Energy Conservation

Introduction

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, energy conservation means different things to different people. Viewed as a matter of how much energy it takes to run an economy, often referred to as a society's energy intensity, energy conservation has been with us since the middle of the 20th century. Experts have been warning the public about the looming ecological disaster and emphasizing upon the need for changing their lifestyles as a real means of transforming the unsustainable culture (Michael, pp.87). “Radical Simplicity” is one of the finest works of Jim Merkel that establishes the concept of personal sustainability goal, and then presents a process to evaluate the progress to a lifestyle, which ensure equity amongst all individuals, species, and generations. The book indicates towards the three major threats that the present world faces, termed as the “Triple crisis of Civilization” (Merkel, pp. 56).

This paper is aimed at discussing the idea of the Triple Crisis of Civilization, presenting a brief description of the related theories and other aspects. The study then presents a detailed analysis of the concept of Energy Conservation in the context of these theories.

Discussion

Triple crisis of Civilization

The “Triple crisis of Civilization” refers to the three most commonly identified forces that pose a threat to the sustainability of the planet earth. These are defined as follows.

Economic and Financial Crisis

The global economy today is a broken economy. The gross liabilities of the financial sector have been rising steadily over the past few decades, reaching incredible heights leading to the most severe economic crisis in recent times. Because the financial and banking communities in the global economy are closely interconnected, the financial crisis has been spreading beyond the borders, from one economy to another (Michael, pp.87).

To make matters worse, the global Economic crisis deepened further in the last two years as a result of the hike in oil prices in world markets. The rise of oil prices generated inflation shrank the purchasing power of consumers, slowed production and increased unemployment, causing more havoc on an economy already heavily indebted.

Today, the world is experiencing a new phenomenon called the "Peak Globalization". Beyond this point, inflation creates a wall that prevents the growth of the economy, making it back to zero growth. The contraction of the economy leads to a fall in energy prices as a result of lower energy consumption (Richard, pp.54).

Oil Crisis

The year 1979 was the peak of world oil per capita, according to several studies. Known by many as the "peak global oil production," it refers to the time that has consumed half the world's oil. Geologists say that peak oil production is likely to occur between 2010 and 2035. However, peak oil per capita is the reason why the peak of globalization was long before the peak of world oil production.

After 1979, the amount of oil available per capita began to decline. Although more oil reserves were found later, population growth means that if the oil was distributed equally among all people, each would receive ...