March 22, 2004

Business and Sustainability

Envisaging a New Energy Future
for Greater Vancouver

The meeting was attended by 16 members, 2 friends and 31 guests.

Welcome

Dr. Geraldine Schwartz, Co-Founder of the Institute for Ethical Leadership, welcomed everyone to the conference. She briefly mentioned the role of the Institute as a membership association concerned with enhancing the common good. The Institute works in five theme areas, and mini-conferences will be held throughout 2004 as follows

1. Youth and Education theme on “Safe and Caring Schools”—January 26
2. Business and Sustainability theme on “Envisaging a New Energy Future for Greater Vancouver”—March 22.
3. Stewardship and the Environment theme (Eco-Efficiency)—May 31
4. Re-gathering (after summer break)—September 27
5. Relationships and Personal Development theme (topic to be announced)—October 25
6. Health and Wellness theme (topic to be announced)—November 22

The work arising from all of these mini-conferences in 2004 will form the basis for a larger interactive conference called Connections III, planned for February 2005.

Geraldine invited participants to introduce themselves. A broad spectrum of people was present from concerned citizens to those actively involved in energy issues.

Introduction to the Program

The program was introduced by Dr. Desmond Berghofer, Co-founder of the Institute for Ethical Leadership and Chair of the Business and Sustainability Sector. Dr. Berghofer put the issue of energy use in an ethical context by stressing that the depletion of energy stocks by current generations, particularly those in the world's richest countries, with no satisfactory provision for the needs of future generations, while at the same time polluting and destroying the natural environment, is a profound ethical issue. He referred to growing awareness of the issue as evidenced by reports in special interest journals, but noted that there was little coverage in the mainstream media and no evidence that it had reached the political agenda of any level of government.

 

Energy, Evolution and Civilization: The Global Context and Lessons for the GVRD
William E Rees, PhD, University of British Columbia, School of Community and Regional Planning

Dr. Berghofer introduced Dr. Bill Rees as the first speaker. Dr. Rees is internationally recognized for developing the construct of the ecological footprint as a way of measuring the impact that individuals, organizations, communities and nations have on the natural world. He is a founding member of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics and co-investigator of the “Global Integrity Project.”

Dr. Rees stressed four underlying points to keep in mind:

1. Energy is primary. It is the basis by which we obtain all other resources and do everything.
2. We live in a “temporal anomaly,” that is, the time in which we live is a unique (not normal or permanent) era in human development.
3. Energy is a pervasive factor in the evolution of civilization.
4. The necessary steps forward towards sustainability are contradictory to most current economic development policies of governments and to many international agreements.

The Maximum Power Principle. “The struggle for life is a struggle for free energy available for work.” (Boltzmann 1905. “The Second Law of Thermodynamics”). This means that individuals, corporations and economies compete fiercely for available energy and in the process consume it at enormous rates.

Two Great (Energetic) Leaps Forward.

1. The adoption of agriculture 10,000 years ago created a 13-fold increase in average human population growth compared to the previous 10,000 years. Human beings were forced into agriculture because of over hunting and over harvesting during the previous hunter-gatherer era.
2. The discovery and widespread use of fossil fuels led to a 40-fold expansion of human activity in the past 150 years.

The Fossil Fuel Connection. Since 1850 the use of fossil fuels has displaced human labour and the use of domesticated animals for work to negligible proportions. Our culture has become inordinately dependent on this one source of energy.

Is There an Impending Energy Crisis? There are two opposing views:

1. Human ingenuity will solve all problems.
2. Industrial civilization has already peaked and is now running down as it exhausts available energy supplies.

Fred Hoyle in the 1960s pointed out that our challenge is to use the benefits of temporarily abundant fossil fuels to get beyond our dependence on them into a sustainable energy future. As a civilization we have only one shot at this.

History of Oil Discovery and Production. US petroleum discovery peaked in the early 1930s. Extraction peaked in 1971. Now 80% of US recoverable reserves have been consumed.

Globally, conventional petroleum discovery peaked in the early 1960s and extraction will likely peak by 2010. Up to half of conventional reserves has already been consumed.

Since 1980 extraction has increasingly exceeded discovery. We are in a rapidly declining situation.

Conflict between “Political” and Technical Reserves Estimates. Whereas proven reserves based on technical (geological) estimates have been declining since 1982, “political” estimates of reserves made by economists and embraced by politicians continue to rise, flying in the face of what the technical experts are saying.

Natural Gas Potential. In North America this is an even more serious problem than the depletion of oil reserves. North American supplies of natural gas are declining and we don't have easy access to off-shore supplies, as we do with oil. Whereas Canada would have ample supplies to meet its own needs we are forced under NAFTA to continue to supply the US market at equivalent consumption rates in both countries.

In Canada extraction is now dropping rapidly. By 2010 we will be at one-third of what we were extracting in 2000. This is the reason why arguments for using nuclear energy are now resurfacing.

Global Remaining Reserves of Oil and Gas. Estimates are that if we continue as we are now, oil will be gone by 2030 and gas by 2050. Of course, as shortages begin to take hold before these dates, serious problems will develop.

What is the Position of Canadian Authorities? Statements from official sources in Canada say there is no reason to be concerned because supplies are abundant. In other words, they are following the “political” estimates rather than accepting the evidence provided by technical (geologists) experts. They also argue that rising prices will eventually lead to substitution by other technologies and energy sources.

Alternate Energy Sources

• Shale oil will never be a source of energy
• Biomass energy can make only a marginal contribution
• Solar and hydrogen will remain uncompetitive for 20-30 years
• Wind power suffers from the problem of being highly dispersed and is available intermittently
• Most renewable energy sources produce electricity, which is not a substitute for fossil fuels in many applications, e.g., use of fossil fuels to increase food production.
• The bottom line is that we do not yet have a good set of substitutes for the many uses of petroleum and gas
• All of this is solvable but we have to recognize the problem and we are simply not doing it

A Discomforting Conclusion. “The renewable sources of energy—direct sunlight, wind, hydropower, biomass—are all solar in origin and are in toto inadequate for running anything that passes for civilization. [They have] no chance whatever of sustaining the present world's population.” (The Energy Advocate, August 1996).

Dr. Rees said that this was not his conclusion, but it is sobering to consider. We are definitely facing a grim challenge and what makes it worse is that we are not even admitting that we have a problem. We are embedded in a culture that makes absurdity an obsession (500 horsepower SUVs to drive around town, when 5 horsepower would do). There is a 100-fold potential for saving. The advertising industry is dedicated to making us dissatisfied so that we buy devices that are progressively more energy consuming than what we had before.

Steps That Would Help the GVRD.

• Ottawa: Eliminate market-distorting subsidies to fossil fuels
• Ottawa/BC: Implement a scheduled program of escalating resource depletion taxes on fossil fuels. (Quota sales may eventually be necessary). The tax(es) will create steady upward pressure on fossil energy prices moving them closer to their total social cost. This will encourage conservation and improved resource productivity, stimulate research and development of alternatives, and make the latter more competitive in the marketplace.
• GVRD: Develop a regional energy conservation strategy, emphasizing incentives for densification, green architecture, self-powered and public transit. We are not doing too badly in this area, but we need the zoning and financial incentives to do better.
• GVRD/Municipalities: Invest in sensible public transportation. The RAV line is not sensible—too high cost for the benefits.
• GVRD/Municipalities: Conduct regional experiments in the application of available alternative/renewable energy technologies—wind, solar (direct and voltaics).
• Vancouver: Commit to making the SE False Creek project an exemplary demonstration project in sustainable urban development, emphasizing energy conservation and alternatives. This is one of the last prime undeveloped pieces of urban land on the continent. Let us make of it an experiment so that we can shine in the world as a beacon to show other folks the light.

Cultural Survival: The Bottom Line.

• “Energy has always been the basis of cultural complexity and it always will be. …the availability of energy per capita will be a constraining factor [in achieving sustainability]” (J Tainter 1998. The Collapse of Complex Societies).
• Diversity and redundancy in energy supply is the only viable strategy for maintaining economic security, political stability and ecological integrity.
• Conservation is key
• Are we doing what is needed? That is the question for you to answer.

 

Replacing the Future: From Big Power to Global Relocalization
Julian Darley, Global Public Media and the Post-Carbon Institute

Dr. Berghofer introduced Julian Darley as the second speaker. Mr. Darley is a British environmental philosopher living and working in Vancouver. He holds Masters degrees in Journalism and the Philosophy of Media and Environmental Sociology from the University of Texas and Surrey University respectively. He is the founder of Global Public Media and the Post-Carbon Institute. He is the author of the forth-coming book, “High Noon for Natural Gas: The New Energy Crisis.”

Mr. Darley stressed that what we have seen in the use of energy in the last 40 years can't continue. We are not in a position to talk about reform of the current system, but replacement, that is, replacing big centralized power with local systems.

A New World. The mainstream media are beginning to indirectly report energy issues without coming out with a clear picture of the problems of upcoming energy shortages that face the world.

We have to realize that this is not 1973, when there was still a lot of oil still to be extracted from the ground. There is a widespread need for energy literacy. We need to look at mechanisms, not markets, because markets are highly misleading; that is, we have to look at discovery (of oil and gas), not price. The key questions are: Where is it, and how difficult will it be to extract?

ASPO Depletion Model 2004. That the Middle East is a safe source of supply is illusory. All supplies of oil are in decline. The only thing that can change the picture of rapid exhaustion of supply is a colossal economic crash.

Estimates by Exxon corroborate what other researchers outside the industry are saying. We are getting warnings from the technical geological data, but are we paying attention? Price signals are no use when it comes to an issue as big as this.

In 2001 and 2002 oil companies spent more money on searching for oil than they made from the discoveries.

For the first time in 2001-2002 natural gas discovery was less than natural gas consumption. That should have been a clear signal of trouble ahead, just as when the US became a net importer of oil just after World War II should have been a clear signal. But demand keeps on outpacing supply.

When will Canada become a net importer? Sooner than we think. The Alberta Tar Sands despite the huge reserves is very difficult to extract.

Implications. Decline in global oil means:

• Less transport
• Less economic activity
• Less food production
• More security problems—terrorism is related to the presence of the West in Arab lands.

All of this will lead to CONTRACTION:

• Economic contraction
• Population contraction (with horrific prospects)

Can we switch to natural gas? To some extent, but this supply is already declining. If the US comes after its fair share of natural gas from Canada, what will we do? Foreign supplies of natural gas are in places where the West is not wanted.

The Situation in British Columbia. Oil and gas extraction has probably already peaked. Global warming can reduce production of electricity from hydro because of declining precipitation. Also, we are committed to sending a lot of our energy south to the US.

Strategy. The only answer is to reduce consumption (CONTRACTION) while we work to bring on stream sources of energy that are renewable. But renewables won't help a lot if we don't REDUCE by:

• Developing better public transport
• Developing car coops
• Using bio-diesel in public vehicles
• Ending subsidies to oil and gas

We should probably forget about the hydrogen economy as a realistic alternative.

Local energy generated by local people is the preferred strategy

• Wind is the most promising (though now wind power accounts for less than 0.2% of energy in Canada.)
• Biomass is a possibility, but how much can we grow, and where does the energy come from to produce the growth?

Global Relocalization. This means localization of energy production (and the economy) on a large scale, around the world. We have to close the loop of Energy-Money-Food. This means:

• Creating local energy banks
• Using local currencies that keep the money in the community
• Connecting energy to money
• Developing local skills with local money
• Growing more of our food locally
• Stop building on agricultural land
• Stop subscribing to the mantra that “growth is good.” There is no such thing as “smart growth.” All growth is dumb.
• Eat lower down the food web

We have to realize that all of this is contradictory to current directions, which means that it is highly controversial. Nevertheless, the only sane alternative is to start planning for
CONTRACTION

Discussion

Following the presentations, participants were asked to form into six groups according to their interest to discuss the following topics:

1. Transportation. “In what ways might new forms and patterns of transportation be developed for Greater Vancouver that shift away from and reduce the need for fossil fuels?”
2. Local Agriculture. “In what ways might a healthy and less energy intensive local agriculture be developed to provide the food we need in Greater Vancouver?”
3. New Sources of Power. “In what ways might new sources of power be developed to supply the energy requirements for home and industry in Greater Vancouver?”
4. Building Design. “In what ways might we design our living spaces and work places in Greater Vancouver in order to live with less pressure on the natural environment?”
5. Policy and Planning. “In what ways might we use economic levers, policies and planning to guide energy usage in Greater Vancouver?”
6. Local Culture. “In what ways might local culture be nourished and revitalized to foster a less energy intensive social and cultural life in Greater Vancouver?”

Before beginning the discussion the groups were given a brief presentation by Gerri Schwartz and Desmond Berghofer on how to use the “Hold Fire and Think” process. The aim of this process is to generate ideas as possible solutions. There was no intent to reach decisions or consensus, but rather to expose a number of useful approaches that can form the basis of projects that can be carried forward in the future.

Reports from the Groups

Following the discussion a spokesperson from each group gave a brief report.

Topic 1. Transportation.

• Transportation systems should be designed with greater separation of cars and bicycles, that is, designated lanes for bikes, streets for bikes only, more bicycle paths, storage facilities and bike lockers for bikes at work.
• There is need to develop an energy storage medium that would be charged from renewable sources to allow various hybrid/alternative energy vehicles for inner city/commuter use, e.g., compressed air, battery, hydrogen.
• We need more and diverse public transportation systems, e.g., surface light rail as in Calgary—trolley cars running on electric power produced by wind. We need to expand the rapid transit system along the Fraser Valley floor to neighbouring communities, like the sky train, but with more destinations.
• We should consider a by-law in Vancouver that would tax centre of town driving as in London. As an alternative we could have designated days for driving downtown and allowances for drivers to encourage car-pooling.
• We need a system of incentives for lower emissions with a combination of rewards and penalties. The regulatory structure would promote the good and fade out the bad. Provide an incentive for car-pooling and car co-op programs.
• Mandate lower emissions within city limits, using the aircare program or other.
• Develop Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) lanes on the model of HOV lanes.
• We need to be less reactive and more proactive, that is, build in less energy consumptive transportation alternatives during initial planning and zoning. We should build our communities with pedestrian traffic in mind and move away from the Wal-Mart society. Develop walk-to-school programs with parents and schools.
• We need to work on the social aspect of alternative fuels, that is, education of youth and children, providing subsidies and incentives, release from road tax, etc.
• We need to build the infrastructure for alternative fuels—filling stations, storage, distribution for ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, and other alternative fuels

Topic 2. Local Agriculture.

• More manual labour and organic production that reduces or eliminates use of pesticides.
• Maintain the existing food growing areas that exist close to the cities—no more loss of agricultural/food growing areas. Eliminate as much as is possible the land economic trends that allow high quality farmland to be more valuable for housing than for food growing.
• Provide financial incentives (not subsidies toward unsustainable practices) that include stewardship incentives, pensions for farmers, no income tax etc. as in England and Scandinavia, where they preserve a farming fraternity.
• In Vancouver, 30% of the land area is under roads. In residential areas reduce the traveled portion width and use the gains in land to plant fruit trees available to the neighbourhood.
• Promote the use of school grounds to grow food for their own hot lunch programs or as fundraisers for their school activities. In this way children will get an appreciation for where their food comes from.
• Eat locally grown food wherever possible. GVRD should initiate a labeling/advertising campaign toward this. Bring back BCGrown label.
• Increase the ability to have local farmers markets within neighbourhoods, which reduces the need to drive to get fresh foods.
• Support and promote alternative sources for fertilizers in order to move away from dependence on petroleum based ones.
• Work toward a closed system for food production whereby the nutrients traditionally lost to the waste stream are cycled back into the soil system. This reduces the need for fertilizers and organic augmentation.
• Make use of available waste space. We need incentives and by-laws that allow for rooftop gardens/food production areas. Vacant lands should also be available to neighbourhoods for food growing, e.g., the allotment gardens along the Arbutus rail line.
• Make building regulations that would recognize the growing potential of siting buildings and their open space toward the sunlight.
• Create tax disincentives to long-distance sourcing of foods. Provide a scaled energy tax on transportation according to the distance food travels to get to stores in the region.
• Promote senior-child partnerships to encourage passing on knowledge and skills of food growing.
• Foster partnerships with the existing pools of expertise, such as the master gardeners at Van Dusen Gardens. Partnerships with school districts would also be of benefit.
• Use signs to raise awareness of the food growing areas around the region, e.g., “You are entering an Agricultural Land Reserve.”
• Use greenhouses for the intensive production needed to create a sustainable food supply in at least vegetables, but put them on light industrial land or in warehousing zoned areas, not on high quality farmland. Also permit use of large flat-roofed structures for greenhousing and utilize the waste heat from these buildings to provide some of the heating for food production.
• GVRD should consider a food security charter for the region that would ensure every person has an equal right to access of high quality foods grown or manufactured within the region.

Topic 3. New Sources of Power

We proposed a lot of small solutions, which if put together could make a definite difference. A lot of ideas already exist that are not being taken seriously. Until we have to change, we probably won't. Decisions on energy production and use have to address the need to live in harmony with the environment, not just reduce the need for oil and gas. These are our ideas:

• If wind power were fully developed in BC it could be used in the power grid and have a capacity greater than dam-based hydro.
• The idea of tapping into the so-called “zero-point energy” in the universe was raised, although no one seems to know if this is possible.
• We could put power generating windmills on the top of buildings, as is done in Holland and proposed for the new World Trade Center. In general, finding building-integrated solutions is the best strategy, for it reduces costs and losses due to transportation of power.
• There should be much more use of ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings as is used in the Capers building on 4th Avenue in Vancouver.
• We can use the heat in the ocean to heat and cool buildings. We understand there is an example of this in Halifax.
• We should generally review all aspects of our society for wasted power that could be put to use, e.g., waste heat from industries like the Molson Plant and Burrard Thermo and cement plants could be captured and used.
• Conserving energy is key. This is actually a new source of power. One obvious example is to reduce the use of over powered cars for simple transportation. Another example is biomass sewage treatment, which does not require energy.
• We can make greater use of passive solar energy. Use the sun to heat in summer and the wind to heat in winter.
• We should find ways to decrease the summer heat in cities caused by the absorption of heat by concrete buildings and roads. One way to do this is to plant more trees.
• A lot of human power goes unused. We should consider more projects like the Halifax fitness centre that uses the energy generated by members on stationary bikes to power the television sets they watch while exercising.

Topic 4. Building Design

Our general idea was to emphasize the integration of commercial and residential communities. We saw the following benefits from this approach:

• Less energy would be used in traveling for services.
• If people live and work in the same community, there would be less commuting and more time for other things.
• Heat energy from industry that now goes to waste could be used to heat other community facilities.
• Energy sharing reduces costs.
• There could be a standardized design for energy efficiency within the community.
• The Rocky Mountain Institute is a good example of this approach. It creates more energy than it uses.
• If planners and people working in industry live in the same community, they are more likely to work together for the common good.
• Industries would have a greater incentive to use clean energy and create less pollution in their community.
• There would be greater sharing of resources and equipment (e.g., lawnmowers, cars, gardening tools, power tools) resulting in less waste and less money spent on multiples of items.
• There would be incentives to build with green and recycled materials.
• Closer knot communities build better relationships, cooperation and creative problem solving.
• There would be support for local businesses, which would keep money in the communities.
• More efficient use of space would be encouraged through smaller living design for homes.
• Business offices and meeting rooms could be used for multiple purposes, which means that less space is needed and more energy is saved on heat, electricity and building materials.
• Green space would be included in the overall design of communities.
• Live, work and play together.
• Examples of where this is working already are Granville Island, Cranberry Commons Co-Housing, Maplewood in North Vancouver, Yaletown, New Denver Dome Community.
• People come to Vancouver already to see the success of these ideas and how they can be copied in other cities, e.g., San Francisco.

Topic 5. Policy and Planning

• There is a need to establish in law a means to prevent special interests (such as the oil and gas interests) from exerting undue influence on government policy. This means establishing in law how political parties operate, similar to the statute of any organization.
• Create educational policies on how to conserve energy. BCHydro does a bit of this, but the initiative needs government backing and funding. If it's such a major issue, why aren't we teaching it in schools?
• Use the principle of tax-shifting, where you tax the bad and reward the good with lower taxes.
• We need green crisis policy planning; similar to natural disaster or terrorism crisis plans that most governments have in place now. This would address what happens when the city suffers a major brown-out or black-out. What happens if we can't get food into urban centers?
• While the GVRD does not currently have any mandate to support energy conservation policies, there are three related plans: 1) The Liveable Region Strategic Plan; 2) Air Quality Management Plan; 3) Efficient Utility Services Plan. These are coming up for review this spring and we should all give our input by going to the GVRD website.
• The reason for this lack of mandate is that politicians don't feel they have the public support. What can we do? Speak out...write letters! Let the politicians know that this is a real concern. We should approach it from a liveability perspective because the provincial government has this as a mandate.
• Apart from writing letters ourselves, the Institute for Ethical Leadership (IFEL) could also create a report on effective letter writing (to be emailed, posted on website, etc.). The suggestions were: -Letters should be sent to Mayor in Council, GVRD Board Chair, respective Board Director (i.e. water) and c.c. to some strategic person, such as appropriate provincial politician or BCHydro person, or whomever would have some stake in the issue being discussed. -Letters should always address the issue and then let the recipient know what you want them to do! Letters should be timed with OpEd pieces in local newspapers. We should also network with other related organizations (e.g.. SmartGrowth BC)
• With regard to the two GVRD plans mentioned above; they are both coming up for public consultation (details on GVRD website). Perhaps IFEL could link to this information and even send out e-mails to its list letting people know when there is a chance to give input. It would not be much work for IFEL to keep an eye out and prompt its list to action.
• IFEL should issue a brief of the meeting we just had. This was a great situation where a group of citizens came together and definitely stated their opinion on what the problem is and what we can do about it. IFEL can either create a statement on behalf of the attendees and get them to sign it, or create a statement that just reflects the position of IFEL and it's leaders/members (not guests at that meeting).

Topic 6. Local Culture

• We recommend that people sign up for membership with the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), which encourages link up with local suppliers and cuts down on transportation.
• We also recommend signing up with Nature Challenge on the website of the David Suzuki Foundation, which encourages buying locally and living close to work.
• We should create eco-villages that are self-sustaining, co-generating, use refillable containers, natural fertilizers, community gardens, balcony gardens, backyard gardens.
• Emphasize co-habitation and shared resources.
• Create communities of friendly neighbours, who pool for shopping and transportation
• Encourage fair trade through ethical shopping, choosing ethical ventures and merchants, e.g., the European model of small shops close to where people live.
• Encourage attendance at free events, e.g. free evening presentations and seminars.
• Encourage use of organic food delivered to your door. Support the businesses already doing this.
• Marketing is an important aspect of supporting local culture. Use the media to raise awareness that we are living in a state of crisis and we need to engage collectively in coming up with creative solutions.

Concluding Remarks

Desmond and Gerri concluded the evening by thanking the speakers for framing the problem and the participants for providing such a wealth of creative ideas for addressing the problem. The Institute will be following through and contacting everyone for further input on how to move ahead so that by the time we come to the Connections III conference in February 2005 we will have a number of initiatives underway.

Guests were invited to consider joining the Institute as a Member or a Friend to help us continue with our important work.

Next Meeting

The next Mini-Conference is May 31, 2004: 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Vancouver Public Library
Theme: Stewardship and the Environment
Topic: The Benefits of Eco-Efficiency in Our Schools, Institutions and Businesses