[Peakoil] ISIS report: "Which Energy?"

[Keith Thomas]

The following are 18 recommendations from the latest report from ISIS 
in London (The Institute of Science in Society)

The URL for the full report is:

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/UK-Energy-Vision.php
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Keith Thomas
www.evfit.com
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1 	Nuclear energy should be ruled out on grounds of safety, world 
security and economics; also because it is a finite, non-renewable 
resource, and it gives energy returns and savings on carbon emissions 
no better than gas-fired heat and power co-generation.
2 	Energy self-sufficiency is the best guarantee of energy security. 
This can be achieved by a diversity of sustainable, renewable energies 
at medium-, small- and micro-generation scales, according to resources 
locally available, so that energy is used at the point of generation, 
saving up to 69 percent of the energy lost through long distance 
transport of electricity from big centralised power plants and the 
associated carbon emissions.
3 	The electricity grid should be restructured for all levels of 
embedded local generation that would enable neighbouring communities to 
supply electricity to one another in times of need (through electronic 
switching devices), thereby maximising stability of electricity supply 
throughout the grid. This distributed network is also the best 
protection against blackouts and terrorist attacks.
4 	Food self-sufficiency should be considered an integral part of 
energy self-sufficiency, as it reduces food miles and ecological 
footprints, saving on both energy and carbon emissions. Food produced 
locally and consumed fresh enhances its quality and nutritional value, 
and improves the health of the nation.
5 	Organic, low input sustainable farming should be encouraged as an 
effective way to reduce fossil-fuel intensive fertiliser and pesticide 
inputs and carbon emissions.
6 	The renewable options adopted must be sustainable. In the present 
context, we define sustainable as being safe for health and 
biodiversity, affordable, ethical, energy efficient, as near as 
possible to ‘zero-emission' and ‘zero-waste'; and above all, does not 
compromise the world's food security.
7 	Two energy-from-waste technologies ideally satisfy the criteria for 
renewables that are sustainable: producing biogas from organic wastes 
(agricultural, municipal and industrial), and using green algae for 
capturing carbon dioxide from the exhaust of power plants coupled with 
biodiesel production.
8 	Solar energy is getting better and more affordable all the time, and 
will be an important small- to micro-generation technology especially 
suited for Third World countries lacking energy infrastructure.
9 	The production of biodiesel from waste cooking oils and other 
industrial food wastes, and diesel from waste plastics that cannot be 
easily recycled into plastics should all be considered.
10 	We do not support energy crops for biofuels, especially not in poor 
Third World countries, unless they can be shown to truly satisfy our 
criteria of sustainability. Biofuels from most existing energy crops 
give poor to negative energy returns and small savings, if any, on 
carbon emissions. They are damaging to the environment and will 
accelerate global warming if primary and secondary forests are 
converted to energy crop plantations, as they are likely to be in Latin 
America. Most of all, they compromise food security in competing for 
land with food crops, and can push up the price of food.
11 	We do not recommend investing in physical and chemical carbon 
capture and storage technologies.
12 	We do not support energy intensive extractive technologies as they 
merely extend our dependence on fossil fuels and divert scarce 
resources away from developing sustainable renewable energy sources.
13 	An integrated food and energy self-sufficient farming system should 
be widely implemented in developing as well as developed countries, as 
a cost effective and sustainable solution to global warming and the 
energy crisis.
14 	Subsidies and tax incentives should be used to support the 
appropriate options, and over a long time scale.
15 	Carbon credits should be extended to include small and medium 
enterprises engaged in carbon savings, such as the production of biogas 
from organic wastes on farms.
16 	Special subsidies and grants for research and development should be 
earmarked for small to medium enterprises, non-government organisations 
and individuals, because these are responsible for most of the 
innovations in renewable energies.
17 	Legislation to promote savings on energy and carbon emissions 
should be put in place and enforced through inspection of buildings, 
for example.
18 	There is an urgent need to remove bureaucratic hurdles from 
individuals, small to medium enterprises, and non-government 
organisations setting up innovative, energy and carbon emissions 
savings projects.
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