The Sustainable Energy International Youth Competition

Introduction to Alternative Energies

Part 1

About oil use and what is left

Earth as seen from space at night

What is wrong with this picture?

What we can learn from the above picture is the immense utilization of

energy

Another way to conceive the utilization of energy:Tracking the flight of airplanes

(collected information from around the world)

Earth as seen from space at night

How much oil is left?

How much oil is left?

The picture above and the former diagram indicate that there are still extensive reservoirs of oil around the world

Part 2

Sustainability and the Ecological Footprint

Sustainability

sustainability is: "Meeting the needs of the

present generation without compromising the

ability of future generations to meet their needs." (Brundtland Report, 1987)

Sustainability is an economic, social, and ecological concept. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society and its members are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals indefinitely. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighborhood to the entire globe.

There is no place on earth which is not affected by human activity

Our Ecological Footprint - the price that society

is paying

Population Growth

1871 - 1.5 billion people1950 - 2.5 billion people2010 - 7 billion people

Still, only 2% precent of the earth surface is constructed area

The entire world population can be housed in Texas in spacious apartments

Can we deduce that in our wide open earth there is enough space for all of us and for future generations?

What are the needs for human existence (beyond housing)?

Lands - for food and carbon fixation

Forests - for carbon fixation, paper supply, recreation

Mining areas -for the supply of raw materials

And many more uses

Natural Cycles

In nature, one organism’s waste is a another’s resource, meaning, that waste does not accumulate

Food stuff needed for all organisms is maintained

Waste = Resource

CARBON CYCLE

Traveljohn

Natural Cycles - Biogeochemistry

CARBON CYCLE

Natural Cycles - Biogeochemistry

NITROGEN CYCLE

Natural Cycles - Biogeochemistry

WATER CYCLE

Natural Cycles - Biogeochemistry

Since the industrial revolution, humans have not planned their production systems according to nature’s cycles

Human intervention

As a result, the waste of manufacturing processes was delivered to the environment: rivers, oceans, land & air

As with living organisms, which interact with the environment-absorbing food stuff and releasing waste-states and cities

consume resources and release waste

Nature’s purification systems

States & cities recycling processes rely on Ecosystems services

To carry out such services, we need large, open green space

So, what is the size of the ground area needed for ecosystems services to operate?

The Ecological Footprint

The Ecological Footprint is a measure of the strain on the Earth’s ecosystems induced by human activity

The Ecological Footprint represents the area needed to supply our resources and absorb our wastes in the

context of our current living standards

Calculating the Ecological Footprint

Ecological Footprint calculations are based on two basic facts:

1. We can estimate the amount of our resources and of our wastes

2. Our resources and wastes can be converted into area units (since it is possible to calculate the area size needed to supply the

resources and to eliminate the wastes)

Calculating the Ecological Footprint

-All agricultural land and forests

-Marine fishing zones

-The land needed for power plants, and green biomass

needed for carbon sequestration

-Built land - covered with buildings, roads and the like,

therefore can not supply biological services

-Land needed for sustaining biodiversity

Country

The world average shows a deficit of 0.3 Ha per person

Ecological Footprint calculations

Israel

Holland

India

China

USA

Canada

Egypt

Japan

Does a country have sufficient land

to sustain the Ecological Footprint?

Footprint(0.1 Ha/pop.)

Available land(0.1 Ha/pop.)

+51

35

56

96

72

10

14

42

14

123

6

7

15

55

3

5

5

-41

-41

-35

-8

-5

-10

-32

Based on the current human demand, in about 20 years time, the earth will not be able to support the future human population

Ecological Footprint calculations

6. Up until now, technological advancement has brought about a rise in consumption, leading to the growth of the

ecological footprint

Ecological footprint calculations

Summary:

2. The world is in shortage of resources

1. In one year, humanity consumes what nature supplies in a 15 month period

5. Most western societies exploit third world ecological resources and the resources of future generations

4. Population growth rate is a major problem, but the effects of consumer society are an even more pressing problem

3. In the future, population growth will place an ever growing strain on resources