Accepting the challenge of innovation to break away from a carbon-intensive economy
Having invented the carbon-driven economy, will mankind be able to "uninvent" it? And will we able to do so before it's too late? That is precisely the challenge before the U.N Conference in Copenhagen. If we are to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and contain the rise in global temperatures to 2°C, we are going to have to move from a carbon- driven economy to a "non-carbon" economy. And if we are really serious about protecting the environment, we must not only stop climate change, but also learn to use fewer natural resources for economic growth, rather than continue our over-generous consumption. We must, in other words, make a three-pronged effort to "decarbonize", "dematerialize" and "dehydrate" our economies.
Decarbonize first of all, in order to gradually phase out oil, gas and coal. But how can we make a huge cut in CO2 emissions while continuing to meet increasing global demand for energy? First and foremost, by using energy more sparingly, secondly by replacing fossil energies with clean energies and finally, if we can't simply stop using "dirty" energies overnight, by at least making them artificially clean by capturing the greenhouse gases they release.
One doesn't have to go very far to find numerous examples of energy conversion and greater energy efficiency. It's one of the core businesses of Veolia Environnement. In Dunkirk, we convert the surplus energy produced by the Arcelor-Mittal steel works into heat for the town's district heating network. In Rouen, the city's transit network has cut its emissions of greenhouse gases by 15% by using biofuels. In Ho Chi Minh City, optimizing the street lighting has reduced energy consumption by 30%. In Zaragoza, an expanse of 32 hectares on the roof of the General Motors plant is covered with solar panels, the world's largest rooftop solar power station. In Limay in France, used cooking oil is converted into biofuels. Pécs, in Hungary, is the site of one of the largest biomass units in Central Europe, providing heat for the country's second largest district heating network. In Alexandria, the capture of biogas from two landfills will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 3 million tons over 10 years.
Secondly dematerialization - so that our economies consume fewer natural resources. How is this to be achieved? By taking a leaf out of nature's book and generalizing the recycling of materials. By transforming industrial and household waste into secondary raw materials like metals, glass, paper and cardboard. Destroying 1 kilogram of waste simply because it has proven impossible to recycle or reuse it will always be a failure.
Finally, dehydration, to reduce abstraction from rivers and groundwater resources. Water will be the resource most affected by climate change and there is enormous potential for improving its productivity. China produces twice the amount of rice per hectare than India with the same amount of water. On the other hand, China consumes six times more water per unit of GDP than South Korea and ten times more than Japan.
There is a common feature to all the techniques referred to above: they all provide local solutions. The 20th century saw the triumph of major infrastructure projects. The 21st century will see, in addition, an increasing number of decentralized facilities serving local communities: solar panels, biomass units, geothermal installations, heat recovery systems, waste sorting and recycling centers and factories using recycled wastewater. It is these "local energies", "local materials" and "local water" that will enable us to cut CO2 emissions, use fewer materials and less water.
Whatever the outcome of the Copenhagen conference, we shall not be able to win the difficult battle to stop climate change without radical innovation in the use of energy - and therefore without substantial investment in research. Current technologies, however good, can only take us so far. To mitigate climate change, "the collateral damage" of economic progress, major innovation will be necessary.
How can we wean our economies off a steady diet of carbon without major changes in modes of production? How can we break with "business as usual" by keeping our familiar technologies? Without innovation, we shall not be able to overcome the dilemma of growth and pollution or stagnation and environmental protection. Without a quantum leap in technologies, the fight against global warming will be a lost cause. The green economy must be an innovative economy, or it will wither and die.
Against this background, the current financial crisis reminds us that there is a win/win strategy that we must seize with open hands; on the one hand, stimulate and strengthen our economies by massive capital spending, on the other, protect the environment by directing a major share of the investment in that direction. The stimulus measures that many countries are implementing, the major national loan that France is poised to launch could be a magnificent opportunity to speed up the move towards a green economy.
The fight against global warming will be won or lost in our cities, these islands of heat that devour vast quantities of energy. Half of mankind already lives in cities and, by 2050, the figure will have risen to three quarters. The climate challenge is too crucial to mismanage urban services. What is the point of energy efficient technologies if they are not properly operated? Badly designed or badly managed buildings, cooling systems or transit networks can become monuments to wasted energy. Properly operated, they can save energy. If they are not placed in expert hands, the most promising technologies can turn out to be a flop.
It's by rising to this industrial challenge that we shall be able to solve the paradox of "doing more with less". It is by encouraging human ingenuity that we shall produce more goods and services with less energy, fewer natural resources and a lesser environmental impact. It is through innovation that we shall make the economy economical again.
Antoine Frérot
CEO of Veolia Environnement
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