Transcript GEOG 352: Day 10

GEOG 352: Day 10
Energy (cont’d)
Housekeeping Items
• The outline due date was pushed back to
the 13th when we will be going on a field
trip to Nanaimo Foodshare. Be out front
before 10:00 on Tuesday!
• The mid-term is on Thursday, October the
22nd, with the review on the 20th.
• Did anyone go to “Bikes vs. Cars”?
• Today we will hear from Rhys and Steve on
energy and I will talk a little too, and
possible show some very short videos.
Housekeeping Items
• VIU is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the
university’s Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship
program – Building Resilience in Coastal Communities. Upperyear undergraduate and Masters students are encouraged to
apply for scholarships to pursue internships, studies, or research
related to the program theme in the areas of:
 Sustainable Tourism
 Economic Development
 Water Management
 Parks and Protected Areas
 Climate Change
 Sustainable Aquaculture and Agriculture
• QE II Scholarships represent a unique opportunity for experiential
learning, the development of cross-cultural understanding and
communication skills, and first-hand research or field work
experience in an international context.
• Full scholarship information and application packages can be
found at: https://qes.viu.ca/
• Deadline for applications: Monday, November 23, 2015 (4:00
p.m.).
The Fork In the Energy Road
• We are at a crossroads.
One faction wants to go
full speed ahead with
exploiting the remaining
oil, gas, and coal
resources. The other
wants to see a radical shift
towards renewable energy.
The institutional weight,
corporate and political – at
least in Canada – is most
on the side of the fossil
fuel strategy.
• What are the barriers
preventing us from
changing course and what
can be done about it?
The Fork In the Energy Road
• There are some positive examples of change occurring in
Europe. We heard about one – Kristianstadt – and will see
others profiled in the short videos. As a recent article in the
New York Times notes, “Germans will soon be getting 30
percent of their power from renewable energy resources.
Many smaller countries are beating that, but Germany is by
far the largest industrial power to reach that level in the
modern era…. By creating huge demand for wind turbines
and especially for solar panels, it has [also] helped lure big
Chinese manufacturers into the market, and that
combination is driving down costs faster than almost
anyone though possible just a few years ago.”
• The Germans call this “energiewende, the energy
transition.” Others call it a revolution!
The Fork In the Energy Road
• The ‘revolution’ is spilling over into the
American market as new homes are
being built in traditionally conservative
Orange County with solar panels because
it’s so easy to sell homeowners on their
financial advantages.
• And American states, frustrated by
legislative gridlock in Washington, are
taking steps on their own to replicate
Germany’s achievements.
• Utilities are worried as renewables are
denting their profits from shaving prices
due to reduced peak period utilization.
Some are trying to hamstring the
renewable industry; others are trying to
get in on the action.
The Fork In the Energy Road
• It’s costly for Germany to make the transition,
but they can afford to. Canada potentially could
also, but it seems to have become a “petrostate.”
• In the U.S., industry and the right-wing peddles
the notion that climate change is “junk science”
and a conspiracy involving a variety of
organizations.
• Nonetheless, some jurisdictions are
shutting down down fracking sites
(California),
• Or creating a moratorium
(Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, &
Quebec).
• Even China’s coal consumption
has dropped for the first time
in a century.
See also “Energy
Wise” in VIU Library:
http://digital.films.co
m/PortalViewVideo.
aspx?xtid=37646