THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE AND THE JEVONS PARADOX

Tech alone won’t fix climate change: researchers; Engineers warn “the modern equivalent of magic” can't heal the planet.
Liz Tay, October 22, 2010 (IT News)

"The successes of IT have led policymakers to become too reliant on technology to solve the world's climate change woes…Monash University's Patrick Moriarty said no combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear energy or geoengineering could achieve what humans demand…"

[Patrick Moriarty, engineer, Monash University:] "The success of IT and its widespread use has driven the idea that technology can do anything…Technology functions as the modern equivalent of magic."

Jevons Paradox (from Wikipedia - click to enlarge)

"…[T]he Australian Information Industry Association’s whitepaper [touted] technology's potential to cut national carbon emissions by 21 percent (116 megatonnes) within the decade…[It] forecasted up to 70,000 new jobs from a market for more efficient information technology in energy, transport, building, health and education.

"But Dr Moriarty said only a fundamental, global shift away from traditional measures of economic growth would produce an ecologically sustainable society…[and] highlighted the Jevons Paradox, by which any technological progress that increases efficiency tends to increase the rate of resource consumption…OECD countries [are much more energy efficient but are] still using 1000 times the electricity of nations like Rwanda."

No Jevons Paradox (from Wikipedia - click to enlarge)

"Should all countries reach today's OECD energy-consumption levels, world consumption would balloon to 159 billion oil barrels a year, compared to 31 billion barrels currently. Estimated global reserves were only 1409 billion barrels… Dr Moriarty likened the emphasis on GDP to the emphasis on religion in previous centuries."

[Patrick Moriarty, engineer, Monash University:] "What we have to do is change the name of the game and concentrate on human welfare rather than GDP…Solving the climate problem will require us to completely alter the way we run our economies. While important, carbon taxes are only transitional instruments to the deeper changes needed."