Reducing Fossil Fuel Use: Some Considerations

Michael Robertson, February 2004

Introduction

The task is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, which emits greenhouse gases, causing global warming and more extreme weather, thereby disrupting wildlife habitats and putting strain on human communities across the world.

There are a range of solutions available to us. We should assess them according to their various benefits:

Benefits

Fossil fuel offset per dollar invested

For example, $1000 invested in a solar hot water system can offset more coal and gas burning electricity than $1000 invested in a solar electricity system, at least in the short term. On the other hand, by purchasing expensive solar panels, we help the industry develop, bringing the unit price down.

Public space benefits

Saving fossil fuel by halving urban car use in favour of public transport and bicycle use can reduce air and noise pollution of the urban roadside environment, and improve the amenity of urban public spaces, eg by allowing car-parks to be converted into gardens. Substituting fossil fuels with solar panels on every available surface may not contribute much to the urban landscape. Introducing cheap to run, energy efficient cars would encourage more cars out onto the roads, thus reducing the quality of the urban public space, unless some other form of road rationing was introduced.

Environmental benefits

Biomass plantations can buffer, extend and reconnect remaining native habitat fragments - if planted with the right mix of species, and selectively harvested to promote regrowth and species diversity. Contrast generating electricity using off- cuts from native, old growth forest logging for the timber industry. While such electricity offsets electricity from coal, it may increase pressures to log native forests (eg delay the end of such logging) and so cause more habitat disruption than would have been caused by the coal-burning avoided.

Employment benefits

Developing biomass electricity generators in rural areas, and the biomass plantations to supply them, can increase demand for lower skilled workers in rural areas, thus restoring local economies and reversing population drift to cities.

Contrast developing solar panel manufacturing plants and installation services, which increases demand for more skilled workers in urban areas, for whom there may already be many opportunities, and, for some skills, unmet demand.

Benefits for technological capacity

Investment in solar panel manufacturing plants can help increase local technological capacity and thus have spin-off benefits for other high-tech industries, such as increasing the worker talent pool, supporting services, and investor competence.

Ability to reduce energy demand

Alternative energy developments require parallel energy demand reductions, which are in turn required for a large scale shift from fossil fuel energy to alternative sources, which, relying mostly on contemporary sunlight, are much more limited in energy flow.

If better insulation and thermal mass reduce house energy costs per square metre and so reduce operating costs per square metre, householders may be tempted to add more area to their house. If cars improve their power output per unit of energy consumed, then motorists may buy more powerful cars or drive around more. If fridges use less energy, then people may buy bigger fridges, and so use more electricity to store their food.

This tendency can be counteracted by steadily increasing the price of fossil fuel energy to both drive demand for energy efficiency, and to mop up any money saved thereby. In Australia it was hoped that privatising electricity companies would increase the price of electricity (by replacing government subsidies with private investor profit taking), but price rises so far have been small (of the order of 20% or so in South Australia). The government may have to introduce carbon taxes to kick price rises along.

Energy Efficiency: Resisting Demand

How can energy efficient technologies/systems resist increased energy demand?

For example, increased bus usage can replace the cost of car fuel with the wage costs of bus drivers, thus maintaining the price of each motorised kilometre and so discouraging passengers from using buses when they could just as well walk or cycle, or visit a nearby rather than a distant location.

Buses are less flexible than cars. Often touted as a problem, this is a virtue in that it sets a limit to the expansion of bus usage. We want bus services to increase to the point where they become a good substitute for most current car uses, but not so much that they end up consuming more energy that cars did previously.

Contrast adding house extensions with improving existing house and garden spaces. Improving existing house structure and interior design, and increasing the density and variety of garden vegetation, can help control house temperature and so reduce operating energy costs. Adding house extensions, even energy efficient ones, typically require more materials, which in turn require energy to produce and transport, and take up land that could be used for gardens, and hence foster urban biodiversity.

Let's celebrate all those house-and-garden-makeover TV shows that encourage consumers to sink money in high quality, labour-intensive, land conserving improvements to fixed house and garden areas, in competition with television ads for bigger houses, cheap furniture, and fast cars. continued from p1 Considerations in reducing fossil fuel use

Conclusion

Reducing demand for fossil fuel is a complex business. Only by considering how various options link with up with economic forces by satisfying lifestyle and business aspirations can we optimise economic, social and environmental benefits, reduce counteracting tendencies, and so succeed in our task.

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