How to say Hello In Nauruan
Why renewables can’t save the planet | Michael Shellenberger | TEDxDanubia
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the term climate change
carries a lot of emotion
guilt anger frustration fear but rarely
any feelings of hope or accomplishment
and never any pride and of course it
doesn't were bombarded every day by
images that seemed to have only one
conclusion we're all just screwed we're
screwed and there's not a lot we can do
about it scientists are telling us that
we're ruining the planet you and I are
ruining the planet every day by just
living our lives they're saying that
weird to blame but it's so hard to see
anything that we can do to change that
I mean I guess there are obvious things
we could live without electricity or
heat and ride a bicycle everywhere but
if everyone did that most things in our
society would have to change anyway and
where do we even start
feels pretty hopeless but I've been
working on solutions to climate change
for ten years and I'm here to tell you
that it's not hopeless we have the power
to stop climate change you and I do
right now I'm not talking about changing
lightbulbs or buying more efficient
refrigerators I mean actually stopping
climate change we have the power we've
just lost sight of our power and in
order to find it again we need a new
paradigm we need a new perspective that
shows us exactly what we can do every
day to fight climate change that's going
to take some work to get there we're
gonna have to dig through some science
but when we come out the other side
you'll know how to cut your carbon
footprint by 60%
today our new perspective has three
parts first we need to know about green
carbon then we need to know about fossil
carbon and finally we need to know about
green carbon versus fossil carbon in our
modern world so let's get started first
green carbon green carbon is all about
carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide gets a
lot of press these days we hear about it
coming out of our tailpipes we hear
about it coming out of our smokestacks
we hear about it causing climate change
but the truth is more nuanced than that
the Earth's atmosphere has almost always
contained carbon dioxide and that's a
good thing because without carbon
dioxide our planet would be a lifeless
frozen hunk of rock like Mars we need
carbon dioxide to create the natural
greenhouse effect the greenhouse effect
that keeps us from freezing and that's
really important but even more than that
we need carbon dioxide because it's
something called the carbon cycle now
the carbon cycle is the beating heart of
our planet on geologic timescales the
carbon cycle is what sets the earth's
temperature like a thermostat it
balances the air and the rocks and
oceans
and determines how hot it's going to get
here but on a day to day timescale the
carbon cycle is what allows complex life
forms like us to exist in the first
place we wouldn't be here without the
carbon cycle and it all depends on
carbon dioxide and that's the same
carbon dioxide that you are breathing
out right now because we breathe in
oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide
and plants do the opposite they breathe
in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen
and that's crucial because plants are
actually building themselves molecule by
molecule out of carbon dioxide in the
air and the energy of the Sun plants are
literally made of air and sunlight you
can see this happening in your home
every day every one of your houseplants
is making itself molecule by molecule
out of the energy coming through your
windows and the air in your home if they
were making themselves out of the soil
in their pots the soil would disappear
as they grow but that doesn't happen
because plants are made of air and
sunlight they're the start of a carbon
cycle and then it goes like this first
green plants capture carbon from the
atmosphere and the energy of the Sun
then animals eat those plants to take
that carbon and energy because animals
are made out of carbon and energy of the
Sun - they just take it from plants then
other animals eat those animals on up
the food chain till eventually an animal
does not get eaten dies naturally and
then decomposition releases its carbon
back into the atmosphere
to start the cycle all over again
decomposition is what balances the
carbon cycle and makes sure that the
carbon that goes in comes back out again
on the other side and that it all forms
a closed loop just circulating the
carbon from one side to the other
there's a cycle like this that happens
in the oceans there's a cycle like this
that happens in the soil all of this
carbon I call green carbon green carbon
is the carbon that's supposed to be here
it's the carbon of living things it's
the carbon of the carbon cycle it's the
carbon of our climate green carbon does
not cause climate change because it
can't cause climate change it already is
our climate it's already a part of our
thermostat fossil carbon is what causes
climate change and now climate change is
a huge issue there are all sorts of
contributing factors but this is the big
one
fossil carbon is the main cause of
climate change if we can stop releasing
fossil carbon we can turn the tide of
climate change and in order to do that
we need to understand it we need to know
about its origin and so we need to go
back in time we can go back to any
number of places in the Earth's history
but we're gonna go back and visit the
dinosaurs and the first thing we notice
when we get there is that there's a
whole lot more carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere this is the Late Jurassic
period and there's seven times as much
co2 in the atmosphere is that the earth
today it was hot but the carbon cycle
operated just the way that ours does
first green plants capture carbon from
the atmosphere and the energy of the Sun
then animals eat those plants to take
that carbon and energy than other
animals eat those animals on up the food
chain until eventually an animal does
not get eaten dies naturally and then
decomposition releases his carbon back
into the atmosphere start the cycle all
over again
at least that's how it was supposed to
happen there was a problem decomposition
stopped working very well
decomposition needs oxygen in order to
function correctly it's the great
recyclers would make sure that what goes
in comes back out of the carbon cycle
again but under the right circumstances
in swamps and in shallow seas zones
without oxygen can develop we see this
on our planet today and our swamps and
in the algae blooms like the one off the
coast of California right now
algae green stuff grows so fast that it
sucks up all the oxygen out of the water
beneath it if something dies in that
water
decomposition doesn't have the power to
break it apart completely
instead it sinks to the bottom partially
decomposed and still full of a lot of
its carbon and energy well in the late
Jurassic period the earth was covered in
swamps and shallow seas and so carbon
drained out of the carbon cycle it
formed huge reservoirs of undecomposed
organic material full of carbon and
energy the carbon cycle was off balance
eventually circumstances would change
and the carbon cycle would write itself
again but there was less carbon to go
around and so the carbon cycle had to
evolve to a world of less carbon and
that takes about a hundred thousand
years in the meantime all of the carbon
in those reservoirs slowly sank into the
earth where heat and pressure
transformed it into coal oil and natural
gas this is our fossil carbon fossil
carbon is the carbon of fossil fuels
fossil fuels only burn because the
energy stored in carbon molecules by
million-year-old plants basically fossil
fuel is million-year-old sunlight now
the heat and pressure underground
concentrated that sunlight so it's
really potent and it burns really well
that's why we like it so much but when
we release that energy and burn that
fuel we also release the fossil carbon
that contains it and that's the problem
because if we come back to our earth
today we'll see that our carbon cycle is
balanced the way that it is the amount
of carbon that goes into the carbon
cycle comes back out again it's all a
closed loop so when we burn fossil fuels
and release all of their fossil carbon
it goes up into the atmosphere and has
nowhere to go it can't just join into
the carbon cycle again because the
carbon cycle is a closed loop it can
only take in so much carbon and so
instead it stays in our atmosphere we're
done naturally increases the greenhouse
effect
acidifies our oceans and causes climate
change this is the causes of climate
change now eventually a hundred thousand
years from now or so our carbon cycle
will also adapt to all of this new
carbon but in the meantime we're screwed
we are burning million-year-old sunlight
by the barrel everywhere on earth
we just love this stuff the truth is
we're gonna run out
even if climate change were a hoax if
our society is going to survive we have
to switch away from fossil carbon and
fossil fuels because we're gonna run out
climate change is just forcing our hand
and so what are our options
what can we choose instead of
million-year-old sunlight well there's
the heat in the center of our planet but
it's difficult to access and
occasionally unstable
there's our newfound ability to release
atomic energy but the byproducts are
deadly and last for hundreds of
thousands of years themselves there's
the moon's gravitational pull creating
ocean tides there's a little energy and
the spinning of the earth and in gravity
and their sunlight that's it those are
our six options period if our society is
going to survive we have to switch to
these options we don't have a choice
and of them all sunlight offers by far
the most energy we can use it directly a
solar radiation we can use it indirectly
as wind or waves or we can use the
energy stored in carbon molecules by
green plants because green plants are
the original solar panels they're what
trap the energy in fossil fuels to begin
with millions of years ago and the only
reason we moved away from green plants
is because the energy and fossil fuels
is concentrated underground but we don't
need them any more today just about
anything that we make out of fossil
carbon we can make out of green carbon
instead and when we do that it can't
cause climate change because it's
already a part of the climate it's
already a part of our thermostat this is
a plastic bag that's made out of
petroleum out of oil millions of years
ago this was partially decomposed
gunk at the bottom of the sea this is a
plastic bag it's made out of plants that
were alive just a little while ago
they're both plastic the difference is
the source and it's all about the source
because this one causes climate change
and this one doesn't and you have the
power to choose you don't have to choose
fossil fuels and fossil carbon and when
you don't you can cut your carbon
footprint incredibly in three steps you
can cut your carbon footprint by sixty
percent just by not choosing this
because we don't need it anymore step
one is the easiest it's your electricity
right now you can sign up an alternative
energy provider that will generate all
of your electricity without releasing
fossil carbon wherever you live whatever
your circumstance is if you get an
electric bill you can sign up with
alternative energy today might be solar
it might be wind it might be something
else but just this one step will cut
your carbon footprint by 15% by
comparison changing all of the light
bulbs in your home to LED bulbs will
only cut your carbon footprint by 2/10
of 1% it's a big difference now can be
hard to know what your options are and
if you need help you can come to my
website Jackson carpenter comm slash
electricity type in your zip code and
find out what your options are
step 2 heating and cooling your home but
we already have a head start on this
because most cooling devices most a/c
units most heat pumps most swamp coolers
already run on electricity and we've
taken care of our electricity and all
that's left is heating our home in the
winter and likewise if you have an
electric heat pump electric electric
baseboard heating or electric space
heaters you've taken care of that as
well and so you've cut your carbon
footprint by 32 percent already that's
almost a third but here's where it gets
interesting what if you don't have
electric heat well anything that you can
use to heat your home that releases
green carbon instead of fossil carbon
will not cause climate change so if your
furnace runs on heating oil you can go
down to
biodiesel distributor there's one less
than ten miles from where I'm standing
and get a green carbon product called
bio heat bio heats made of green carbon
it doesn't cause climate change even if
you burn it in your furnace or you can
burn wood wood is made of green carbon
it doesn't cause climate change either
if it's sourced sustainably now wood or
biomass is maybe the most contentious
issue and climate change today it is
sustainable
if you plant the seeds let it grow and
then cut down the trees we can't go into
our forest and cut down our force
because that's disastrous for our
climate we need to replant our forests
but would this harvested sustainably as
a crop is a great source of climate
climate friendly fuel it won't cause
climate change even if you see smoke
coming out of your chimney because it's
not about the smoke it's about the
source of the carbon step 3 as your car
now here's something that might be news
to you
every car on the road today has an
alternative source of fuel everyone even
your old gas guzzler just switching over
will cut your carbon footprint by
another twenty eight percent so what
options do you have
well if like most people you fill your
car with gasoline your green carbon fuel
is alcohol your car will run on alcohol
now it's common kind of alcohol fuel in
the u.s. is the same kind we like to
drink especially on spring break its
ethyl alcohol or ethanol now you can
ferment ethanol from just about anything
sugar cane of sugar beets are great
sources of ethanol but whatever you make
it from ethanol is made out of green
carbon it won't cause climate change
even if it burns in your engine now
before you run out and fill up your gas
tank with vodka you do need to get real
ethanol and before you do that you
actually need to get an adapter to make
your car into what we're calling a flex
fuel vehicle but most adapters cost less
than three hundred dollars and take less
than an hour to install most gasoline
ethanol is so compatible with gasoline
in fact that most gasoline sold in the
u.s. already has about
10% ethanol in it anyway so that takes
care of gasoline what if you have a
diesel vehicle well the green carbon
alternative to diesel fuel is called
biodiesel you can put it in your tank
and drive away you don't even need a
conversion and these are only the two
most available kinds of alternative
fuels there's a whole second generation
of alternative fuels called drop-in
fuels that should be available any day
and you have options you can you have
the power to choose another source other
than fossil carbon you can even choose a
shiny new electric car as long as the
your electricity comes from a source
that does not release fossil carbon
that's the clincher if your electricity
comes from coal your car's carbon
footprint will be as bad as your
grandma's gas guzzler because it's all
about the source and that's it step one
electricity step two Heat step three
your car all together we've cut 60% of
your carbon footprint and you didn't
even have to buy a bicycle no
governmental plan comes anywhere close
to that kind of a reduction and that's
the point we can do this on our own we
don't have to wait for the government to
act and you don't need me standing up
here telling you what to do either
together we've gotten to 60 percent of
your carbon footprint how can you go
further well just look to the source of
things your products come from green
carbon or fossil carbon do you want
paper or plastic or do you want a
reusable cotton bag or do you want a
plastic bag that's made out of plants
instead of petroleum you have so many
options and you have the power to choose
and you have the power to tell your
friends tell your friends they don't
have to feel hopeless in the face of
climate change either our future is one
of hope and pride in the way that we've
lived our lives everyone in this room
has the power to choose that future
today you can just choose something
other than fossil carbon your choice has
never been more important the world
literally depends on it thank you
[Applause]
you
