Energy. The Equinox Summit held in Waterloo Canada 2011 (2011
Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 http://wgsi.org/publications-resources)
identified electricity use as humanity's largest contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions. Our appetite for electricity is growing faster than for any other
form of energy. The communiqué from the summit said 'Transforming the ways we
generate, distribute and store electricity is among the most pressing challenges
facing society today.... If we want to stabilize CO2 levels in our
atmosphere at 550 parts per million, all of that growth needs to be met by
non-carbon forms of energy' (2011 Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 http://wgsi.org/publications-resources).
Superconducting technologies can provide the energy efficiencies to achieve, in
the European Union alone, 33–65% of the required reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions according to the Kyoto Protocol (Hartikainen et al 2003
Supercond. Sci. Technol.16 963). New technologies would include
superconducting energy storage systems to effectively store power generation
from renewable sources as well as high-temperature superconducting systems used
in generators, transformers and synchronous motors in power stations and
heavy-industry facilities. However, to be effective, these systems must be
superior to conventional systems and, in reality, market penetration will occur
as existing electrical machinery is written off. At current write-off rates, to
achieve a 50% transfer to superconducting systems will take 20 years
(Hartikainen et al 2003 Supercond. Sci. Technol.16
963).
A new era for commodities Cheap resources underpinned economic growth for much of the 20th century. The 21st will be different. NOVEMBER 2011 * Richard Dobbs, Jeremy Oppenheim, and Fraser Thompson Source: McKinsey Global Institute, Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice In This Article Exhibit: In little more than a decade, soaring commodity prices have erased a century of steady declines. About the authors Comments (2) Has the global economy entered an era of persistently high, volatile commodity prices? Our research shows that during the past eight years alone, they have undone the decline of the previous century, rising to levels not seen since the early 1900s (exhibit). In addition, volatility is now greater than at any time since the oil-shocked 1970s because commodity prices increasingly move in lockstep. Our analysis suggests that they will remain high and volatile for at least the next 20 years if current trends hold-barring a major macroeconomic shock-as global resource markets oscillate in response to surging global demand and inelastic supplies. Back to top Demand for energy, food, metals, and water should rise inexorably as three billion new middle-class consumers emerge in the next two decades.1 The global car fleet, for example, is expected almost to double, to 1.7 billion, by 2030. In India, we expect calorie intake per person to rise by 20 percent during that period, while per capita meat consumption in China could increase by 60 percent, to 80 kilograms (176 pounds) a year. Demand for urban infrastructure also will soar. China, for example, could annually add floor space totaling 2.5 times the entire residential and commercial square footage of the city of Chicago, while India could add floor space equal to another Chicago every year. Such dramatic growth in demand for commodities actually isn't unusual. Similar factors were at play throughout the 20th century as the planet's population tripled and demand for various resource
