Recently, I have written an essay on the topic of Ecology and Technology, which is one of two to have been published in The Independent newspaper. If you are interested in how technology can help us curb our energy consumption the essay offers a review of some very promising developments soon to come. See it by clicking the link above, or read it here below, I would more than welcome any comments/arguments on it!
"The energy diet
We are living in a 'fat' world. In recent years, the figure of size in environmental discourse has come in the form of the 'Carbon Footprint'; as logic tells us, the size of the footprint corresponds to the size of the foot and the foot to the size of the being resting its weight on the world.
We live in a world where we, as a collective 'being', are expanding: we consume far beyond our necessity and give little back. With the help of emergent technologies, we must embark on an 'energy diet' consisting of three things: 'losing weight', 'eating less' and 'exercising'.
First, we must lose 'weight'. The weight of our means of transport - cars, buses, trains and planes - means that we spend much more energy in moving the vehicle than in moving ourselves. Here the obvious solution is, in fact, a viable one: make things lighter. The most important advance in transportation within the next few years will not be the development of electricity or hydrogen-based engines, but the production of lighter cars. Instead of shifting the carbon footprint from the consumer to the energy-producing industry (remember, hydrogen/electricity must come from somewhere!) we must make the actual energy use efficient.
This way of thinking results in the Hypercar: a modular car with a carbon-fiber body, a tiny engine and a fuel cell. Its modularity means it is easy to maintain; its engine makes it highly efficient (up to 200 miles per gallon) and consequently ecological; and its carbon-fiber body makes it safer for those in and outside the car, since it absorbs impact much better than steel. Taking the load off the road will go a considerable way to reducing the size of our collective 'mass' and the footprint it leaves in its wake.
But not all energy is used up in transport. In everyday life, we need to 'eat' less energy than we currently do. While it is crucial to limit energy waste by changing our lifestyle - turning off appliances and heating whenever possible - it is perhaps more important to change the objects of our consumption: making appliances themselves more energy efficient. As our use of electronic equipment continues to increase in line with technological advancement, we need more than energy efficient bulbs to make the cut - we need efficient electronics.
A benchmark for this has been set by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, whose laptop, designed for children in developing countries, consumes a mere 2 watts, including processor, memory and screen. Since these components are part of an increasing number of electronic appliances, this technology could be applied to televisions, phones, media players and computers, giving consumers both peace of mind and better performance.
But where does 'exercise' fit in all of this? We cannot expect to reach environmental sustainability if we don't find ways of making energy without burning carbon fuels. Solar energy, wind power and ground source heat pumps are becoming increasingly efficient in obtaining energy, but unless we reduce our energy requirements, there will not be enough provision to satisfy our energy hunger.
There is, however, one more resource that technology can help us regain. Redirecting the normal flow of energy in physical exercise, we can actually regain energy by burning calories. This shift would involve the manual production of electricity - using our bodies to make energy. The process has been realized by Potenco for the OLPC project, which has created a pull-string dynamo to power the computer; given its low energy consumption, this is very easy indeed.
By extension, rather than going to the gym and using electricity to power an exercise machine, we could instead use portable generators to transform the energy of our bodies, as we walk or run, into electricity to power an iPod.
Secondly, through advances made in the efficiency of converting biomass into liquid fuels capable of powering cars (think Back to the Future), we could even transform our homes into safe mini-powerplants by decoupling the engine of our Hypercar from its wheels. Biodegradable rubbish could be used to create electricity to be sold back to the grid or stored in a battery for later use.
In these self-sustaining models, it would be possible to generate power from unburnt calories. With an incentive to escape our sedentary lifestyles, we could not only reduce the contours of our physical and consumptory bodies (and, of course, their footprints), but radically improve their respective states of health."
"The energy diet
We are living in a 'fat' world. In recent years, the figure of size in environmental discourse has come in the form of the 'Carbon Footprint'; as logic tells us, the size of the footprint corresponds to the size of the foot and the foot to the size of the being resting its weight on the world.
We live in a world where we, as a collective 'being', are expanding: we consume far beyond our necessity and give little back. With the help of emergent technologies, we must embark on an 'energy diet' consisting of three things: 'losing weight', 'eating less' and 'exercising'.
First, we must lose 'weight'. The weight of our means of transport - cars, buses, trains and planes - means that we spend much more energy in moving the vehicle than in moving ourselves. Here the obvious solution is, in fact, a viable one: make things lighter. The most important advance in transportation within the next few years will not be the development of electricity or hydrogen-based engines, but the production of lighter cars. Instead of shifting the carbon footprint from the consumer to the energy-producing industry (remember, hydrogen/electricity must come from somewhere!) we must make the actual energy use efficient.
This way of thinking results in the Hypercar: a modular car with a carbon-fiber body, a tiny engine and a fuel cell. Its modularity means it is easy to maintain; its engine makes it highly efficient (up to 200 miles per gallon) and consequently ecological; and its carbon-fiber body makes it safer for those in and outside the car, since it absorbs impact much better than steel. Taking the load off the road will go a considerable way to reducing the size of our collective 'mass' and the footprint it leaves in its wake.
But not all energy is used up in transport. In everyday life, we need to 'eat' less energy than we currently do. While it is crucial to limit energy waste by changing our lifestyle - turning off appliances and heating whenever possible - it is perhaps more important to change the objects of our consumption: making appliances themselves more energy efficient. As our use of electronic equipment continues to increase in line with technological advancement, we need more than energy efficient bulbs to make the cut - we need efficient electronics.
A benchmark for this has been set by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, whose laptop, designed for children in developing countries, consumes a mere 2 watts, including processor, memory and screen. Since these components are part of an increasing number of electronic appliances, this technology could be applied to televisions, phones, media players and computers, giving consumers both peace of mind and better performance.
But where does 'exercise' fit in all of this? We cannot expect to reach environmental sustainability if we don't find ways of making energy without burning carbon fuels. Solar energy, wind power and ground source heat pumps are becoming increasingly efficient in obtaining energy, but unless we reduce our energy requirements, there will not be enough provision to satisfy our energy hunger.
There is, however, one more resource that technology can help us regain. Redirecting the normal flow of energy in physical exercise, we can actually regain energy by burning calories. This shift would involve the manual production of electricity - using our bodies to make energy. The process has been realized by Potenco for the OLPC project, which has created a pull-string dynamo to power the computer; given its low energy consumption, this is very easy indeed.
By extension, rather than going to the gym and using electricity to power an exercise machine, we could instead use portable generators to transform the energy of our bodies, as we walk or run, into electricity to power an iPod.
Secondly, through advances made in the efficiency of converting biomass into liquid fuels capable of powering cars (think Back to the Future), we could even transform our homes into safe mini-powerplants by decoupling the engine of our Hypercar from its wheels. Biodegradable rubbish could be used to create electricity to be sold back to the grid or stored in a battery for later use.
In these self-sustaining models, it would be possible to generate power from unburnt calories. With an incentive to escape our sedentary lifestyles, we could not only reduce the contours of our physical and consumptory bodies (and, of course, their footprints), but radically improve their respective states of health."
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