Jun 16, 2008
Solving Sustainability: More Speed, Less Haste
The biggest challenge is not the technology, but in changing peoples’ habits.
(Julia Hailes)
Former BT futurologist Ian Pearson recently joined a futures consultancy with a bang when he put out the provocative report Achieving CO2 reductions in the UK by using technology instead of muddled thinking.
The report suggests, among other things, that the rush to save the world from dwindling energy reserves, global warming etc. is forcing policy makers and other stakeholders to make poor decisions.
Sustainability consultant and author Julia Hailes MBE kindly agreed to put Ian on the spot in this quickfire conversation to discuss Ian’s analysis. As expected, the two don’t agree on much, but there is some common ground.
STARRING
- Ian Pearson, Futurizon, personal website and blog
- Julia Hailes MBE, Sustainability consultant, and author, The New Green Consumer Guide
Listen to other podcasts featuring Ian and Julia.
Timeline [32:08]
00:00 Intro.
00:55 Ian: We shouldn’t be rushing in to solve Climate change. Waiting for future technology can help to better solve the problem.
01:55 Julia: The more we do sooner…the better it’s going to be. Not convinced that technology is the answer.
03:11 Ian: Rushing generates a negative impact (eg. wind power case study).
04:05 Julia: Wind turbine early adopters started to become more aware of their energy usage and reduced consumption as a result.
04:50 Ian: Better to capitalise on peoples’ emotional commitment when technology/things do work.
05:27 Ian: Landfill and recycling policies need to be thought through much better (danger of alienating tax payers).
07:12 Julia: UK suffers from different recycling policies throughout country. Need for more centralised thinking (causes issues when advising supermarkets).
08:10 Ian: Centralised thinking is a boon for scientific approaches.
08:30 Julia: Futurizon report does not cover packaging sufficiently (P&G detergents spend disproportionate amount of time worrying about packaging).
09:41 Ian: Better for brands to be seen to be doing something.
10:19 Julia: Report in danger of being in a fantasy world (eg. shooting nuclear waste into space, diluting Uranium a better idea!).
10:36 Ian: Believe this will be do-able in the future (via space elevator).
12:00 Julia: Against nuclear power because it offers a poor return. Other technologies are more cost effective (wave, tidal, solar power), yet receive a fraction of the investment.
13:18 Ian: Agree. Nuclear has probably reached the end of its use by date as solar power prices could match conventional power by 2016/17.
14:31 Julia: More sensitive solar film being developed. Challenge is to manufacture in scale.
14:59 Ian: Oil companies have a vested interest in pushing technologies that can scale.
15:41 Julia: Bio fuels – a red herring as not a practical alternative to oil.
16:21 Ian: Agree. An example of scoring quick political points without adequately thinking through the solution.
18:20 Ian: Suggestion – creating carbon reefs with plastic waste.
19:06 Julia: Prefer glass to plastic.
20:07 Ian: Transport idea – apply Internet protocol/packet systems to the road to maximise use with electronically driven ‘pods’ (road trains).
22:54 Julia: Would be a challenge to use in rural areas.
23:17 Ian: EU initiatives are already in progress to automate highways. Also a social solution.
25:03 Julia: The fact that people can be tracked may raise privacy issues.
25:23 Ian: “Privacy issues are being eroded whether we like it or not.”
26:30 Julia: Disagree with Ian that people should not be encouraged to reduce consumption, e.g. reduce air travel.
27:06 Ian: Soon planes may be able to run on batteries, thereby assuaging the CO2 concerns of air travel. Plus, air travel is a small CO2 contributor and contributes alot via taxes.
28:48 Julia: Report makes some big assumptions and is overly optimistic. Energy rationing is the status quo.
29:31 Ian: While there is a strong case for reducing demand in the short term, long term needs will be more than satisfied with new technologies.
30:21 Julia: Not as optimistic as Ian.
30:47 Ian: Closing comment.
Notable Mentions
Air travel.
Big brother.
Biofuels.
Biogas.
Climate change.
Nucleur power.
Privacy.
Solar farms.
Solar power.
Superconductivity.
Sustainability.
Transport.
Wave power.
Thanks to freelance media and marketing journalist Jo Bowman for the use of her dulcet tones for the outro
Music Theatrimus from the PMN
Series:AdTalk
Series:MarketingTalk
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