2,000-Watt Society

Some people think that we in the west just consume too much stuff, that we are far too stuff orientated and would do better to retreat to a simpler, less cluttered life.

Other people worry that the world is warming up, that bad things will result if we do not stop pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. One way to slow this down is to stop burning so much fossil fuel.

Other people still worry that the world is running out of energy, in particular the sort which comes from fossil fuel, in which event life as we know it will grind to a halt. Again, one way to slow this down is to stop burning so much fossil fuel.

Since I tend to be in at least one of these camps at any one time, I was interested to come across the 2,000-Watt Society in the pages of a recent NYRB. It seems that the Swiss have come up with the idea that whereas now we in the west consume energy at the rate of say 5,000 watts (one five bar electric fire on day and night, for those old enough to remember such things) and many in the east consume 500, it would be a good thing and a lot fairer if we all consumed around 2,000. They then went on to ponder how one might achieve this.

One way was to be old, to live quietly in a modern retirement home without TV, telephone or computer, not to do much and when one does do something to use public transport. Then one just about slides under the bar.

In the short run the Swiss are very keen on bicycles, buses and double glazing. But at least they are trying.

There is also the thought that all the energy that is poured into people has to come out again. If only one could capture it all on the way out, the problem would vanish. But while double glazing of houses works OK, how does one double glaze a car?

In the longer run I suppose one might try to get people to relocate to the temperate regions which are never either too hot or too cold, both of which imply excessive energy consumption. Which includes all those millions of people in the northern or the high parts of North America which are apt to get very cold in the winter. They could, I suppose, be given the option of reversion to an aboriginal style of life. Near raw seal meat swimming about in luke warm water and all that sort of thing.

Part of the NYRB article was about how most people in the west (that is to say everyone other than those good-thinking people reading the article) think that we can solve the problem without doing anything nasty like actually cutting our energy consumption in a serious way, which would clearly be very unpopular and be unlikely to attract voters. Instead they dream on about solar power, wind power and fusion.

Poking fun at eco-people aside, I do think the 2,000 watt people have a point. Trying to cut consumption does seem to me to be a good thing, something which should definitely be pursued in parallel with solar power and so on and so forth.

PS: in the US they score a very unhelpful, if not unhealthy, 12,000 watts.

Reference 1: https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/2000-watt-society. Two interesting pdf's at the end.