A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.
www.brucenixon.com
Cut aviation emissions. The report recommends tackling emissions from the aviation sector by:
Reducing demand. The government should promote video conferencing as part of business travel
initiatives, and the current Air Passenger Duty should be replaced by a charge per aircraft, adjusted
by weight and distance.
Rail enhancements including high speed lines, for the longer term, planned as an alternative to short
distance flights.
Domestic aviation should pay fuel duty and VAT with money raised used to cut other taxes and
charges and invest in rail.
Conclusions
Amongst the conclusions I draw, from this and other sources, about the future of our energy are as follows:
Our energy future - Global
A combination of radical reduction in energy use and waste and lifestyle change
More efficient technology and new sources of energy
An exciting, challenging and expensive transition
Better ways to travel, better conditions in our towns, cities and countryside, better health, greater
tranquillity – in short a better life
New enterprises and new jobs
Different nations and bio-regions within them will develop their unique solutions and take
advantage of natural advantages
The most promising renewable source for large scale use is concentrating solar power using
moving mirrors, molten salt, steam, and heat engines from desert sources, where there is
plentiful sunshine, large areas and low population densities
The way forward for the UK. David McKay reaches some uncomfortable conclusions about the way forward
for the UK. He calculates that UK will need to reduce its consumption of “stuff”, a high proportion of which is
currently imported at a cost of at least 40kWh per day per person. For renewables such as biomass, wave
power and wind power to make a significant contribution requires country-sized solutions. To meet 25% of
current energy consumption, 75% of the UK would have to be covered with biomass plantations, not an
unacceptable solution. To provide 4% of our current consumption through wave power would require 500km
of our Atlantic coast line. Wind power would need similarly large areas and for that reason would be best
located out at sea.
Provided economic constraints and public objections are resolved, the average EU energy consumption of
125kWh/d per person can be provided. But UK needs to reduce it by electrifying transport and electrifying
heating using heat pumps. Electrifying transport will require a substantial increase in electricity generation.
For the UK, the best plan for green sources of carbon free energy will make use of a combination of many
different sources, national, regional and local community schemes, that take advantage of our natural
advantages of sea, coast, wind, water (hydro), wood together with pumped heat, a substantial source,
photovoltaic panels and heat and power generated from waste. David McKay confirms that a plan that does
not make large use of coal and nuclear will require a significant part of our needs to be met in collaboration
with other countries in the North Sea area and solar power from the Mediterranean region.
New buildings, like the German Passivhaus, can be carbon neutral, requiring no energy for heating. However
as has been pointed out earlier, the big problem in countries like the UK is the very large legacy of “leaky”
buildings requiring retrofitting that many people will find difficult to afford. For the domestic user, David
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