GNH
Photovoltaics Come of Age
Jul 26th
Good News from the ALT Energy Front
| July/August 2010 |
Photovoltaics Come of AgeSolar panels are cheap enough to become a major component of green energy. By Ken Zweibel The United States has supported research into photovoltaics for almost 40 years, recently with a 30 percent investment tax credit. Japan instituted incentives in the 1990s, when photovoltaics cost at least five times as much as residential electricity. In the new millennium, Germany instituted incentives an order of magnitude larger. Thanks to these efforts, the cost of photovoltaic modules has dropped 40 percent in the last 18 months. Photovoltaic electricity now costs about 15 cents per kilowatt-hour in the best sunlight. That’s only twice the cost of wholesale electricity and wind. Costs are expected to continue decreasing, and electricity is worth more during the daytime than at night. That means this technology is finally cheap enough to become a significant element in plans to combat climate change and oil dependence (see “Solar’s Great Leap Forward“). The advantages of solar panels are clear. They need no fuel or water, and sunlight is nearly limitless. With 100 times the energy potential of wind, sunlight is sufficient to meet all our energy needs. Photovoltaic panels are also unique for their long, low-cost operating life–now 30 to 40 years, someday perhaps 100. And unlike energy sources that require a constant input of fuel, photovoltaic electricity is almost free once its initial capital cost is recovered. In 2008, when the U.S. Department of Energy drafted a report looking at the potential for “20 percent wind energy by 2030,” the plan called for only 5 percent of the country’s energy to come from solar power. Soon, the department will publish a new “solar vision” examining the potential for a plan incorporating 10 percent solar photovoltaics, 10 percent solar thermal, and 10 percent wind by the same year. Meanwhile, further DOE work will look at a goal of deriving 80 percent of our energy from renewable sources in 2050. The European Climate Foundation has released a study with McKinsey showing that renewables could produce 100 percent of European electricity by that date. The reports maintain that reaching these targets will have minimal impact on electricity prices. The ingredients for a fully green solution to climate change and oil dependence are in our grasp. They include electricity from wind and solar photovoltaics; electric vehicles to get us off gasoline; smart grid and transmission technologies to distribute solar and wind power and to balance supply with demand; and domestic natural gas to fill in the gaps. We don’t have to turn Earth’s crust into a carbon-sequestration experiment, increase our risks with nuclear, or convert arable land to energy farming. We are on track to deploy safe, renewable technologies to stabilize the price of oil and dial down carbon dioxide emissions as much as we want. Confirming photovoltaics’ place among these technologies is a big step in the right direction. Ken Zweibel is director of the GW Solar Institute at George Washington University. There are several other interesting articles on the growth of solar technology and deployment in the July/August issue of The MIT Technology Review. |
Who cheats more – bankers or politicians?
Jul 26th
Research shows…. Here is a 2 minute video with the answer from Dan Airely’s blog. Dan is the Predictably Irrational guy.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSTizvMHfGY
Go to his website here for more info on his research: http://danariely.com/2010/07/25/who-cheats-more/
Sex, Lies and Global Economics
Jul 24th
Who’s Counting?
Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics
Marilyn Waring demystifies global economics from a feminist perspective. With persistence and wit she has succeeded in drawing attention to the fact that GDP has no negative side to its accounts–such as damage to the environment–and completely ignores the unpaid work of women. “Why is the market economy all that counts?” Ms. Waring asks.
Link to 94 minute video online http://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting/
link to leader guide PDF http://gnhusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/whoguide.pdf
Jeremy Rifkin-Empathic Civilization
Jul 21st
Jeremy Rifkin, on the second link below specifically speaks about how the Science of Hedonics is crucial to create a sustainable society.
Video Links
http://fora.tv/2010/05/06/Jeremy_Rifkin_The_Empathic_Civilization_Animated
Why we are so passionate
Jul 14th
This morning on NPR’s Morning Edition I heard a report that the June numbers for consumer spending were low from a decline in spending on automobiles and gasoline. The reporter’s tone of voice indicated concern about this and implied that it was bad. The myth of “bigger is better” and growth is what we want are well entrenched in our discourse and our ideas of how the world should be. We need to educate the media, the legislatures, the policy people, the farmers, citizens and especially youth to see things through another lens. Seen from a perspective of sustainability and a Happy Planet, decrease in spending on cars and gasoline are a good thing, the way of the future. So we have our work cut out for us. I took a vow to talk to 10 friends about this problem of changing to a well-being way of looking at the world instead of just “bigger is better”. Join me?
New Conference Videos
Jul 14th
We have now posted 3 new videos from Day 3 of the GNHUSA 2010 conference including leading environmentalist Bill McKibben’s Keynote on “Building a Movement”, the Morning Panel on “How can Vermont Measure Success and Progress” and NY Times Best Seller, Vicki Robin’s Plenary Session on “Enough”.
Happy in Seattle
Jul 3rd
On this Fourth of July weekend, I am so happy to note that more and more of us are taking the pursuit of happiness — for us and our planet! — quite seriously. I don’t think that’s an oxymoron, either. Why shouldn’t we be serious about happiness?
Last weekend, GNHUSA leading light Tom Barefoot was at a conference in Boston, along with the incomparable Susan Andrews from Brazil. They spoke with lots of people from all over the United States who were very excited about getting GNH efforts started up in their regions. The word is spreading. Yay!!
One area that’s seen a lot of activity is Seattle. The Seattle GNH contingent’s activities has been a special meeting with the city council to establish Seattle as the nation’s first “Gross National Happiness City.” That’s just once slice of their happiness pie. Here’s more:
Comments from Hazel Henderson
Jun 28th
Comments on John de Graaf’s post on the Gross National Happiness Conference by Hazel Henderson and others from the CSR Blog. Deep comments on the long-running effort to move away from GDP and why it hasn’t happened despite decades of work to gain adoption for more comprehensive progress measures. Read the comments.
Inspiring, educational TED talk
Jun 24th
This takes 17 minutes to watch, but if you click on this link, I’m pretty sure you’ll end up feeling like you just used your time wisely for 17 very good minutes. An clear, uplifting and down-to-earth talk about Gross National Happiness, from a business perspective and personal perspective:
www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_measuring_what_makes_life_worthwhile.html
Let’s get practical
Jun 22nd
For many people, it’s easy to grasp the principles of Gross National Happiness on an intellectual basis but harder to visualize what that might mean in practical terms.
Here in Vermont — where jobs come from tourism and farming, where we cherish our local environment to the extent that billboards are banned, and where we are rapidly embracing the localvore movement — one program recently came to light that seems a GNH no brainer.
That program was started by Hans Estrin, a young science teacher in Putney, Vermont. Distressed about how little local food was being served in the school’s cafeteria, he took steps to change that equation. (See the full article at http://www.reformer.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=15281797&siteId=510).
Using a GNH prism, this program is a clear winner — it promotes the well being of children, farmers, the environment, and those who make their living in the tourist industry. Plus, it’s good food!
For me, the question then becomes, what policies should be enacted at all levels to support local food in our public schools? What should parents and the schools do? How about local, state and federal government entities? There is the challenge and the opportunity of GNH.
What programs do you know about, in Vermont or elsewhere, that provide a good illustration of the GNH paradigm? We’d love to know about them!