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<div dir="ltr"><div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white">An excellent article that qualifies and quantifies a seldom discussed part of the contemporary energy challenge: </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white"> <b style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; ">http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/10/the-energy-trap/</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white"><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; "><br></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white">which implicitly raises the question as to whether society will have the sociopolitical will to endure short-term pain for long-term gain with respect to the impending energy transition away from nonrenewables. On the face of it, this choice seems substantially better than the alternative, i.e., serial short-term deferrals (that is to say, repeatedly not having the political or social will to endure short-term energy sacrifices in favour of long-term stability) followed by long-term pain, yet, ironically, no modern society has yet demonstrated the discipline to pull it off.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white"><b><br></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:.2pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-outline-level:1;background:white">As the author explains:</p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; "><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><br></span></div><div><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">The invisible hand of
the market will slap us silly demanding a new energy infrastructure based on
non-fossil solutions. But here’s the rub. <b>The construction of that shiny new
infrastructure requires not just money, but…</b></span><b style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">energy</b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">. And that’s </span><b style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">the
very commodity in short supply</b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">. Will we </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">really</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "> be willing to
sacrifice </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">additional</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><i> energy in the short term—effectively steepening the
decline—for a long-term energy plan?</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; ">Please note that this is not a screed arguing in favour of doing little or maintaining business as usual - the author is very clear about the importance of developing a <font color="#ff0000"><b>long-term energy plan</b></font> and moving towards a <font color="#00b050"><b>regenerative economy</b></font> but he does raise some proactive questions that I think few have considered, much less tried to answer, thusfar.</span></div></span></div>
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