Energy - Joining The Dots

After building-integrated energy systems and carbon intensities, should we in building services engineering consider the wider resource outlook and the efficiencies in the global energy system ? Feedback from earlier events suggests that this is a very important issue to CIBSE Members; so we have arranged an evening of presentation and challenging debate around the issues of Resource Depletion and Energy Return on Energy Invested (Energy Profit). Economic and social aspects will also be considered.

 

To give a flavour of the event and to prime your own views, we have these different outlooks for the evening and the debate:

 

For

Faced with resource depletion and deteriorating outlooks from climate change science, time is short. The UK should disregard the financial crisis and accelerate investment in renewable energy and encourage energy efficiency through a reduction in VAT. Government should re-plan our economy to reduce fossil fuel vulnerabilities and change consumer behaviour. As engineers, we should change the way we design and operate buildings to anticipate ever-increasing costs and constraints involving energy and resources, a future of lower mobility, lower consumption and greater social co-operation.    

Against

The financial crisis and the need to restore growth in the UK economy must take immediate priority over renewable energy investment. Our economy and the way we design and operate buildings can be based upon long-established confidence that the market and technology will reliably deliver affordable, secure oil, gas and electricity supplies for the foreseeable future – just as they always have. Accordingly, renewable energy and energy efficiency need to be developed through a combination of technology, financial instruments and markets, aiming reduce carbon emissions towards 2050 targets but achieving this always at the least cost.

 

Bio

Chris Jones is a Fellow of the Energy Institute, Member of CIBSE, Chartered Environmentalist and Incorporated Engineer. He has followed the issue of Resource Depletion since 2000, been interviewed for BBC Radio 4 and written for CIBSE Journal. Chris has supported awareness-raising for two Transition Towns and on the subject of Peak Oil and the Energy Challenge addressed several CIBSE regions, the Energy Institute Oil Depletion Conference, IIE, CQI and CMI regions.