Session 8

Brief Overview/Summary

The seventh TWC lesson was about Energy and World Change, in the past, present and the future.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

Prof Shahi started the lecture by discussing about how over the years, people have gained and lost knowledge at the same time. As must as people have been making discoveries and increasing the knowledge by observations and books, there is also a lose of knowledge by the burning of books, such as the burning of the Library of Alexandra, setting ancient books in China during the Qin Dynasty, and the burying of scholars at the same period of time. This means that people are improving and ‘deproving’, just like moving forward and backwards in spurts. Even so, people and societies have still continued to develop overtime.

Prof Shahi then showed us a video, which is an animation on “Climate Change, Energy and Action”. They first portrayed that they are more than one billion vehicles in the world today. With that, people must let go of old and traditional habits, technologies and ideas and come up with new ones to prepare for the future. Unless we are prepared to come up with new habits, technologies, ideas, we will not have a bright future. This shows that there is a need to re-innovate for a new environment and economy in the world.

The class then moved on to discuss the different drivers for global energy change. As defined in class, drivers for change refer to catalysts and factors that cause us to change the way in which we operate.

1)   Rising energy consumption and need for economic development

Over the years, the West has grown on a fossil fuel based economy, and has also thrived in it. However, this has also created large amounts of greenhouses gases, which as brought much harm and devastation to the world. Up and coming growing economies such as India and China must not follow the same trajectory as it will increase the rate and chances of environmental destruction. There clearly is a need to innovate to find methods that these up and coming economies are able to achieve the same levels of economic growth as the West, but in a way that is not damaging to the environment

As of today, China uses 25% of oil as much as the US does. Ironically, the population of China is 4 times that of US. Although as mentioned before, China must find environmentally friendly resources for economic growth, it is predicted that China will one day use 4 times more amount of fossil fuels than the US does.

2)   Need for sustainability

Brazil was an early player of sustainable energy. They were able to do so due to their lack of petroleum resources in early 90’s. They were highly motivated to produce large amount sugarcane and, developed alcohol from this sugarcane for the successful creation of engines. Brazil is also one of the biggest and thriving alcohol industries in the world, and is also known to be a leader in innovation in green technology. They have also since discovered massive oil reserves in their land, which now makes them a big player in the petrol industry due to their vast resources.

3)   New Technologies and approaches

The use of the electric light no longer exists in Europe since the European government has banned the filament lamp. The government is trying to encourage and make the people use energy-saving lamps, which produces the same amount of lumens of light at a far lower consumption of energy. Europe is now one of the biggest players of green technology in the world, and these pollution prevention and reduction technologies have increasingly adapted to the peoples’ lifestyles, and have also minimized impact on the environment.

There are also other possible drivers for global energy change not mentioned in Prof’s slides, such as the cost of manufacturing. The cost of manufacturing today is highly dependent on environmental pricing.  Today, fossil fuels are cheaper than renewable forms of energy as fossil fuel industries are artificially lowering the prices of fossil fuels to promote their own profits without environmental concern. However, on the bright side, more people are also starting to realize that the market price does not reflect the true price, where the true price of the use of fossil fuels refer to the marginal and external costs of the use of fossil fuels instead of renewable energy.

Key Considerations of Global Energy Change

1)   Energy Security

Modern lifestyles require us to be very reliant on energy, especially in today’s world, where we spend most time and attain large amounts of information from our television, cellphones, computers or tablets. Different people living in different parts of the world are dependent on different types of fuels. Most people are reliant on fossil fuels, while others are reliant on renewable resources such as hydroelectric power. Some less developed countries depend on biomass energy, which is also a traditional source of energy. Examples of biomass energy are such as burning coal and firewood, animal dungs or crop residue. The subsequent discovery of petroleum was a more effective method of producing energy, and people shifted away from biomass fuels.

2)   Energy as a source of national income

Countries such as Nigeria and Middle East (Qatar, Oman) are very dependent on petroleum for the growth of their economy. However, they also understand that petroleum is an exhaustible resource and will not last forever. Therefore, these countries try very hard to diversify their economies so that they can be independent of the oil industry. This way, when oil resources deplete, they are still able to maintain the same levels of economic growth as they do now. This means that Middle East countries are very keen on industrialization to escape from the future oil trap.

3)   Energy for the poor

Developed countries have found many ways and solutions to help people in less developed and remote areas gain energy. However, this is not a long term solution as in times of need, these countries will prioritize their own needs and wants instead of helping the less fortunate countries. This means that the countries in remote areas of less development will still continue to have no access to such resources.

4)   Global Carbon market

5)   Energy and transportation technology

The advancement of energy and transportation technology will help innovate and discover more effective ways to generate energy and find out different ways to better utilize energy.

6)   Biotechnology and energy

Biotechnology and energy refers to the research in new plant-based technologies. Since our primary source of energy is sun, photosynthesis is key in creating energy. Biotechnology allows us to apply these important and key processes we need in a systematic and efficient way to produce energy. For example, the use of algae to create energy has been very popular and has also been gaining more awareness among people today.

The discussion then moved on to where energy comes from.

After much research and observation, energy actually comes from above and below the ground; most of them come from the sun. Above the ground, the various sources of energy are the Sun, wind, water, biomass and waves. Below the ground, the sources of energy are coal, lignite, oil, gas, geo-thermal, and uranium. Energy from below the ground is developed from millions of years put under high pressure and they become oil, gas and petroleum. On the other hand, geo-thermal energy and uranium are not created by solar. The cooling of the earth’s core creates geo-thermal energy, and uranium is created by radioactive technology.

Photovoltaic can generate the most energy as compared to wind and biomass. Reality is that the statistics are staring at us in the face to support such as claim. However, people do not realize it and they give insufficient credit to photovoltaic energy.  

Lastly, even though governments are committed, consumers must also make necessary investments in sustainable energy for it to be successful and well received.

Key Takeaways

1)   Both consumers and governments are important in the growth of sustainable energy and world change.

2)   The different drivers of energy and world change must work in tandem for sustainable energy to be developed.

3)   Sustainable energy is necessary and important so as to create clean and green environments for future generations.

4)   There are many forms of sustainable energy, but people must use the most efficient form of sustainable energy to ensure that they create the most energy in the shortest period of time with the least amount of resources used.

Issues for Further Discussion

1)   Are there other forms of sustainable energy that is not realised yet?

2)   How can the realisation of sustainable energy help in the uneven development of the world?

3)   What are the chances that countries will become sustainable in the next 10 years?

4)   What are the methods that can be put into place so that sustainable energy will become better received among the people?

Personal Ratings

I rate this class 7/10.