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Painting the town white: technology and greenhouse gas emissions

By Wendell Cox - posted Tuesday, 16 June 2009


There are even substantial advances in air travel emissions. Air New Zealand has announced tests that show the feasibility of using biofuels based upon the jatropha plant. The airline reports that, gallon for gallon, the biofuel reduced GHG emissions 60 to 65 per cent relative to jet fuel. Jatropha is a non-food crop, and therefore its use would have little or no impact on food prices.

Carbon neutral housing

We have previously reported on the development of a carbon neutral, single storey 2,150 square foot (200 square metre) suburban house in Japan. The resulting 100 per cent reduction in GHG emissions means that there is no reason that such housing cannot continue to be available to those who prefer it.

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Electricity generation

One of the most intractable challenges will be producing sufficient supplies of electricity while considerably reducing GHG emissions. Obviously, one approach with great potential is nuclear power, which the environmentally conscious French have successfully used to produce approximately three-quarters of their demand.

Further, substantial advances are coming in solar power. For example a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team has developed a solar concentrator system that increases power production “by a factor of 40.” The process is now under commercial development.

Even Buck Rogers seems to be getting into the game. California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company is partnering with a startup firm to produce solar energy in space and to beam it to earth by microwaves. This process could produce as much as 10 times the energy as ground-based solar connectors.

Further, international efforts continue towards developing nuclear fusion (PDF 152KB) power generation. This non-polluting technology, still largely theoretical, could revolutionise power production in decades to come.

The colour of paint

Some of the technological advances above may not in fact make a substantial contribution to reducing GHG emissions in the longer run. However, these developments and others likely to come underscore the fact that technology, that is human ingenuity, can materially reduce GHG emissions, while permitting people and the economy to go about their business. Serious attempts to force behaviour modification backwards to the past seem likely to fail.

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So, there is no reason to retreat to an idealised yesterday to meet the thinly disguised social engineering goals of the few while leaving the many worse off. Secretary Chu has caught the spirit of the right approach. We should be painting the town white with innovation and should reject the coercion that has been embraced by those who naively (or perhaps even purposefully) would paint the future a more sombre colour. As in the past, human ingenuity appears up to the challenge, if we give it the chance.


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First published in New Geography on June 6, 2009.



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About the Author

Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris and the author of War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Wendell Cox

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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