Rentoid blog

Although the BZE plan is not new, I thought it would be good to write about in case any of our readers haven’t heard about it. Here is my summary of the synopsis, of the Zero Carbon Australia 2020 Plan.

Climate scientists predict severe impacts from even the lowest estimates of global warming. Atmospheric CO2 already exceeds safe levels. The threat comes from dangerous ‘tipping point’ mechanisms such as melting of sub-artic permafrost, which can be triggered by excessive temperatures and would prevent us from returning to safe climate conditions.

To make an immediate transition, we can use only the solutions that are available to us today. The ZCA2020 Plan has specified the 100% renewable grid based on proven technologies that are already commercially available and that have already been demonstrated in large industries. With a combination of energy efficiency, fuel switching from gas and oil to electrified energy services, then using a combination of commercially available renewable energy technologies, Australia’s energy needs can be met with 100% renewables. Wind and Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) with Molten Salt Storage are the two primary technologies used, with minimal contingency backup from biomass and existing hydro.

Implementing the proposed renewable infrastructure over a ten-year timescale would require a small percentage of Australia’s industrial capacity, in terms of resources and labour force. The required investment of $37 Billion/year is the equivalent of 3% of GDP.

Source: http://www.energy.unimelb.edu.au/uploads/ZCA2020_Stationary_Energy_Report_v1.pdf

Note: content has been mixed and mashed by me in order to condense it

In my own words - It is possible to transition to 100% renewable energy within 10 years with technology that exists today. It would cost 37 billion dollars, or 3% of GDP per annum. The challenges of a transition to renewable energy are social and political, not a technical or economic.

Go to http://beyondzeroemissions.org/zero-carbon-australia-2020 for more information.

Geordie - the rentoid team.

Our current paradigm, our current way of living is deeply flawed and unsustainable. The threats of peak oil, climate change, water & food shortages, deforestation, mass extinction etc are all clear examples of a need for change. Not to mention that we still live in a world where war and poverty are common. It is logically inescapable that you cannot have infinite growth on a planet with finite resources.

Why are these things so obvious to some people and denied so vehemently by others? I’m not a psychologist but my guess is that, to people who tend to avoid these topics, discussing them calls into question everything they’ve know, everything they have grown up believing and by extension their identity - who they are. It’s just too difficult or maybe even scary, I don’t know.

In my opinion, this is where I see the environmental movement as having failed - in its communication, or maybe even their approach generally. To me the environmental movement seems very alienating in nature as it comes across as saying - ‘your current lifestyle is bad, you are hurting the planet, you need to pay for it by reducing your consumption, which in the minds of many people translates into - you must reduce your standard of living’. For many of those people, it is a price too great and they reject it.

Now, we could sit here all day playing the blame game and recycling arguments, getting really cranky with each other and going nowhere fast. Or, we could do something different. Something better. This is what Rentoid, and others working in the collaborative consumption space are all about - providing an alternative win/win solution:

By sharing what we already have, we can reduce our consumption without reducing our standard of living. In fact it can even enhance living standards by reducing the burdens of ownership (cost, maintenance, worry etc) and also by creating new value from underutilised resources.

What makes this solution so special is that because it benefits everyone who participates and the environment, not either/or, it is finally possible to get everybody working on the same team.

This is why I love rentoid.

Geordie, the rentoid team.

The greatest challenge of all facing the environment is this. The decision makers live in the house immediately below:

This is the outlook they have:

The outlook they have on a daily basis does not reflect the challenges we face. There is no physical evidence in their day to day living. In order to orchestrate change, the decision makers would have to live in this house below:

With this outlook:

These houses are a 30 minute drive from each other, in the one city. In two separate suburbs. The fact is our environment shapes our immediate behavior. If we want true behavioral change then we must change peoples outlooks.