The 2000 Watt Society: A Proven Process for Courageous Climate Change

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 27

The 2000 Watt Society

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is episode # 27 which is called The 2000 Watt Society: A Proven Process for Courageous Climate Change.

In this episode I want to cover this topic of the 2000 Watt Society, what that actually means, and why it is an extremely important topic. In episode #3 titled How Much Should One Person Be Allowed to Use, I touched on this topic. Additionally, this topic is closely related to episode #2 The Most Sustainable Countries. But I want to go much more in-depth this time around because I think this is a very important topic and it is one of the pillars to our sustainable future.

Okay for a minute here I want you to put aside your opinion about the whole topic of global warming and climate change. There are still many, many people that think this is all a trumped up myth by environmental activists and we have nothing to worry about.

But, if you listened to episode #25 The Keystone Life of Coral, then you at least know a little bit about the fate of the coral reefs around the globe. Well, that is caused by the warming and acidification of the oceans. So, regardless of what anyone says in reference to the “good” or “bad” science related to the topic of climate change, the threat to the coral reefs is real. As an active scuba diver I have seen this first hand. And as just one single example, 90% of what forms the only coral barrier reef in North American, which is located in Florida, has already died. So, deny all you want but you cannot ignore what is in front of you.

So, you may be asking what the heck this has to do with The 2000 Watt society?

In an article published by the EPA titled Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the EPA characterizes the primary sources of carbon emissions in the US, here is how they break it down.

Transportation: The transportation sector is responsible for 29% of US carbon emissions. This means the burning of fossil fuels for cars, trucks, ships, trains, and air planes.

Electricity production: This is the second largest category accounting for 25% of our carbon emissions. Approximately 62% of the electricity generated in the US comes from the burning of fossil fuels.

Commercial and Residential: This accounts for about 13% of our carbon emissions resulting from heating our homes and businesses as well as the production of products.

There was a scientist named Svante Arrhenius, that published a seminal paper in 1896 where he clearly expounded on the science of global warming. Now this is a man whose lifetime work spanned nearly 50 years and delved into numerous scientific disciplines. In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for some of his work. Toward the middle of his career he became interested in the role of carbon dioxide in climate control. That was about the time he published his paper.

But, it wasn’t until 2004 that Vice-President Al Gore thrust the topic of global warming into the public arena. Prior to that this topic had been mostly ignored for almost 80 years. So I think this is typical for most of the human race. We get our first warning in 1896. So here we are 125 years later and people are still balking at the concept of global warming and excess carbon emissions.

But let me just say this.

In the Spring of 2016, I took an intensive hands on class in solar design and installation. My primary reason for doing so was to design and install my own solar array at the cabin. The other benefits for me was the cost savings in performing the installation myself not to mention gaining a significant understanding of how the system works which helps with trouble shooting when there are problems. Thankfully I’ve had very few.

One of the very basic principles in solar design is to first perform an energy analysis on your home. This of course is the only way you will know how much energy you are consuming. After that, the next most important thing to do is to maximize your efficiency. This reduces your energy consumption. After all, if you reduce your energy consumption by 25% you can reduce the size of your solar array by 25% which translates into significant savings.

For example, when I was designing my solar array, my first step was to do my energy analysis. I looked at the light bulbs that were already installed in the cabins, which were standard bulbs. By changing everything to LED lighting, which cost me about $160, I reduced my energy consumption for lighting by 80%. Now that is a no brainer. It is a very simple example of the things you can do.

At one point, I was doing some research for another podcast episode when I came across this concept of a 2000 watt society. I did not really understand this concept at first. But it does relate directly to sustainability.

But, let’s back up a step or two at first and consider some basic things about human behavior. We know that the acquisition of material goods in developed countries, and increasingly in developing countries, is a primary indicator of individual social status. People begin to satisfy psychological desires rather than physical needs as they move up the social spectrum. What this means is that material goods that were once out of reach now become day-to-day entitlements. Such behavior is deeply engrained in consumer cultures and consequently is the driving force behind excessive household energy consumption.

Now whether you believe this or not, there is an urgent need for action on energy efficiency. The latest World Energy Outlook estimates a 45% increase in CO2 emissions from the energy sector by the year 2030. That would essentially cause global temperatures to rise another 6 degrees by the end of the century. That is about 2.2 Deg C. Since the 1970s global temperatures have risen 1.7 Deg C, which is close to what experts say is the critical tipping point. Most experts agree that if global temperatures increase greater than 1.5 to 2 deg C, that we will start observing the obvious results of climate change.

But, this can essentially change by embracing this concept of the 2000 watt society, which is a a proven process for courageous climate change. But as you will see, this concept requires a fundamental change in social norms, values and practices, together with a new innovative system as part of a national policy on sustainable development.

Enter stage right, the 2000 watt society.

Now what is this exactly?

The concept of a 2000 watt society is a reference to the amount of energy that we consume every day. And although this concept is really truly quite simple, it does require just a little bit of an explanation.

This concept of a 2000 Watt society was first conceptualized by the Swiss federal Institute of technology in Zurich in 1998. And it was simply a model that is justified by how we consume our energy, as well as our goods and services. This model also takes into account the impact that our consumption has on the environment.

And the interesting part is that this model does demonstrate how it's possible to consume only as much energy as our reserves permit. Under this model each person in every society would actually limit their daily energy consumption to 2000 watts per hour. And additionally, 75% of that energy consumed should be from renewable energy sources and 25% from fossil fuels.

So if you think about this, what the Swiss were trying to do here was to propose this model as a means of addressing climate change and also preventing future conflict over natural resources?

When I first came across this concept, I thought 2000 Watts a day. That's not that much energy, but what is actually means is 2000 Watts per hour per day, which is considered sustainable. And so this translates into a total usage of two kilowatts an hour. So 48 kilowatts per day. But what you have to understand is that this reaches much further than simply your personal energy consumption.

It looks at your total energy consumption per day, meaning the energy that you consume, for example, while commuting back and forth to work. And the energy that you consume, so to speak because you purchase certain products. Now personal daily energy consumption is easy to visualize and easy to realize, but this concept also addresses what is called embodied energy.

So think of it this way. Embodied energy means the total energy that is used to produce goods and services. And it is considered as if that energy used to produce a product or service was actually embodied in the product itself. So, this is a means of evaluating whether or not an energy saving device actually saves energy.

For example, if it takes 2000 Watts to produce a product that only saves 500 Watts of energy during the lifetime of that product, then there is a net energy loss. However, if it takes 5,000 Watts of energy to manufacture a 300 watt solar panel, but that solar panel produces 1500 Watts per day, times 25 years of service life then there is a massive production of energy. There's a fantastic energy surplus for producing that product. So there's a net energy balance.

So based on this concept, let's compare the energy consumption of various cultures. Now this evaluation is based on personal energy consumption plus consumption of embodied energy. So what this means is that if you live a hyper consumeristic lifestyle, you're actually going to be consuming a lot more energy simply because you are consuming a lot more products.

So once again, we are back to the simple fact that the United States comprises 5% of the world population. Yet we produce 40% of the trash. We consume 25% of the resources and we use 20 times more energy than someone living in a developing country. Yet we rank 39th in the world for sustainable practices.

So to continue on with this concept of a 2000 watt society, each person would be allotted, so to speak, 48 kilowatts per day. But presently in the United States, each person averages a use of 288 kilowatts per day, which is six times the amount of energy that would be allotted under the 2000 Watt society concept.

Now you may think at this point that this concept is ridiculous and could never be achieved.

But part of the goal of this concept is not to dramatically change your lifestyle. No one really truly expects anyone to go back to the stone age. But what I really want you to think about is that such things really are possible. And I want to give you an example from my own life.

But I also want to get something clear from the start here that I don't use this example as an opportunity to pat myself on the back. In fact, you know, as I've stated before my own life is not the perfect example of sustainability. And I certainly realize that there are a lot of changes that I still need to make, but I just want to give you an example of what my typical lifestyle is like.

I have two cabins and a large chicken barn, which I run off of a 1.6 kilowatt, solar array. We have satellite internet, a refrigerator and freezer. I run a well pump. We have full interior and exterior lighting hot running water for showers and dishes. We do laundry and we even watch movies on a regular basis.

I do have to haul in water once a week for the cabins and for the chickens and greenhouse. We have a composting toilet system and the cabins are heated with wood. There are three people in the household. We have a fairly typical lifestyle. Now we do live modestly, but yet we do not really do without anything. We just run our lives a little bit differently than what most people do. And we do live completely off the grid.

That's about 4.8 kilowatts per day for a household of three, I haul in about 600 gallons of water a month, and that is sufficient for all of our needs. So that equals 200 gallons per person per month. So a consumption rate of about 6.7 gallons of water per day. In what this means is that our electricity usage is 84% less than the average American household and our water usage is 94% less than the average household. And not only that, but the electricity and water that we do use comes from renewable resources.

However, I’m going to have to say when I was examining my own lifestyle, I discovered it was really the transportation factor for us that produced our greatest environmental impact.This is because we live fairly isolated and do a lot of commuting. So, I felt compelled to examine this a bit closer to determine our total environmental impact. So here it is:

The gasoline we consume every month for commuting is about the equivalent of 3,800 kilowatts per month.

I am going to estimate about 1000 kilowatts per month for our consumption of food and other products because I don't really have a good way to estimate that.

Additionally, we do use propane for cooking.

So if I throw all of those things in our household consumes a total of about 5,000 kilowatts a month, which comes out to 55.6 kilowatts per person per day.

And under the 2000 watt society model, the average should be 48 kilowatts per day. So really all we have to do is change our commuting habits a little bit more in order for us to come in line with the 2000 Watt model. So, that is what I did. I rearranged some things and I have managed to cut my commuting time by 50 to 60%.

And I also need to point out when I was doing the research for this podcast episode, I really truly started analyzing my own lifestyle. I was able to make some changes and as I said before, I actually reduced my commuting time and expenses by 50%

But I also find it interesting that as I do research for this podcast I continue to learn so much more about the value of sustainability. Consequently, it encourages me to make even further changes in my own life. And the other thing that this research has done for me is that I'm really, truly beginning to understand.

So the bottom line here is that the 2000 watt society model is truly an achievable environmental vision. It pictures the average first world citizen reducing their overall average primary energy usage to not more than 48 kWh per day. And that is without lowering your standard of living.

But the simple fact is that the necessary technology already exists. We have enough natural resources in the United States to produce 6 times the needed electricity to run this country and it could all come from renewables. We have the know how to build a zero-energy house, to make use of heat pump technology, use bio-gas, low consumption cars, hybrid vehicles, extract CO2 from the atmosphere and so on. But in order to make this happen the necessary political will must also exist.

But the most significant change that is needed is changes in our human behavior. Residential energy use has multiplied in recent decades as income and consumption rise due to changes in lifestyle. It is hardly surprising that energy efficiency has improved by less than 1% annually in most countries in recent years and is surpassed by energy consumption due to cheap oil.

There is no doubt that we will continue to see climate change in the coming decades. We can slow that down and even reverse this process but we must take action. As I have said before, I cannot fight the oil industry. I cannot fight the federal government. I cannot change the world. But what I can do is address the very way that I live everyday. I can do many things to do my part in living a sustainable life.

So, for this week, I would like for you to think closely about how you live and what you consume. Instead of taking in those everyday conveniences with an attitude of entitlement, think about living on less. Think about bringing your life in line with the 2000 watt society, which is a proven process for courageous climate change.

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Remember always live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Episode Transcript

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 27
The 2000 Watt Society

The 2000 Watt Society: A Proven Process for Courageous Climate Change

It is a proven fact that greenhouse gases trap heat and make our planet warmer. And it is human activity that is responsible for almost all of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years.
In an article published by the EPA titled Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the EPA characterizes the primary sources of carbon emissions in the US, here is how they break it down.

Transportation: The transportation sector is responsible for 29% of US carbon emissions. This means the burning of fossil fuels for cars, trucks, ships, trains, and air planes.

Commercial and Residential: This accounts for about 13% of our carbon emissions resulting from heating our homes and businesses as well as the production of products.

So, this is just the basic highlights of this article. And this accounts for 67% of our greenhouse gas emissions. And if you think about it, we can as individuals by simply modifying our lifestyle, have some personal impact each and every one of these categories

There was a scientist named Svante Arrhenius, that published a seminal paper in 1896 where he clearly expounded on the science of global warming. Now this is a man whose lifetime work spanned nearly 50 years and delved into numerous scientific disciplines. In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for some of his work. Toward the middle of his career he became interested in the role of carbon dioxide in climate control. That was about the time he published his paper.

But, it wasn’t until 2004 that Vice-President Al Gore thrust the topic of global warming into the public arena. Prior to that this topic had been mostly ignored for almost 80 years. So I think this is typical for most of the human race. We get our first warning in 1896. So here we are 125 years later and people are still balking at the concept of global warming and excess carbon emissions.

So, back to the concept of the 2000 watt society. As you can guess this has to do with your total energy consumption. And as I stated above, our transportation, electricity production, commercial and residential activities account for 67% of our energy consumption and carbon gas emissions.
But let me just say this.

In the Spring of 2016, I took an intensive hands on class in solar design and installation. My primary reason for doing so was to design and install my own solar array at the cabin. The other benefits for me was the cost savings in performing the installation myself not to mention gaining a significant understanding of how the system works which helps with trouble shooting when there are problems. Thankfully I’ve had very few.

Such behavior is deeply engrained in consumer cultures and consequently is the driving force behind excessive household energy consumption.
Now whether you believe this or not, there is an urgent need for action on energy efficiency. The latest World Energy Outlook estimates a 45% increase in CO2 emissions from the energy sector by the year 2030. That would essentially cause global temperatures to rise another 6 degrees by the end of the century. That is about 2.2 Deg C. Since the 1970s global temperatures have risen 1.7 Deg C, which is close to what experts say is the critical tipping point. Most experts agree that if global temperatures increase greater than 1.5 to 2 deg C, that we will start observing the obvious results of climate change.

But holy crap, what does that mean? Well, what that means is that once again you cannot sit back and wait for our enormous political system to do something about this. And the simply fact is that most experts agree that global warming will continue throughout the remainder of this century and beyond unless we are able to extract an enormous amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as well as reduce our out put.
Enter stage right, the 2000 watt society.
Now what is this exactly?

The concept of a 2000 watt society is a reference to the amount of energy that we consume every day. And although this concept is really truly quite simple, it does require just a little bit of an explanation.
This concept of a 2000 Watt society was first conceptualized by the Swiss federal Institute of technology in Zurich in 1998. And it was simply a model that is justified by how we consume our energy, as well as our goods and services. This model also takes into account the impact that our consumption has on the environment.

So if you think about this, what the Swiss were trying to do here was to propose this model as a means of addressing climate change and also preventing future conflict over natural resources?
When I first came across this concept, I thought 2000 Watts a day. That's not that much energy, but what is actually means is 2000 Watts per hour per day, which is considered sustainable. And so this translates into a total usage of two kilowatts an hour. So 48 kilowatts per day. But what you have to understand is that this reaches much further than simply your personal energy consumption.

So let's just do a comparison with several different countries. So the people in Bangladesh consume about 300 Watts, South Africans at 500 Watts, India at 1000 Watts, China 1500 Watts, western Europe at 6,000 Watts and the United States at 12,000 watts.
So once again, we are back to the simple fact that the United States comprises 5% of the world population. Yet we produce 40% of the trash. We consume 25% of the resources and we use 20 times more energy than someone living in a developing country. Yet we rank 39th in the world for sustainable practices.

Now you may think at this point that this concept is ridiculous and could never be achieved.
But part of the goal of this concept is not to dramatically change your lifestyle. No one really truly expects anyone to go back to the stone age. But what I really want you to think about is that such things really are possible. And I want to give you an example from my own life.

Now in comparison to average energy usage per month for an American household is 914 kilowatts. So that's a little over 30 kilowatts per day. The average person in the United States uses around 100 gallons of water per day. My 1.6 kilowatt array produces 192 kilowatts per month, and considering about a seventy-five percent efficiency rate, that results in 144 kilowatts of energy every month. This means
That's about 4.8 kilowatts per day for a household of three, I haul in about 600 gallons of water a month, and that is sufficient for all of our needs. So that equals 200 gallons per person per month. So a consumption rate of about 6.7 gallons of water per day. In what this means is that our electricity usage is 84% less than the average American household and our water usage is 94% less than the average household. And not only that, but the electricity and water that we do use comes from renewable resources.
However, I’m going to have to say when I was examining my own lifestyle, I discovered it was really the transportation factor for us that produced our greatest environmental impact.This is because we live fairly isolated and do a lot of commuting. So, I felt compelled to examine this a bit closer to determine our total environmental impact. So here it is:

The gasoline we consume every month for commuting is about the equivalent of 3,800 kilowatts per month.
I am going to estimate about 1000 kilowatts per month for our consumption of food and other products because I don't really have a good way to estimate that.

Additionally, we do use propane for cooking.
So if I throw all of those things in our household consumes a total of about 5,000 kilowatts a month, which comes out to 55.6 kilowatts per person per day.
And under the 2000 watt society model, the average should be 48 kilowatts per day. So really all we have to do is change our commuting habits a little bit more in order for us to come in line with the 2000 Watt model. So, that is what I did. I rearranged some things and I have managed to cut my commuting time by 50 to 60%.

But you know something, I don't use my own lifestyle as an example simply as a means of congratulating myself. I have to point out that I live where I do and how I do simply out of personal choice. And it just so happens that how I live falls within that means, or within that model of the 2000 watt society.
And I also need to point out when I was doing the research for this podcast episode, I really truly started analyzing my own lifestyle. I was able to make some changes and as I said before, I actually reduced my commuting time and expenses by 50%
But I also find it interesting that as I do research for this podcast I continue to learn so much more about the value of sustainability. Consequently, it encourages me to make even further changes in my own life. And the other thing that this research has done for me is that I'm really, truly beginning to understand.

But such an approach to energy efficiency touches every aspect of social, economic, and even political society. Fundamental changes would have to be made in how buildings are constructed, how roads are made, transportation logistics, residential energy usage, and even the very appliances that we use.
But the simple fact is that the necessary technology already exists. We have enough natural resources in the United States to produce 6 times the needed electricity to run this country and it could all come from renewables. We have the know how to build a zero-energy house, to make use of heat pump technology, use bio-gas, low consumption cars, hybrid vehicles, extract CO2 from the atmosphere and so on. But in order to make this happen the necessary political will must also exist.

Now this model of the 2000 watt society does have some limitations. However, it does put a clear figure on what a sustainable lifestyle means for everyone. After all, every human being has the same right to use the resources that the Earth provides. This includes today’s generations as well as future generations. So applying the 2000 watt society model means a more equal world as well as a sustainable one. It means a world of equal energy access.
There is no doubt that we will continue to see climate change in the coming decades. We can slow that down and even reverse this process but we must take action. As I have said before, I cannot fight the oil industry. I cannot fight the federal government. I cannot change the world. But what I can do is address the very way that I live everyday. I can do many things to do my part in living a sustainable life.

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Remember always live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

The 2000 Watt Society: A Proven Process for Courageous Climate Change

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