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.
No comments:
Post a Comment