Principles of Sustainable and Ethical Energy Access and Consumption

Two main aspects need to be considered, with 6 principles each:

Access and consumption for all, now and in the future

1. Energy infrastructure and clean cooking facilities in all areas
2. Access and consumption aligned with climate change mitigation goals
3. Energy prices at reasonable share of minimum income, including indirect costs e.g. resource depletion
4. Energy harvested from renewable sources
5. Energy harvested by processes with little environmental impact, using recyclable materials and techniques
6. Energy not used for unethical purposes

Sustainable and ethical supply chains

1. Safeguarding against natural hazards (floods, earthquakes, space weather)
2. Safeguarding against human hazards (terrorism, hacking, financial market effects)
3. Actively anticipating and solving supply chain bottlenecks; International cooperation on mining rights, land use, and safe transportation
4. Guaranteeing backup availability during emergencies of core services
5. Regular maintenance/replacements in infrastructure, knowledge of techniques, R&D investments
6. Increasing knowledge of best techniques by anticipating needed workforce and skills

To help implement these principles, the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) needs to be calculated justly, including the mining of substances for nuclear reactors and recycling costs; in other words an entire Life Cycle Analysis including the costs of climate impacts.

Japan Geoscience Union - American Geoscience Union Joint Meeting 2017

This Saturday was the first day of the Japan Geoscience Union - American Geoscience Union Joint Meeting 2017, where I was invited to present on the topic of "Sustainable and ethical energy access and consumption" as part of the session "Future Earth - Implementing Integrated Research for Sustainable Future". 

Sustainable and ethical energy access and consumption - legal and ethical principles

Global Reality

Rain does not fall on one roof alone

The chances are high that before reading this post, you used quite a bit of energy today, and this access to energy makes your quality of life beyond decent. Today still 1.2 billion people live their lives without electricity access, and over 2.7 billion people use solid biomass for cooking, leading to health hazards and 3.5 million deaths annually from indoor air pollution. Can you imagine your life under these circumstances?

What is needed and what is considered a basic standard of living adequate for one’s health and well-being differs per culture and state of development. We need to reevaluate on a global scale what energy consumption, transportation, and production patterns reflect a ‘decent’ standard of well-being in order to ensure sustainable energy access for all people, now and in the future.  

A sustainable society is founded on equal access to health care, nutrition, clean water, shelter, education, energy, economic opportunities and employment. In this ideal society, humans live in harmony with their natural environment, conserving resources not only for their own generation, but also for their children’s children. Each citizen enjoys a high quality of life and there is social justice for all. This concept transverses national borders and requires we enable these rights on a global basis.

Sustainable and ethical energy access and consumption - Sustainable Development Goals

Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), #7: 'Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all' is the most relevant to achieving sustainable and ethical energy access and consumption. In total 10 of the 17 SDGs are closely related to this goal. 

Goal #9 shows we need more knowledgeable workers capable of working with renewable technologies. However, even if we reach all of the SDGs, it does not mean we have achieved sustainable and ethical energy access and consumption. For this, some additional concepts need to be adhered to.