Guest Viewpoint: Too many inefficiencies built into energy use http://www.ithacajournal.com/proart/20130517/viewpoints02/305170072/guest-vi ewpoint-too-many-inefficiencies-built-into-energy-use
6:00 PM, May 17, 2013 | Written by Sara Schaffzin In the quest for sustainability, there’s been some good news lately. Dryden ’s fracking ban was upheld by a state appeals court, Solarize Tompkins SE is rounding up homeowners for a solar panel buying club, and a new study co-authored by the Cornell duo of Anthony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth proclaims that New York can convert completely to renewable energy by 2030. However, getting off fossil fuels and finding new energy sources is only half the picture, and not the most important half. Whatever gains we make by substituting renewables for oil, gas and coal will be more than offset by the spiraling demand for energy itself. Projected increases in demand for computing power alone — to run smart grids as well as digital devices — should give us pause. Consider this: According to a recent New York Times article, carbon dioxide emissions from (inefficiently run) data centers will quadruple by 2020, and even more worrisome, a study by Australia’s Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications finds that growing reliance on the cloud is causing energy use to spiral and will create a far worse scenario than the already-problematic data centers. For the time being, we are stuck with fossil fuels to build an energy infrastructure for the future. It will be better in the long run to invest those fuels in an alternative energy system, rather than use them to frack — and build pipelines and compressor stations — for more fossil fuels. But even solar panels have environmental costs. Their manufacture produces highly toxic waste, which must be disposed of safely, as must the toxin-laden solar panels themselves, which eventually will need to be replaced. While we can feel good about installing solar panels on our rooftops to produce clean energy, someone, somewhere has to deal with their toxic residues. I’m not saying that we should disavow solar power or unplug ourselves from cyberspace. But we desperately need to put the brakes on our voracious energy consumption. The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” may seem shopworn, but it is truer now than ever. We need to tread more lightly on the earth, and while Tompkins County is ahead of other places in many ways, there is just so much that can be done on a local level. We as a society need to take a hard, honest look at the waste and inefficiency that is built into our manufacturing, urban planning and building design, agriculture, transportation and communications sectors. We need elected officials who are truly committed to a lower-energy-consumption future, and to funding the research to take us there. It’s been decades since President Jimmy Carter turned down the White House thermostat and donned a sweater, and he was ridiculed for it at the time. But with climate change — make that climate disruption — already underway, and more extreme weather events on the horizon for years to come, we can’t afford to keep laughing. It’s now acceptable to criticize “supersized” fast-food meals. The same should go for supersized energy use. Schaffzin is an Ithaca resident Letter: Humans must change if planet is to survive http://www.stargazette.com/article/20130517/VIEWPOINTS03/305170074/Letter-Hu mans-must-change-planet-survive 6:02 PM, May 17, 2013 | (http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://www.stargazette.com/article/20130517/VIEWPOINTS03/305170074&media=http://www.stargazette.com/odygci /firefly/pinterest/CB02.jpg&description=Letter: Humans must change if planet is to survive) A few days ago, Earth’s atmosphere reached a sobering 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide. We see the results: sea levels rise, glaciers shrink (better visit Glacier National Park now), extended droughts and heat waves plague us, super-storms hit and massive pest outbreaks develop, such as lyme-disease-carrying ticks and tree-killing insects. If we continue with “business as usual” and don’t reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Earth will continue to bake. Perhaps by 2023 or 2033 (how old will you be then? how about your kids and grandkids?), we’ll reach 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide, a level that will create irreversible changes to our climate. A safe carbon dioxide level for our planet is 350 parts per million. We can reach this, but we have to act now. We need to lower carbon dioxide emissions immediately and rely on green energy. Projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline and relentless hydrofracking for “dirty” natural gas must end. Talk to your friends, write letters to the editor, call Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President Barack Obama. Let your voice be heard. Our planet is in a crisis mode and we are running out of time. DIANE KARASEVICZ ALPINE -- For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom Shelley, at [email protected].
