Low-Energy Lifestyle: Lessons from Cuba

1
Low-Energy Lifestyle Lessons from Cuba

• Presented
• by
• Pat Murphy,
• Executive Director
• Community Solutions
• Yellow Springs, OH 45387

2
The Problem We Will Run Out of Oil
3
The Possible Decline Could Be Steep!
4
Alternatives Unlikely to Fill the Gap

• Bio-fuels require land and fossil fuel
  fertilizers
• Questionable Energy Return on Energy Invested
  (EROEI)
• World grain stocks at a low point
• Best dam sites are gone
• Wood renewable but in short supply
  deforestation continues
• PV solar and wind turbines most rapidly growing
• Also site-limited
• Wont scale well and are intermediate
• David Pimentel Possibly 40 of oil and gas
• And much more expensive

5
What Is Best Response to Peak Oil/Gas?

• Change the American Way of Life change our
  lifestyle
• Current way of life energy-intensive lifestyle
• New way of life low-energy lifestyle
• Our Way of Life will be negotiable if we run
  out of oil
• Natural resources are finite!

6
Community Solutions Physical/Cultural

• Our goal is small local, low-energy communities
• We think people are happier and life is better
• Small communities are much more energy efficient
• Small community philosophy
• Cooperation is preferred to competition
• Social interaction is preferred to consumer goods
• How does Community help?
• A cultural view satisfied with a low-energy
  lifestyle

7
Taking the First Step

• Describing a low-energy lifestyle
• Defining and explaining the main categories of
  energy use
• Listing low-energy alternatives
• Designing strategies to achieve them

8
Low-Energy Lifestyle Key Points

• More walking/cycling vs. less driving
• We have 10 times more cars per capita than rest
  of world
• Reduced size of meals, houses, cars
• More home economics vs. two parents working
  long hours
• Less mobility people will not move as much for
  jobs
• Live local entertainment vs. electronic national
  entertainment
• Higher quality of life benefit for lower standard
  of living
• Many social indices show declining quality of
  life
• Bowling Alone

9
Low-Energy Lifestyle Considerations

• Contrary to American Way of Life
• A way of consuming only a recent (1950s) way
  of life
• Low energy fits earlier values prudence,
  thriftiness
• A more sustainable way to live
• Consider legacy of
• Nuclear waste, buried CO2 and air CO2, other
  toxins
• More consideration for children and grandchildren
• Avoids betting the world on exotic technology

10
Key Categories of a Low-Energy Lifestyle

• Food
• Transportation
• Housing
• Community zoning and land use
• Others to be considered later
• Education
• Occupations
• Business and economics

11
Food/Energy Changes 1900-2000 (world)

• Cultivated area increased by 1/3
• Harvest of edible crops increased by 6 times
• People per cropland acre increased by 2.7 times
• World population increased by 3.8 times
• Fossil fuels use increased by 150 times!!!
• Green Revolution energy intensive industrial
  agriculture
• Energy at the Crossroads, Vacliv Smil, 2003

12
Problems of Industrial Agriculture

• Industrial food is not safe, healthy, or
  nutritious
• Obesity rates increasing rapidly in U.S.
• Industrial food is not cheap when all costs are
  in
• 10 calories of fossil fuel for every calorie of
  human food
• Industrial agriculture is inefficient wastes
  fuels
• Much of fuel inputs end up in water ways and
  water table
• Industrial agriculture injures the environment
  and wildlife
• Mostly from the wastes of the fossil fuel used
• Almost all agriculture pollutions are fossil fuel
  residues

13
Energy-Intensive vs. Low-Energy Food

• Reduce frozen and packaged foods consumption
• Manufactured groceries will be replaced by local
  production
• Food should be grown locally
• Reduce food shipment distance from 1200 to lt100
  miles
• Organic food will eliminate pesticides,
  herbicides, fertilizers
• Agrarian agriculture rather than industrial
  agriculture
• Tens of millions of new farmers needed (15-25 of
  work force)
• Labor intensive farming better for soil and more
  productive
• Folke Gunther (Sweden) estimates 5-1 energy
  reduction
• Sustainability through Local Self-Sufficiency

14
Other Agriculture Changes

• Move to cooperatives, CSAs, farmers markets,
  organic farms
• Move to animal traction to replace some tractors
• Drying will be by sun and wind, not fuel-based
  machines
• All people will take food and agriculture
  responsibility
• Cannot remain ignorant of energy and health
  issues
• Food growing and nutrition must be part of school
  curriculum

15
Organic vs. Industrial Agriculture

• This is the fundamental choice
• Replace fossil fuels with labor
• Increase diversity

16
Reducing Car Energy by 10 to 1

• Make cars smaller and lighter (from 20 mpg to 80
  mpg)
• Lower frequency of use (from 11,000 to 5,000
  miles per year)
• Drive slower (from 70 mph to 45 mph)
• Give up solitary driving (from 1.3 to 3
  passengers per trip)
• Emphasize public transportation over private cars

17
Future Transportation

• Carpooling and ride-sharing will predominate
• Hitchhiking will become an acceptable norm
• Cell phone technology can help this
• Check Ride-Share communitysolution.org
• Single occupancy vehicles will be a luxury
• Trains will replace planes
• Buses/trolleys/jitneys/bicycles will replace cars
• Speed limits will be reduced

18
Honda Insight

• 64 mpg
• Available since 1999

19
Volkswagen Lupo

• 1999 78 mpg

20
Daimler Chrysler Smart Car

• Its not technology its culture
• 69 mpg

21
Volkswagen Research Model

• Top speed under 70 mph
• 8 horsepower - 235 miles per gallon
• Looks futuristic but simply light and low powered

22
Homes in the Future

• Low-energy, smaller homes will predominate
• Thick shell construction without garages will
  reign
• Houses will be much cheaper to build
• And even cheaper to operate (low utility bills) !
• More co-housing units will be built
• There will be more compact developments on
  smaller plots
• Eco-villages
• Houses will include gardens lawns will shrink
• Root cellars, cisterns and roof rain catchments
  will be used
• Addresses declining water resources

23
Reducing Home Energy by 4 to 1

• Decrease size (from 2400 sq ft to 1000 sq ft)
  1950 size
• Increase wall/roof thickness (from 2x4 walls to
  2x10 walls)
• Change temperature range (from 70 to 60 in
  winter)
• Reduce number/size of windows (from 12 to 6
  floor area)
• Double and triple glazing
• Use flash and solar water heaters/thick
  refrigerators/freezers
• Include heat storage in various ways
• Passive solar
• Rock and water storage

24
Basic Shelter Design Thick Shells

• New insulation technologies huge advance over
  1950s
• New glass also huge advance

25
High Energy House (McMansions)

• 5000-6000 sq. ft.
• 800,000
• Average new home in US 2400 sq. ft.

26
Low Energy Habitat for Humanity

• Less than 1000 sq feet
• 46,000
• Average small home in the world 500 sq ft.

27
Community Structures

• Cities will become smaller
• Average house needs replacement every 60 years
• Small rural towns will grow and flourish
• Lot sizes will shrink clustered zoning will
  appear
• Local and individual energy systems will increase
• Individual house solar panels
• Community wind systems
• Suburbs will change from bedrooms to communities
• A market on every corner again

28
Land Use and Cultural Values

• People will live locally road travel will
  decrease
• Residential and non residential places will not
  be separate
• Advocated in New Urbanism building
• People will live close to their work maybe the
  same building
• Many modes of casual mass transportation will
  appear
• Zoning will be based on energy analysis

29
Cuba Low Energy Lifestyle Example

• Cuba is unique in the world today
• Oil use reduced over 50 in 1990!
• Per capita energy use in Cuba is 1/15th 1/20th
  of U.S. use
• Cuba is changing from an industrial to an
  agrarian society
• Emphasizing biotechnology not genetic
  engineering
• Large number of biological scientists
• Focus is to build human resources through
  education
• Medical and teaching education is a low energy
  process
• Community Service staff visited Cuba three times
  in the last 18 months

30
Cuban History 1990 Present

• Soviet personnel left Cuba in 1991 Soviet Union
  collapsed
• Ended economic subsidies 6 billion annually.
• GDP down 85 in the first 2 years
• Population lost weight (average 20 lbs.) 30
  per capita calorie decline
• Some cases of malnutrition and blindness
• Major decrease in material standard of living

31
The Special Period After Oil Loss

• Cuba abandoned the Soviet Industrial Model
• Changed from industrial/petrochemical farming to
  organic
• Introduced private farms and farmer markets
• Farms are smaller and use animal traction
• Maintained free decentralized medical system
• Used their limited oil resources to generate
  electricity
• Deemphasized private automobile

32
2004 Status

• Economy growing steadily at a slow rate
• Food production up to 90 of pre crisis period
• But nowhere near pre crisis level of energy
  inputs
• Very little new housing mostly remodels
• High energy cost of cement results in short
  supply
• Transportation is still ad hoc (improvised)
• Everybody shares every vehicle
• Medical care and education are above previous
  levels

33
Cuban Food

• Involuntary vegetarianism more energy efficient
• Meat eating went from twice a day to twice a week
• Increased vegetable and viandas (starches)
  consumption
• Increased vegetable sources of protein
• Decreased wheat and rice (Green Revolution)
  production
• Urban gardens produce 50-80 of vegetables in
  cities
• Rural areas improved education for farmers
• Many people moved from Havana to the country
• Wages raised for farmers, who are very well paid!
• Little obesity now due to healthier diet and more
  physical work

34
Raised Beds at Havana Urban Farm

• Designed for hand labor
• Some placed on parking lots

35
The Modernized Agrarian

• This man earns more than an engineer

36
Oxen Replaced Tractors

• The farmer may have gone to agricultural college

37
Rooftop Gardening

• Permaculture Applications

38
Rooftop Food Animals

• Chickens, hamsters, rabbits
• Grows some grasses for animals

39
Urban Gardens

• Downtown Havana

40
Cuban Housing

• Major problem particularly in Havana
• Immigration to Havana is limited
• Increased efforts to develop rural areas
• More sq. ft. per person in rural areas than in
  Havana
• House sizes are small relative to U.S.
• U.S. new house size 2400 sq. ft. 600 sq.ft. per
  person
• Cuba new house size 700 sq. ft. 135 sq.ft. per
  person
• There is a 41 ratio U.S. to Cuba sq.ft. per
  person
• 80 of Cubans own their home

41
Eco Village

• Small but attractive

42
Simple Furnishings

• Kitchen bath utilities are minimal
• Wooden furniture
• Wardrobes few built-ins

43
Cuban Transportation

• Every means possible Camels, dump trucks,
  mules, bikes
• Vehicles heavily utilized
• Occupants per trip 1.2 in U.S., 5-6 in Cuba
• Roads lightly used and poorly maintained
• Hitchhiking is an accepted alternative
• In some cases illegal not to pick up hitchhikers
• Some empty vehicles commandeered by highway
  patrol
• Very inconvenient but very efficient relative to
  energy use

44
The Camel 300 Passengers

• Cheap Cuba mass transportation

45
Provincial Version of Camel

• Each of these units looks different innovation

46
Varied Forms of Transportation

• Horse drawn units like this have taxi licenses

47
Rapid Innovation

• Mass transport appeared immediately using
  existing vehicles
• No time or money for light rail or subways or new
  vehicles
• Simply used whatever was available
• Added incentives to agriculture free market
• Big big change from socialist system
• Many new kinds of business appeared
• Government decreased regulation
• A social transformation more than a technical
  one
• Much of Cubas political philosophy was changed
• Successful because of Cuban cooperative history
• Competition is not the principle social driver
• An example of Community Spirit

48
Medical System Did Not Collapse

• Free medical care remained first priority during
  the crisis
• Vital for the morale of the people
• Cuba has same life span as U.S. lower infant
  mortality
• Has more doctors per capita then U.S. more
  labor intensive
• There is much more effort on prevention
• System could not support fast food life styles
• Doctors live in the neighborhoods they serve
• Informally monitoring local health

49
Summary Cuba Culture/Material Life

• Cuba has best health care, education, and diet in
  third world
• High life expectancy low infant mortality
  rates
• Free education through high school
• Elementary class size of 15 students per class
• Higher education free but limited availability
  lt25
• Social security men retire at 60, women at 55
• Ages will probably increase
• Food supply healthy and adequate but not
  plentiful or rich
• Far fewer material goods cars, houses,
  furniture
• Cuba cannot afford consumerism at any level
• An example of genteel poverty

50
Cuba Low-Energy Community Solution

• Definitely a low-energy lifestyle
• Changed from industrial priority to agrarian
• Huge reductions in energy use for food, transit,
  housing
• Major transformation of the society
• Culture, politics, values
• Not out of the woods yet
• Great stresses on society
• Still using energy to some extent
• Unclear if the soil is yet sustainable
• Social unrest lure of Miami

51
Community Solutions Summary

• Peak oil is coming denial will be short-lived
• It will change our way of life
• Will not be able to live like we are now
• Our task is to educate and model the transition
• Three projects under development
• Energy Information Management System (EMIS)
• Food Information Management System (FMIS)
• Factor Four Model Village Agraria
• One successful model proposed
• Smart Jitney (communitysolution.org)

52
A Personal Example

• Current
• Moved from 1800 sq.ft. to 800 sq.ft.
• Replaced car with Honda Insight 64 mpg
• Raising eggs for neighborhood
• Started garden will add neighbors land in
  spring
• Replaced furnace in house with efficient unit
• Replaced all light bulbs
• Heavy use of bicycles
• Planned
• Build 6 walls on inside of exterior walls
• Design and build window covers

53
Remember Albert Einstein

• We cant solve problems by using the same kind
  of thinking we used when we created them.
• I believe that the horrifying deterioration in
  the ethical conduct of people today stems from
  the mechanization and dehumanization of our lives
  the disastrous by-product of the scientific and
  technical mentality.