Climate Change and The Five Pillars Of The Third Industrial Revolution(Rifkin)

The fourth UN Climate Report was an urgent reminder that the chemistry of the planet is changing.The news is not good and our scientists tell us to expect at least a three degree Celsius rise in the Earth by the end of the century.A mere 1.5 to 3.5 degrees,according to scientists,could lead to a mass extinction of plant and animal life in less than 100 years.The models indicate an extinction rate of 20% on the low end and more than 70% on the high end.The loss of trees in stressed ecosystems worries scientists.Twenty-five percent of the planet's land surface is forested and serves as the habitat for many of the remaining species of life.A sudden loss of trees would bring havoc on animal life.Every increase in temperature of one degree Celsius leads to a seven percent increase in the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere.A 2005 study published in the journal Science states that the number of 4 and 5 category storms has doubled since 1970's.Scientists are particularly worried about the Arctic.For the first time in 125,000 years,open waters stretched around the Arctic.If the permafrost coat melts,it could trigger a potentially catastrophic release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and lead to a dramatic rise in the Earth's temperature.The rising temperatures on Earth is already beginning to melt the permafrost at an alarming rate.A significant loss of ice cover,according to the U. of Alaska in Fairbanks,could release vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane.If this happens,there is nothing our species could do to prevent a wholesale destruction of our ecosystems and catastrophic extinction of life on our planet.

The US government's own chief climatologist James Hansen,head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies,suggested our carbon emissions are at 385 parts per million and quickly rising.His group has determined that for the past 650,000 years(ice core samples)the Earth hasn't exceeded 300 parts per million.He states that humanity needs to reduce it's current level to 350 ppm and lower if we are going to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed.The Third Revolution,with renewable energy as its centerpiece,is the only pathway to rectify this current,dangerous problem for humanity.

The Third Industrial Revolution has five pillars that function in relationship to one another:(1) Shifting to renewable energy (2) transforming the building stock of every continent into micro-power plants to collect renewable energy on site (3) deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies in every building and throughout the infrastructure to store intermittent energies(4)using Internet technology to transform the power grid of every continent into energy-sharing intergrid that acts just like the Internet(sell to grid and share electricity with their continental neighbors;and (5) transitioning the transport fleet to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart ,continental,interactive power grid.

More from The Third Industrial Revolution soon.

Third Industrial Revolution:How America Must Follow

Jeremy Rifkin(Third Industrial Revolution) caught my attention a week ago when he was talking on MSNBC about world population and contrasting it with the consumption of meat in developed countries.He stated that the West continues to eat a diet rich in meat when 14% of the world goes to bed hungry every night.I believe he also said that 30% of agrarian production goes to the diet of animals the developed countries consume as world population  continues to increase(7 billion today).As someone who hasn't eaten meat for forty years in protest over this same issue,I was attracted to his perspective and wanted to read his current book on transforming energy through lateral power(cooperation between countries,people).I know if the West sacrificed some of their dietary standards and restricted their intake,the 14% of the world who go to bed hungry would have a chance to survive this unequal,undemocratic condition.

The first chapter of the book demonstrates the lack of interest America seems to have about cooperating with other countries to solve the energy crises oil is creating at the end of its reign.The International Energy Agency(IEA) stated in 2010 that global peak oil production(70 million barrels/day) was reached in 2006.The peak for the U.S. was in 1970.To keep production at 70 million barrels/day would cost the world a staggering investment of $8 trillion over the next twenty-five years because of the difficulty to capture the remaining oil,develop new fields and continue with existing ones.At the same time,China(14.2) and India(9.6) are expanding their economies at rates that will increase competition for oil and raise prices substantially.The world is consuming three and half times the amount of oil for every one we find.With the increases in Chinese/Indian output per head,they would approach 70% of U.S. output by 2030.One must remember China is three times bigger than the U.S. and larger than the U.S, and Western Europe together.

Every commercial activity in the global economy is dependent on oil and other fossil fuel energy.Petrochemical fertilizers/pesticides,construction materials,pharmaceutical production,clothing with petrochemical fibers,transportation,heat and lights.When the price of oil increases,basic food costs can cause riots in countries who rely on grains to fed their hunger(cereal grains(tortilla) in Mexico to rice in Asia).40% of the world live on $2 a day and even a small increase can cause widespread peril.In 2008 when oil hit $147/barrel($24 in 2001),soybeans/barley doubled in price while rice tripled.For the middle class in developed countries in 2008,basic items shot up,gas/electric soared,the price of construction materials,pharmaceutical products and packaging materials increased greatly.In the spring of 2008,purchasing power began to plummet around the world.By July 2008,the global economy shut down around the world and this earthquake signaled the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. The collapse of the financial market sixty days later was the aftershock.Rifkin also believes each new effort to regain the economic momentum of the past decade will stall out at around $150/barrel.This wild gyration between regrowth and collapse is the endgame.

Jeremy Rifkin believes Internet technology and renewable energy are merging to create a powerful"Third Industrial Revolution".It is happening in Europe today as countries cooperate to enter the new era.He asks us to imagine hundreds of millions of people producing their own green energy in their homes,offices and factories and sharing it with each other in an" energy internet".

More from this book soon.

Where's The Sanity,What Happenened To The Hippie Generation?

I feel like I'm going insane sometime when I think about what was lost when my generation(b.1950)cut their hair,put on jacket and tie and sneaked their way into the hearts and minds of the capitalists who had the goal of increased return on investment tattooed to their chest in place of their heart.Were they playing a game during college by presenting themselves as something different than their parents who they thought of as lame and irrelevant in the "Times Are Changing "sixties.Well,the times didn't change for the vast majority of my generation.They actually made things worse and developed a selfishness never dreamed of by our parents.The parents in my community were primarily union workers for the city.They were cops,firemen,transit workers,sanitation employees and occasional small business owners.They came home from WWII and wanted to raise their families and provide a better education for their kids like any other generation.They weren't materialistic and understood that their unions were important because it provided protection from unemployment and low wages.They were content with less but they also wanted our economic system to be fair for all citizens.They lived through the great depression and realized the managers of capital have no mercy or patience for workers but only wanted their investments to remain as profitable as the year before at the least.

My generation talked the talk but couldn't walk the walk. As soon as they graduated,they started to toe the line in the halls of capital and stopped dreaming of a society that really could be different and equitable.As I look around today,we still have the same economic and social problems we had in 1971.Our poverty levels have remained the same(maybe increased) and 71% of our citizens, with families, earn under $50,000 a year.Our economic situation is worse as union percentages have fallen from 33% to under 10%. Citizens fight over increased taxes,not because their against public unions,because they don't earn enough money from the "rate of return" capitalists to pay them anymore.The public union members are earning what they private employees should, but don't ,because the managers of capital only care about that return rate instead of the health of their employees.My generation,who were educated in the late sixties and early seventies,rose up the ladder in the halls of capital.They received the benefits of all the decisions against the workers and became the consuming promoters for the next generation to follow.They brought the darkness we have today where companies look to the East(instead of our own municipalities) for investment and fortunes.They still listen to the music greats of the sixties who now charge hundreds of dollars to see their concerts and somehow believe they are part of some cultural change in our society.They are part of the 35% in this country who only want their investment portfolio to grow regardless of its damage to the American worker.