A Roller Coaster Ride Through The Industrial Age And Our Dependence On Fossil Fuels

“It’s all hands on deck” is the clarion call of the Post Carbon Institute in this fast paced 5 min. video, which takes us on a wild ride through the industrial age and our dependence on fossil fuels – culminating in the need for some tough changes to be made:

If we do nothing we will still get to a post carbon future, but it will be bleak. However, if we plan the transition, we can have a world that supports robust communities of healthy, creative people, and ecosystems with millions of other species. One way or another, we’re in for a ride of a lifetime.”

What Is The Solution?

In short, the Post Carbon Institute recommends,

we need to live within Nature’s budget of renewable resources at rates of natural replenishment.”

They further suggest the following:

  • Learn to live without fossil fuels.”
  • “Adapt to the end of economic growth as we’ve known it.”
  • “Support 7 billion humans and stabilize population at a sustainable level.”
  • “Deal with our legacy of environmental destruction.”

Do We Have A Choice?

The Post Carbon Institute makes the following arguments:

  • Alternative energy sources are important, but none can fully replace fossil fuels in the time we have.”
  • “We’ve designed and built our infrastructure for transport of electricity and farming to suit oil, coal and gas. Changing to different energy sources will require us to redesign cities and manufacturing processes.”
  • “We’ll have to rethink some of our cultural values . None of our global problems can be tackled in isolation and many cannot be fully solved.”
  • “We have to prepare for business unusual.”

Source of quotes, image and video : Youtube/300 Years of FOSSIL FUELS in 300 Seconds

The Post Carbon Institute website