If you haven’t seen it yet, take a few minutes to listen to Al Gore’s proposal: a strategic initiative to produce 100% of US’ electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.
Yesterday I visited the Cradle to Cradle lecture by Louise Vet in Wageningen, The Netherlands (info). Amongst other things, Louise showed some eye-opening pictures to show the problems are not about energy, but all about matter.
Click the picture for a larger image showing how much solar energy is available. The larger red square on the left shows an area of 254 km × 254 km of hot desert that, if covered with concentrating solar power plants, would provide electricity equivalent to the current annual electricity consumption of the whole world. The smaller square (110 km × 110 km) shows a corresponding area for the European Union (when it included 25 countries). (source: http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/csp.htm)
All about matter…
The picture below is from the article ‘Earth’s natural wealth: an audit‘ published in issue 2605 of New Scientist magazine, 23 May 2007, page 34-41. Read the article, it is interesting. Click the image for a larger view.
Except from the sunlight we receive, Earth is a closed system. The resources we have are finite, and for some of them already within years.
I thought this was a nice and informative picture to share with you… Please support the Cradle to Cradle principles: ‘Waste equals food’ and ‘Use current solar income’.
Soms verdient de politiek een pluim. Gisteren heeft de Tweede Kamer met meerderheid van stemmen de motie aangenomen die door Boris van der Ham (D66) en Wijnand Duyvendak (Groen Links) is ingediend. De regering is verzocht in overleg te treden met landen in het Middellandse Zeegebied, inclusief de Noord-Afrikaanse landen, over de toepassing van Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), en binnen de Europese Unie initiatieven te ontwikkelen om een geza-
menlijke inzet op CSP-installaties mogelijk te maken
Wil je weten hoe geweldig concentrated solar power kan zijn? Klik op de bovenstaande afbeelding voor een grotere weergave van hoeveel zonneenergie beschikbaar is. Het grote rode vierkant aan de linkerzijde toont een gebied van 254 km × 254 km woestijngebied dat, als bedekt met concentrated solar power centrales, evenveel elektriciteit oplevert als de elektriciteit consumptie van de hele wereld. Het kleinere vierkant (110 km × 110 km) levert een vergelijkbaar gebied op voor de gehele Europese Unie (toen het 25 landen telde). (bron: http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/csp.htm)
Interesting to see: The Richard Dimbleby Lecture 2007: ‘A DNA Driven World’ by Dr. J. Craig Venter. Aired: December 4, 2007 on BBC 1
A transcript of his lecture can be found here. The century ahead will be fundamentally shaped by advances in biology, Venter says. His current aim: Design an organism capable of creating energy.
While looking for sources, I’ve found the Stock Exchange of Visions. What a nice concept, have a look at it. Several speakers give their opinion or ideas in videos on different visions. After each statement, you the viewer can agree or disagree or share your opinion in a forum. I hope William McDonough and Michael Braungart will be invited to share their vision here soon.
Anyway, have a look at what Herman Daly for example has to say about Natural Resources, Energy, and Growth. Note that Daly mentions efficiency, instead of eco-effectiveness, when he talks about Design.