Inside Sustainability: Facts, Figures, Bullshit - Part II: Alternative Energy
_kt75 | reflections 01.2/2013
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Keywords Genuine sustainable development, energy turnaround, decommission costs, diversification, alternative energy, smooth transition.
Summary Facts and figures - that are vehicles typically used to promote, convey and enforce interests in a more or less reliable way. The recent series of _kt75 | reflections provides facts and figures on the facts and figures with a particular focus on ‘sustainable development’. Essentially, it aims to put facts and figures in a realistic and reliable context to each other and tries to interpret the rationale behind the facts and figures and the way they are supplied. For demonstration purposes selected important facts and figures of four individual cases are surveyed: turnover/sales figures, unemployment [1], life cycle assessment and alternative energy/energy turnaround [Scharnhorst, 2013a]. Part II of this series of the _kt75 | reflections reasons why an abrupt and total ‘energy turnaround’ is neither possible nor sustainable. It shows that despite huge and largely subsidised investments (estimations range from 335 to 1’000 billion € until 2030 and only in Germany [2]) the share of wind and solar power in the EU-27 just amounts to as little as 6%. Neither discussed nor included in the above cost estimates are the financial burdens associated with the decommissioning of e.g. nuclear power plants (which presently range in the order of 2’960 billion €). Consequentially, this paper will demonstrate that the prospective total costs of the ‘energy turnaround’ will be significantly higher than the reported ones. Finally, it presents recent figures on the stagnation and the re-renewed growth in annual and global CO2-emissions. On this basis the paper addresses qualitatively and in detail the key aspects that prevent ‘sustainable energy supply’ and it presents straightforward ideas how to achieve genuine and comprehensive sustainable development in this sector. Therein, diversification, smooth transition and conscious usage form some of the key aspects.
Discussing the above four cases individually (Parts I – IV), summarising them in the final roundup (Part V) and concentrating on the insights gained in the past, this _kt75 | reflection hypothesises that the exclusively technology focused and quantity based approaches, as widely promoted today, to implement sustainable development have failed (key failure factors are, among others: the human himself, money and information [Scharnhorst, 2013b]). Therefore, a well-balanced turnaround towards genuine and comprehensive sustainable development that takes qualitative and quantitative aspects as well as the technical, the environmental, the economic and the geo-political (societal) dimensions into account is proposed. Read the full paper...
Discussing the above four cases individually (Parts I – IV), summarising them in the final roundup (Part V) and concentrating on the insights gained in the past, this _kt75 | reflection hypothesises that the exclusively technology focused and quantity based approaches, as widely promoted today, to implement sustainable development have failed (key failure factors are, among others: the human himself, money and information [Scharnhorst, 2013b]). Therefore, a well-balanced turnaround towards genuine and comprehensive sustainable development that takes qualitative and quantitative aspects as well as the technical, the environmental, the economic and the geo-political (societal) dimensions into account is proposed. Read the full paper...
[1] Published 2013-03-06: http://goo.gl/mqFvZ
[2] In 2012 in Germany the end consumers (primarily private households) paid 14 billion € to subsides the ‘energy turnaround’. Very first and very cautious approximations estimate about 335 billion € (subsidises) to be paid by the end consumer until 2030 for the ‘energy turnaround’ [e.g. Wetzel, 2012; Schlandt, 2013; Faschon, 2013; Benz, 2012a, Benz, 2012b]. As will be shown in this paper, the above reported costs represent only the installation costs of e.g. solar and wind power plants. Decommission costs of e.g. nuclear power plants are not included.
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