The Oil Drum | What does Sustainability Mean for Energy?

174 comments on What does Sustainability Mean for Energy?

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sunnata on March 12, 2009 - 3:13pm

Renewable resources should be exploited in a manner such that:
(1) harvesting rates do not exceed regeneration rates; and
(2) waste emissions do not exceed the renewable assimilative capacity of the local environment.

Balancing Nonrenewable and Renewable Resources
Nonrenewable resources should be depleted at a rate equal to the rate of creation of renewable substitutes.

Link is here written by Herman Daly

Here's another link to a lecture by Saul Griffth who has crunched the numbers in terms of Renewable Energy. By his own admission he's an optimist Saul Griffth pdf lecture, its over 7mb. Reading the numbers didn't make me feel over optimistic so I've got no idea why he is!

Sustainability needs a time reference, but if someone means for more than a generation there doesn't appear to be anything that looks remotely sustainable about our energy/resource consumption. Perhaps humans can solve environmental and energy problems, just the probability of a slimed down population looks high. I guess Gaia will tell humans what's sustainable in the end!

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sofistek on March 13, 2009 - 3:09am

If that's an accurate quote, Herman Daly is spot on. However, you said "sustainability needs a time reference." Why? If you add any period at all, then you have a problem next year because your strategy now covers a smaller period (let's say 99 years instead of 100 years). The only sensible approach is to use a time reference of "indefinitely". That's a challenge, but any strategy for a finite period of time is not a strategy for sustainability.

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noutram on March 13, 2009 - 6:52am

I'm just glad we can leave the death of the Sun and Proton decay for future generations to worry about...

Nick.

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174 comments on What does Sustainability Mean for Energy?

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