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Sustainability, Climate Change, and You
Benjamin K. Sovacool,
Assistant Professor LKYSPP,
Presentation to the Asian Youth Energy Summit 2010, Shaw Foundation Alumni
House, National University of Singapore, October 15, 2010
1
2
A brief overview
• Three slides on climate change
• Sustainable electricity
• Sustainable food
• Sustainable homes
• Sustainable technology
3
Sustainable electricity
7
Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for conventional and renewable
resources (grams of CO2e/kWh)
Individuals and companies can support these
technologies by:
• Writing a political
representative
• Convincing your parents or
children (familial or corporate)
to invest shares in a clean
energy company
• Purchasing renewable energy
or climate credits (even as a
gift!)
• Building these systems on
homes, schools, and
manufacturing facilities
• Choosing a career in a clean
energy field
• Consuming less electricity by
altering some of your habits
and routines
Sustainable food
• Agricultural practices
contribute to a number of
climate changing activities:
• Fossil fuel combustion
(irrigation, fertilization, land
reclamation; 72% Nitrogen
oxide emissions from
fertilizer)
• Deforestation (agriculture
is the number one cause)
• Methane emissions
(livestock digestion 18%,
more emissions than
automobiles)
Sustainable food Trends in consumption of livestock
products per person
Global Leaders in Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions from
Deforestation
Country Share of Emissions from Deforestation
Indonesia 33.7%
Brazil 18.0%
Malaysia 9.2%
Myanmar 5.6%
Congo 4.2%
Zambia 3.1%
Nigeria 2.6%
Peru 2.5%
Papua New Guinea 1.9%
Total 80.8%
We can change our food habits by:
• Eating locally
grown and
produced food (the
numbers 2,000 and
17)
• Becoming a vegan
or vegetarian, even
for a day
• Reducing food
packaging and
waste
• Visiting a farm
Sustainable homes
What is this?
Sustainable homes
Sustainable homes
Energy use in a Typical Household
Buildings
are the
“hidden
curriculum”
Sustainable homes
What we can do:
• Space heating/cooling: substitute a fan for air
conditioning
• Water heating: take lukewarm or cold showers
• Lighting: switch all bulbs to CFLs or LEDs
• Cooking: cook meals together, reuse dishes
• Refrigeration: store only essential items,
minimize open doors
• Appliances: un-plug “vampires,” purchase only
essential technologies
• Be satisfied with enough
Sustainable technology
Sustainable technology:
• Turnover for items and goods is
astonishingly quick: we replace
goods when they are no longer
fashionable, not no longer useful
• More than 95% of the goods
most people purchase are no
longer in use after the first year
• Toxic pollution (mercury, lead,
etc.) from these products,
especially electronics, is immense
What you can do:
• Use a towel instead of paper (Douglas Adams)
• Replace items when they wear out
• Purchase used clothing and other goods
• Push for lifecycle responsibility from manufacturers
(called extended product liability)
• Purchase environmentally friendly or (better yet) neutral
items (i.e, the GreenPhone)
That leaves us with one conclusion:
• Despite the magnitude of the world’s energy, food, and
climate challenges, there is much we can do as
individuals to immediately start addressing climate
change
• Individuals such as yourself can make a difference by:
• Educating yourself
• Educating others
• Voting
• Investing
• Buying
• Installing
• Altering lifestyle (walking, vegetarianism)
• Reusing and recycling
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