Eudaimon ꙮNov 14, 2024

“Naïve Optimism vs Reality: The True State of Our Planet and Energy Future” by Art Berman

https://www.artberman.com/blog/naive-optimism-vs-reality-the-true-state-of-our-planet-and-energy-future/

«Last week, I spent time with oil CEOs who understood the complex environmental issues tied to energy but still believed everything would work out for humanity. Technology will fix most of the world’s problems, and progress will take care of the rest.

Yesterday, the International Energy Agency offered a similarly optimistic take from the renewable energy side. Its latest report claims that a booming clean energy market will drive economic growth, create jobs, and bring sustainability. They argue this shift will boost energy security and reduce fossil fuel reliance—despite the steep challenges and the need for massive policy shifts worldwide.

Both views carry a kind of naïve optimism, assuming that the system will self-correct despite clear evidence to the contrary. This human-centered thinking assumes that what’s good for us is good for the planet, but the reality couldn’t be more different. The evidence shows that this false belief is steering us and living systems in the wrong direction.»

Climate is just one of the limits, and each of them is potentially catastrophic for all life, not just human life.

#ArtBerman #Collapse #PlanetaryLimits #PlanetaryBoundaries #PlanetaryHealthCheck #BigOil #IEA

Naïve Optimism vs Reality: The True State of Our Planet and Energy Future | Art Berman

Last week, I spent time with oil CEOs who understood the complex environmental issues tied to energy but still believed everything would work out for humanity. Technology will fix most of the world’s problems, and progress will take care of the rest. Yesterday, the International Energy Agency offered a similarly…

Art Berman
Show threadEvery day I bask in my own stuJun 2, 2024
@urlyman #artberman
Eudaimon ꙮApr 3, 2024
«There is no energy transition or green revolution

Fossil fuels accounted for 93% of primary energy consumption in 2022

Wind accounted for 1.5%, solar 0.9%, and nuclear 1.5%»

🔗 Art Berman (@[email protected])

#ArtBerman #EnergyTransition #GND
Eudaimon ꙮJan 9, 2024
"Nuclear Is Not The Answer" by #ArtBerman

https://www.artberman.com/blog/nuclear-is-not-the-answer/

"Among the most frustrating parts of discussions about the human predicament is the widespread belief that nuclear energy is the answer. It’s not. If money were not a consideration—but it is—nuclear plants just can’t be built fast enough to make much of a difference."

Art includes a wider view than just greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emissions. Examples:

"Carbon emissions and the overshooting of planetary boundaries are unlikely to decrease as long as energy consumption, world GDP and population continue to increase (Figure 7). The interrelationship of these factors with the degradation of Earth’s ecosystem means that there are no solutions without a structural change in all of these factors as a starting point. This implies that a civilizational paradigm shift is required."

"When I talk to people about energy, the environment and the human predicament, they want me to help them understand what society can do to solve the problems that I describe. They are often frustrated when I tell them that it’s not that simple. Focusing on one part of the predicament like emissions or nuclear power may feel satisfying but simply shifts most of the problem somewhere else."

This is a very important statement. I think our world is full of people trying to optimize a narrow problem, thus externalizing impacts elsewhere. This does not produce any global optimization, and instead avoids or prevents the necessary global changes, since everyone (or most people) deceive themselves thinking that they are actually contributing to such optimization. This idea is not mine, actually, it comes from Daniel Schmachtenberger, also taken by Nate Hagens. We need systems-wide ways to approach the solutions. Our problemes go way beyond just substituting an energy source for another (although this problem itself is already a massive one).

#PeakEnergy #Collapse #GreatSimplification #LongDescent #SenecaCliff #CarbonEmissions #NateHagens #DanielSchmachtenberger
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