Question

1a) If the current generation does not care about the welfare of the next generation, does this necessarily imply that the current generation will always use all supplies of a non-renewable resource?

1b) What is the potential for increased energy efficiency to reduce future energy demands?

Answer 1

1.a) People need resources to live whether being in any generation. There is a common argument that considering the pace of utilisation of resources in the current generation, it prevents the future generations in having sufficient resources to live with.

The Secretary General of UN, Antonio Guterres quoted as "Our world as we know it and the future we want are at risk." In 2015, the member countries of the UN had vouched for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The reason the pact was adopted is because of the dire need of the society to reverse the effects of climate change which can cause damages to the environment and impact the lives of future generations.

But yet, vast majority of nations that had signed the deal are not doing even close enough to contribute towards policies to control climate change. Recently after the emergence of far right political parties which won elections in major countries, they are not taking the case seriously and often seen criticizing or rejecting the ideas of climate change in the first place. Someone called it a hoax.

The use of natural resources went sky rocketed after the industrial revolution in the later centuries of the previous decade. It saw numerous industries evolving in various parts of the globe and due to the amateur and evolving mechanisms operated then, an efficient exhaust control was not in line an it lead to more greenhouse gases which ultimately had a ridge between the Ozone hole. Even when the technology had evolved much more than in the beginning, adverse effects to environment like the above is continuing to happen.

Industries across the world are continuously tapping the crude oil sector which is a non-renewable resource that could go scare within this century itself. Rapidly increasing usage of vehicles along with thousands of industries require their energy needs to be fulfilled to operate and at this pace, resource crunch would happen in the imminent future.

Minerals, metal ores, fossil fuels and ground water are all non-renewable sources and timber could also be non-renewable if the rate of deforestation is going high..

When we use this much resources and failure on the part of policy makers to enable a complete shift towards renewable energy sources could detrimentally affect our future generations. The use of plastic for our day to day needs is to be changed as it is a non-biodegradable substance and can cause harm to the soil and beings eventually.

Combating all these problems with the help of Sustainable Development which include sustainable agriculture, meeting the needs of our people in terms of poverty, clean water and sanitation, etc upto 17 goals are designed and adopted in 2015. But still there is ambiguity over the implementation and acceptance as many major countries including the US is deviating from the deal as President Donald Trump rejects the basic idea of climate change and called of their funding for the project. Other states too are refusing or delaying the implementation of these goals as these will affect their industrial production and it's necessary to change the industrial policies to a much smoother one and causes additional cost to the industries.

States which gives preference to their industrial output and economic production instead of a sustainable future are neglecting the issues and it creates a role model it's citizens of how to handle these. This is the reason why several environmental protests and movements are emerging out in different parts of the world that puts pressure on the governments to act on urgency.

Now the time has come for us to save something for our future generations because no one will do that instead of us. And let's hope the pressures will make the policy makers act on these necessary issues.

1.b)

• When we know the fact that in future, there will be a scarcity of resources, what we intend to do is to limit the over exploitation of resources and to increase the efficiency of utilisation of resources.
• Energy efficiency is by done by integrating intelligent means of consumption with the incorporation of innovative products in place of the lesser energy efficient products.
• It requires additional investment in Technology, Research and Development, Innovation labs which will pay off in the long term by producing highly efficient means of energy consumption.
• Introduction of LCD, LED monitors in place of old CRT types, arrival of the ever-evolving electric vehicle segments, LED bulbs instead of fluorescent lamps are examples of increased energy efficiency that helped in better energy savings.
• The finite fossil fuel resources are a problem in the near future which powers various industries. And more usage of this causes Carbon dioxide levels to rise in the atmosphere which can shoot the global temperature which in turn leads to extreme weather conditions, floods, rise in ocean levels, reduction in land area, etc.
• There is a misconception that higher energy efficiency leads to less comfort which is actually not true because an efficiency energy managed device or service can save up to 90% of the consumption levels.
• The introduction of AI based technologies in the energy sector can better manage and utilize efficiently the resources which otherwise might get overused.
• The technological advancements that we introduce through the research and development process is also an asset that we creates for our future generations so that they could develop from there and better explore the possibilities of energy utilisation.

All these factors lead to depict the importance of energy efficiency that helps to reduce the usage and save more energy resources for the coming generations.