The business leader's guide to the low carbon economy

Energy secretary Chris Huhne, in this government’s first annual energy statement, spelt out today how he thinks the low carbon economy will pan out over the next few years. Perhaps the most significant phrase for business in his statement is this:

Like the other industrial revolutions, the low-carbon revolution will be driven by entrepreneurs, the private sector, local communities, individuals, businesses, scientists and engineers – not by government.

Nevertheless Huhne acknowledges that government has a role to play:

However, industry needs stable policy and functioning markets. The role of government is to provide the policy framework and to act as a catalyst for private sector investment… we need to apply those principles to the challenge of changing fundamentally the way we produce and consume energy.

Click here for Chris Huhne’s full statement

Click here for Chris Huhne on You Tube

In 1965 the world produced about a million tonnes of cereal, which went a long way towards feeding the then world population of about 3.3 billion. By 2010 the population had doubled to 6.7 billion but the amount of land harvested remained the same. However, this same acreage of land was now producing over two million tonnes of cereal. How come?

All sorts of things have changed in agriculture since 1965 – more mechanisation, better pesticides, selective breeding of higher yield cereals, but the biggest single difference between 1965 and now is the intensive use of nitrogen based fertiliser. And where does this come from? Fossil fuels.

It’s predicted that the world population will peak out at around 9 billion in about 2050. In order to feed this many people we’ll need a lot more fossil fuel based fertiliser. If this isn’t available we really only have two choices. One is to return to organic, fertiliser free farming. As organic farming produces around half the yield of intensively fertilised farming, we’d need to double the amount of land available. Alternatively, we could make more use of genetically modified crops to produce higher yields with less fertiliser. Whichever way you look at it, food is a fossil fuel problem.

A 1.5 tonne aeroplane, the Solar Impulse, has just set a new world record for the highest and longest flight by a solar powered aircraft. It landed near Bern, Switzerland, this morning, after flying for 26 hours and reaching 8,700m. Charging on board lithium ion batteries from sunlight in the day enabled it to stay aloft during the night, so in theory a solar powered plane could stay in the air indefinitely. The team’s next goal is to fly non stop around the world, probably in 2013.

The technology of photvoltaics will have to come a long way before there is any commercial application to flight. Viable alternatives to fossil fuels already exist for trains, motor vehicles and ships, but so far aircraft rely entirely on petroleum. Anyone who can come up with an alternative, non CO2 emitting means of powering an aircraft is going to become very rich indeed.