ESM 595 M Resource Productivity

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ESM 595 MResource Productivity

• January 23, 2008
• Factor Five

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A Convenient Truth Increasing Wealth and
Reducing Resource Use
Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker Charlie
Hargroves Michael Smith
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Ernst von Weizsäcker is Dean of the Donald Bren
School of Environmental Science and
Management, University of California Santa
Barbara USA
Karlson Charlie Hargroves is Executive Director
of, and Michael Smith is Research Director
for The Natural Edge Project, hosted by
Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
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Ernst von Weizsäcker has been co-author with
Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins of Factor Four
Doublind Wealth, Halving Resource Use Earthscan,
London, 1997, translated into 12 more languages
Karlson Charlie Hargroves and Michael H. Smith
have been the editors of The Natural Advantage of
Nations Earthscan, London, 2005
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Factor 5 Table of Contents Preliminaries Intro
Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel Part One
Why Factor Five? Part Two Sixty Examples Part
Three Making it Happen Part Four
Transformational Ideas References Index
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Factor 5 Table of Contents Preliminaries Intro
Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel Part One
Why Factor Five? Part Two Sixty Examples Part
Three Making it Happen Part Four
Transformational Ideas References Index
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Part One Why Factor Five? Chapter 1 Challenges
and Answers Chapter 2 An Idea whose time has
come, Sustainability
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Part Two Sixty Examples Chapter 3 Energy (ca
15) Chapter 4 Materials (ca 15) Chapter 5
Transport (ca 10) Chapter 6 Nexus gains (ca
10) Chapter 7 Whole system productivity (ca 10)
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Part Three Making It Happen Chapter 8 Options
for improving resource productivity Chapter 9
The economics of productivity Chapter 10
Government, the visible hand Lessons from the
last 30 years Chapter 11 Markets, the invisible
hand
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Part Four Transformational Ideas Chapter 12
Make resource prices rise with productivity
gains Chapter 13 Balancing the roles of
markets and the state Chapter 14 Sufficiency
in a civilized world
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• Part One Introduction
• Chapter 1 Challenges and Answers
• -  Climate and biodiversity challenges
• - The social challenge Bringing developing
  countries on board
• -   Factor Four Doubling Wealth, Halving
  Resource Use
• -    Factor Five this Time A convenient truth
• -    Efficiency and Productivity
• - Renewable Sources of Energy
• -    Public Goods in a Market Dominated World
• -   Insatiable consumption may outpace
  improvements (the rebound effect)
• - Low Impact Affluence and Sufficiency in a
  Market Economy

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• Chapter 2 An idea whose time has come
  Sustainability
• -   The Policy agenda 2010-2030
• -  Cycles or waves of innovation in the
  industrial economy, sustainable development as
  the next wave
• -    Does the current wave support this new
  cycle? (End of Pipe Story)
• -     Beyond the Kuznets Curve of pollution
• -  The Promise of Resource Productivity - New
  Frontiers, Whole Systems Design, Biomimetic
  Design, Green Chemistry and Engineering
• -  A Whole Systems Approach to Productivity
  Improvement
• -     The role of National Systems of Innovation

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• Part Two Sixty Examples
• Chapter 3 Energy
• -  Photovoltaics at 48 Volts Direct Current
• - Let waves and electrons travel
  Video-Conferences, e-mail and advanced
  communications
• -  Steel mill energy assessment Weirton Steel
• -  Bagepalli CDM biogas project
• - Renewables and Efficiency in Developing
  Countries
• -  Philippines Two-Stroke Motor Retrofit Project
• -  Popularisation of Clean Energy in Rizhao,
  China
• -   PGEs data centers
• -   Fans, impellers, pumps and motor systems
• -   CSIROs rotating arc mixer (RAM)
• - Co-Generation (Combined Heat and Power
  Systems)
• -    Commercial Refrigeration (Supermarkets etc)

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• Chapter 3 Energy (continued)
• -  low-energy input food
• -   Excel dryers
• -    Communications chips
• -    Reno Post Office (energy)
• -    Ayers Rock Resort
• -     The Solar House
• -     Lighting LED beats CFL
• -     Frontiers of Air-Conditioning

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• Chapter 4 Materials
• -   Green Computer Design
• -    Southern California Gas Company
• -    The Service Sector (Tourism. Education etc)
• -    Low Temperature Biomimetic Materials Design
• -    Factor 5 of the Non CO2 Greenhouse Gases
• -     Waste Separation UR-3R
• -     Recycling of Rubber Tyres
• -     Indirect-Fired Kiln for Aluminium
  Recycling
• -     Ausmelt Assisting metals recycling
  capacity
• -     Electronic Books and Catalogues
• -     Steel vs Concrete vs Timber
• -     Sustainably Managed Plantation Timber

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• Chapter 4 Materials (continued)
• -  Wide Span, Heavy Duty Wood Construction
• -  Wood in Home Building
• -   Retrofitting Buildings versus Demolition
• -  Reducing Material Flows in Industry
• - Cradle to Cradle, Remanufacturing, Lean
  Thinking.
• -   Recycling Bottles, Cans and Large Containers
• -   Drip Irrigation Partial Root Dry Zone
  Techniques
• -   Perennial Agriculture (water and
  agriculture)
• - Water harvesting (India)
• -   Multiple water use (Rhine water)

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• Chapter 5 Transport
• -  Improving the Capacity of Existing Railways
• - Pendoliono and CyberTran
• -  Curitiba and Bogotá -         
• - Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (low emission
  vehicle)
• - Hypercar
• -   Mexican officials to bike to work
• -   Car Sharing and Car Pools
• -   Car Free Mobility
• -   Getting the Village Feeling in the City
• -   Local Food to Reduce Nonsensical Transport

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• Chapter 6 Nexus Gains
• -  Staber Washer
• -   Domestic Solar Hot Water Systems
• -   Water Use in Manufacturing
• -   Cotton Production and Less Water
• -  The Services of Washing and Vertical
  Transformation in Building
• - Californias energy-water nexus
• -    Embodied Energy of Building Materials
• -    CH2 Building
• -    Davis House, CA
• -    Server Design RLX
• - Biowater BiolytixTM
• - BASFs integrated chemical plant in Nanjing

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• Chapter 7 Whole Systems
• - Appliances as integrated systems-  
• - The Kalundborg (Denmark) industrial
  complex    
• - Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Village
• -  Dairy Processing -         
• - Berrybank Farm Piggery
• -  Supply loop strategies Metals recycling and
  reuse
• -- Cairns Crocodile Farm and Mulgrave Central
  Mill
• -  Queensland Nickel Refinery
• -  Hammarby Sjöstad- The Sustainable City
• - Dongtan, China, the new green city

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• Part Three Making It Happen
• Chapter 8 Options for improving resource
  productivity
• -     Efficiency
• -     Substitution, Leasing and Pooling
• -     Closing Loops and Metabolisms
• -     Retrofit and Upgrading
• -     Designing for Sustainability
• I am not sure about the need for this chapter!

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• Chapter 9 The Economics of Productivity
• -  The Techno-Optimist Perspective
• - Productivity Thresholds Efficiency and
  Effectiveness
• -   The Productivity Correction
• -   A Dual Track Approach From low hanging fruit
  to system redesign
• -   Knowing how far and how fast the
  Sustainability Strategy
• -  Maximising benefit across the organisation
  (The Sustainability Helix)
• Has to be redone, I believe

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• Chapter 10 Government, the visible hand Lessons
  from the last 30 years
• - Government leadership to decouple environmental
  impacts from economic growth (Chinese 11th Five
  Year Plan, Singapore Sustainability Plan, Western
  Australian State Sustainability Strategy, The
  Japanese Top Runner Program, phasing out
  incandescent lamps)
• -    Impacts of CAFÉ Standards, Building Codes,
  and Best Available Technology Legislation

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• Chapter 11 Markets, the invisible hand
• -  Market based instruments efficient
  allocations of resources
• -   Green taxes
• -   Feebates, Feed-in Tariffs, Waster Water
  Charges
• - Tradable Permits, Pollution Trading and
  Financial Market Instruments
• - Tax advantages for green pension funds
  (Netherlands)

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• Part IV Transformational Ideas
• Chapter 12 Make resource prices rise with
  productivity gains
• Two centuries of falling resource prices
• Let prices speak
• -  History of ecotaxes
• -  The dilemma of short term instruments
• -  The poor, the blue collar workers, the
  investors, the fiscal conservatives
• -  The paradigm of the twentyfold increase of
  labour productivity
• - Make energy and resource prices rise with
  productivity gains
• - Externalities can justify increasing energy
  prices
• - Long term price elasticity
• - Politcs and psychology

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Chapter 13 Balancing the roles of Market and
State - Communism collapsed as it wouldnt let
prices tell the economic truth, Capitalism may
collapse if prices dont tell the ecological
truth - The Political Geometry 1950 1990
Socialism vs. Capitalism - The Political
Geometry after 1990 Pure Market Economy and its
Disconten - Privatization and Liberalization,
often at the expense of the environment and the
poor - Civil Society as a balancing third player
between markets and states
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Chapter 14 Sufficiency in a Civilized
World - Insatiable consumption will outpace
efficiency gains -  Fasting can be a cure -  What
is the characteristic of high civilizations? -  Ev
erybodys need versus everybodys greed