DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

1. Do you think we are headed for some form of "collapse" due to lack of energy resources?  What do you think (including how you envision the "collapse" -- if you do) and why?  Back up your answer with references and facts!


To be completely honest, at one point or another, every civilization exhausts its resources, reaches a state of chaos and a subsequent collapse. I strongly believe that if there is no major breakthrough in the energy sector and in case we're not able to find another energy source as reliable and abundant as fossil fuel, in that case we definitely are heading for some form of "collapse". As we go forward, our resources are depleting and population increasing, that results in double the impact.


In an interview with The Economist, Jared Diamond, an American scientist and author said that there's a technical term for all our daily leisures like shopping, driving around, and the term for that is 'overshoot'. We're basically wasting away resources that aren't even enough for our survival in the first place. In 2007 he said that humans were consuming 30% more trees, fish and fossil fuels than the planet can regenerate and that was six years back, our population is growing at a consistant rate since then. This kind of overconsumption can only go on for so long, after a certain period of time, we will run out of our resources and our civilization will collapse.


2.  Dr. Tainter described two points of view in his lecture -- The first is that "allocation of resources to research and development can solve our problems (such as the energy problem)".  The second is that "Innovation reaches diminishing returns" and hence cannot be a solution.  What do you think?  Which is correct?  Why?  Again, support your argument with references and facts.


I strongly agree with the first argument made by Dr. Tainter. Research and development in various fields of our lives, be it energy, technology or design. If we look at our lives and compare it to how we lived 15 years ago, we would see the changes research and development has made in our lives. Its not just the cell phones, its the alternative sources of energy, the invention of Bentleys running on Biofuel or the widely loved Prius that we see all around us today. Now I agree that the overall consumption of energy may have increased in the past few years, but the technological advancements in terms of finding alternate sources of energy cannot be ignored either. I'm personally a very strong believe of Biofuel and believe that it has a bright future with the automotive industry. Apart from that, if we learn how to control nuclear energy better, I believe that our pwer crisis can be solved too

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.