How do we plan for a future with an energy scarcity ?

What is it about?

Human and industrial activities release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When cities remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they release, they are called zero-carbon cities. The country of Abu Dhabi planned Masdar City as its first zero-carbon city. They also planned for the city to have a new energy framework with a currency called ‘er-gos.’ A person would be given a fixed number of ergos per month. Ergos could be spent on energy-consuming activities such as showers, charging laptops etc. Ergos was meant to provide a remedy for climate change and energy scarcity. But it also raised ethical questions about individual and societal freedom. The ergos experiment highlights the everyday problems of implementing new energy frameworks.

Featured Image

Photo by Frédéric Paulussen on Unsplash

Photo by Frédéric Paulussen on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Humans moving inevitably towards climate change. Most of our energy production systems still rely on fossil fuels. But fossil fuels are limited. When they get used up, the world will face severe energy scarcity. Planning new energy infrastructures is a key way to prepare for and manage this future energy scarcity. To do this, we need to understand the complex issues behind implementing such energy infrastructures, especially the human aspects. This will help us in planning for a sustainable future. Key takeaway The world is likely to face an energy scarcity in the future. Innovative energy infrastructures will help manage this crisis. But we cannot focus only on the technical aspects of this problem. We need to understand the human aspects of the problem and design better energy infrastructures that address these problems.