China, Renewables, and Our Future

We recently watched the documentary "Deep Green," a film that Portlander Matt Briggs wrote, directed, and starred in, examining how to transform one's life into a more sustainable living system. It was very informative and covered nearly everything we have been discussing in class. Briggs covered everything from cars to coal, going into detail about easy it can be, and increasingly accessible it is, to change a lifestyle into something that uses less energy.
One major aspect of the film was the issue of China and how they are making moves to become more sustainable, even though they currently top the charts in carbon emissions. Coincidentally, National Geographic magazine also issued an article discussing the very same thing in an article titled, "Can China Go Green?" Both "Deep Green" and the National Geographic article said the same things: China is the leader in green-living production. According to the article, written by Bill McKibben, "China now leads the planet in the installation of renewable energy technology -- its turbines catch the most wind, and its factories produce the most solar cells." Even though no other country burns as much coal to fuel its economy, no other country is as dedicated to lowering its carbon footprint.


Another discussion we recently had was the concept of using other countries' renewables. David MacKay in his text "Sustainable Energy -- without the hot air" goes into detail about the issues surrounding this discussion. Is it true that the entire Sahara desert could provide energy for the entire world? What about geothermal energy from places like Iceland? According to MacKay, in order to provide enough solar energy for the world, it would require 1000km x 1000km of heavily maintained desert in the Sahara. The amount of energy cultivated in this space would be enough for the amount we consume today. MacKay makes the point, however, that we should supply more than what we consume, because some consume far more than others and it's much harder to project the amount of energy needed for a more equitable world. MacKay suggests that to supple every person in the world with an average European's power consumption (125kWh/d), the area required would be two 1000km x 1000km squares in the desert" (178).


The issue surrounding the concept of us swooping in and roping off the Sahara desert is the issue of exploitation. Do we have rights to this land? How do we work with the countries there to create a compromise from which everyone benefits? It is hard for me to distinguish colonialism and exploitation, especially when it comes to Africa and its resources. How can we share the resources of the world without exploiting anyone or withholding them from resources that could be rightfully theirs?


I hope we can find an answer to that, sooner than we find the answer to solving the case of global warming.