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GEOG 346: Day 5

GEOG 346: Day 5. Catching Up: Peak Oil, Green Design, and Food Security. Source : www.theoildrum.com/node/3091. Housekeeping Items. Thanks to Doug and Sarah for stepping in ! What did you think of the film?

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GEOG 346: Day 5

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  1. GEOG 346: Day 5 Catching Up: Peak Oil, Green Design, and Food Security Source: www.theoildrum.com/node/3091

  2. Housekeeping Items • Thanks to Doug and Sarah for stepping in! What did you think of the film? • I need to get the information on field trip dates so I can book drivers and cancel buses not needed ASAP. • The web site has been updated, including assignment instructions, except for today’s slides (later today). • Just a reminder that the due date for project outlines is 2/4, not 1/30. • I have some information about the waterfront plan and about site access, if anyone wants to follow up. • Tomorrow Social Science is hosting a welcome back pizza social in Building 355, Room 211 from noon to 2. • The Career Day event for Geography is next Wednesday (29th) from 10:00 to 11:00 in Room 217.

  3. Sweden produces 6 tons of carbon per capita per year in comparison to the U.S., which produces 20 tons.

  4. Climate Change is Related to fossil fuel combustion “High-profile Canadians sign on to Neil Young’s anti-oil-sands campaign” CALGARY — The Canadian Press Published Monday, Jan. 20 2014, 5:23 PM EST Last updated Monday, Jan. 20 2014, 5:27 PM EST • Despite Canada’s hell-bent efforts to increase domestic production through the tar sands, peak oil is a reality. If the production of oil hasn’t already peaked, it will soon. This will have enormous consequences for our economy and for Western ‘civilization’, especially cities. • In addition to the recommended readings, other relevant writings are The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler, The Oil Depletion Protocol (and others) by Richard Heinberg, and Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization by Jeff Rubin.

  5. Peak oil • Newman, et al. define peak oil as “the maximum rate of the production of the oil in any area under consideration, recognizing that it is a finite natural resource, subject to depletion.” Pretty much everyone – even the oil companies – agree that peak oil has either happened or is about to.

  6. Peak oil • Despite considerable gains in efficiency, our whole economy is based on conventional oil. According to Richard Miller, exploration manager for BP, “there isn’t anything conceivable that could replace [it],” although oil companies are doing what they can with bitumen, shale, and deep sea oil The implications for cities and urban regions are enormous, as we have become dependent on the transportation sector to bring food and other products to our doorsteps, and so many of the products we use in daily life are made from oil.

  7. Peak oil • Newman et al. suggest that we need to reduce driving by 25-50%, trucking and aviation by 25-50%, and energy consumption in buildings by 25-50%. In the past, improvements in energy efficiency enabled people to consume more at a cheaper price, so it did not lead to reductions in consumption.

  8. Energy efficiency in buildings Source: Wikipedia • The Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) consumes as much energy as a city of 1 million people in India. • Despite arguments to the contrary, high rises are not the most energy and ecologically efficient structures (see Condon). • In North America we have Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (both at the individual building and neighbourhood scales). In Germany, they have the far more revolutionary passivhaus design. These are often greenhouse gas-neutral and require little or no external energy.

  9. Peak Oil • What kinds of things can be done by cities to address peak oil? A useful resource is http://www.energybulletin.net/. • Inspired by the work of Portland, Hamilton (Ontario) has created a policy framework, but many feel it hasn’t gone far enough. For information on Portland’s work, see http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=videos+on+Portland's+Peak+Oil+Task+Force&docid=1466716915149&mid=515C5CE5BABFE588CCBD515C5CE5BABFE588CCBD&FORM=VIRE2#.

  10. Food security: another dimension of peak oil • Vancouver Island, to take one example, has gone from 80% self-sufficient to providing about 6% of its own food. What happens when the transport trucks and ferries can’t bring the food in, or when climate change disables areas like the Central Valley of California? (For more on this issue, see the film “Island on the Edge.”) • The World Health Organization has defined food security as “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” Thus, it has numerous dimensions. What can cities and regions do to address food security?

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