Richard Heinberg on “Peak Everything”

Richard Heinberg, a Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute, knows that energy-from-oil is connected to everything else that we do.  That is why we are facing a monumental change in our economy within the next few years.   And we are not prepared in the least. What can we expect?  Here's…

Continue ReadingRichard Heinberg on “Peak Everything”

Proactive architects fight CO2 levels

Last week, at Washington University, I attended a lecture by architect Edward Mazria, who speaks nationally and internationally on the subject of climate change and architecture.  Mazria’s organization, Architecture2030 is dedicated to “slowing the growth rate of greenhouse gas emissions and then reversing it over the next ten years.”  His proposals are getting lots of attention among architects.

As he states at his website, it is imperative that we deal seriously with CO2.  It will

require immediate action and a concerted global effort. As Architecture 2030 has shown, buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases. Stabilizing emissions in this sector and then reversing them to acceptable levels is key to keeping global warming to approximately a degree centigrade (°C) above today’s level.

Mazria began his talk with a PowerPoint presentation that largely paralleled Al Gore’s presentation in “An Inconvenient Truth.”   Here’s how he sizes things up currently

Two profound, life changing events are converging to create the most significant crisis of modern time— the warming of the earth’s atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, and the rapid depletion of global petroleum and natural gas reserves. As these events intensify over the coming years, they will dramatically change how we live and how we relate to the natural world.

Here’s how Architecture2030 illustrates the warming of the earth (see the Architecture2030 site for better resolution):

 CO2-Temperature.gif

As you can see, CO2 levels (the upper blue line) have never been as high as they …

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Continue ReadingProactive architects fight CO2 levels