What's it all about? The 2000watt society
How can we save the climate? And what energy consumption per capita would allow for a sustainable way of living? Professor Kevan Martin will discuss the concept of the 2000 Watt Society, something that recently featured also in Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Ministry of the Future".
In 1998 the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) proposed a provocative and challenging idea: the primary energy consumption of everyone in Switzerland could be reduced to 2000 watts per person per hour without negatively impacting their quality of life. In a referendum in 2008, 76% voted to make Zürich a 2000watt society by 2050, which would mean reducing the primary energy consumption by two-thirds. Is this remotely possible given that historically GDP and energy consumption scale linearly? And how does one go about this? Discuss.
Date: 7 June 2022, 18:00 (Tuesday, 7th week, Trinity 2022)
Venue: Wolfson College, Linton Road OX2 6UD
Venue Details: Leonard Wolfson Auditorium
Speaker: Professor Kevan Martin (ETH, Zurich)
Organising department: Wolfson College
Organiser contact email address: earthemergencycluster@wolfson.ox.ac.uk
Host: Moritz Riede (University of Oxford)
Part of: Earth Emergency Cluster Events
Booking required?: Recommended
Booking url: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/whats-it-all-about-the-2000watt-society-tickets-355109210207
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Moritz Riede