and wind
energy economy is a fool’s errand which I have covered in the past and will in
the future. It is not affordable, scalable, feasible or sensible.It is
something for nothing. It sounds too good to be true and it is. The proponents
of this move to a green sustainable economy
promise we can continue our way of life by only changing our energy mix. It is
patent nonsense. Cheap fossil energy is the reason we have had an industrial
revolution and rampant consumerism. Expensive
and depleting fossil energy will
ultimate close that chapter. Fossil energy has taken the work out of men’s
hands and off the backs of animals and given that work to machines. Fossil fuel
industrial agriculture machines grow food virtually untouched by human hands
and has allowed exponential increases in world population exceeding the
carrying capacity of the planet.The Green Revolution brought about by modified grains,
natural gas fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides doubled wheat production from 1950 to 1960. It
was no accident that world population also doubled in the last half of the 20th
century. If you grow it they will eat………. and breed. There is no technological
or political solution to halt fossil energy depletion. There are only
intelligent responses which seem few and rarely voiced. For example we should
set aside reserves of fossil fuels for our descendants. Save some for our
children. What a unique idea! We
Americans love to blame other people for our problems:politicians, greedy
isolated elites, corporate robber barons. We never think to look in the mirror.
We have met the enemy and he is us. We have built an unsustainable oil
dependent industrial civilization which is starting to collapse. Cheap oil
never gets the blame for materialistic consumerism, loss of middle and working class jobs and inequality
resulting in massive migration from rural regions to the slums of Rio, Lagos
and Mumbai. Isn’t cheap oil partially responsible for the fentanyl, oxycodone and meth
epidemic killing 40000 a year in flyover country? If machines, robots and
automation, and offshoring rendered you dispensable, redundant and deplorable, what might you
do? But from the media: a deafening silence except for mawkish sentimental segments
of courageous waves of “refugees” pouring out of Central America and Africa who
were created by cheap oil. We created them and now we own them? “ Huddled
masses yearning to breathe free. We are a nation of immigrants”……… Intelligent,
thoughtful reporting of what is happening to our industrial civilization is nonexistent.
Most of us know in our gut that our society has jumped the rails but from the
big players in the media only event and data reporting, trivial infotainment,human
interest pabulum and fatuous drivel at times perilously close to
propaganda. What’s a poor schmuck to do? An intelligent response is to just
stop playing their game, listening to their sermons and voting in the lesser of
two evils, buying their stuff, reading their propaganda, eating their garbage and
watching their media. Reduce your needs, use your muscles to grow things, fix
things, and reuse things. Think about trying to live like your grandmother and
start thinking about feathering your nest and finding skills of self reliance
and voluntary simplicity. Get out of
debt and get off your butt and make contingency plans. If you have useful
skills, pass them on to your children and friends. The current model isn’t
working and is beyond repair and redemption and it is time to think about what
a new civilization will look like. Do I think that my suggestions to turn things
around to save the planet have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening? No. Sorry.
Gotta go. My sheep cows and pigs are bawling and need care.
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