High Energy, Low Pollution. Why we must bring forward the Actinide Age

I'm from Brisbane, Australia and I'm currently visiting India as part of a yoga course. The reason I'm ing you, to be honest, is because I'm scared. Scared of what lies ahead for the future of our planet. I knew when visiting India that I would suffer some form of culture shock but in no way was I prepared for the air pollution. There is no escaping it forming a cloud over the entire country and out to sea. It is virtually a waste land. Callum, 18 March 2013

Why?

As of 2009, majority of Indians still use traditional fuels such as dried cow dung, agricultural wastes, and firewood as cooking fuel. (Atamand et al 2009)

Source: United Nations Population Division; World Bank (World Development Indictors)

Today’s horror… In 2012 Household air pollution: 4.3 million deaths (cooking smoke) Ambient air pollution: 3.7 million deaths The world’s “single highest health risk” (World Health Organisation 2014)

… and tomorrow’s hazard Source: IPCC WGIII AR5 2014

“Global temperature increases of ~4°C or more above late-20th-century levels, combined with increasing food demand, would pose large risks to food security globally and regionally” (high confidence). Source: IPCC WGII AR5 2014

HIGH ENERGY LOW POLLUTION DECARBONISED

Source: World Energy Council 2013 (conversion factors)

“Ash from the burnt biomass is assumed to be returned to the agricultural land to avoid long-term nutrient depletion of the soils on which the crops are grown”. (Turner, Elliston et al. 2013)

“We examined …planting of 5% of cleared farmland (~ 2.4 Mha) by 2030, and extension of the area to 10% (~ 4.8 Mha) by 2050”. (Crawford, Jovanovic et al. 2012, CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship) “We examined …planting of 5% of cleared farmland (~ 2.4 Mha) by 2030, and extension of the area to 10% (~ 4.8 Mha) by 2050”. (Crawford, Jovanovic et al. 2012, CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship)

“Basic”, “Modern” or…?

“There could be considerable interim benefits from starting non-electrified households on a low-capacity supply for certain hours of the day as a step towards a longer-term solution.” (The Secretary General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change 2010) In the ten years to 2000, there were 240 million new household connections to electricity. This will continue to (The Secretary General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change 2010)

High Energy Low Pollution Decarbonised Desalination Transport Electrification Agricultural intensification Synthetic Fuels Materials recovery Reforestation

Source: World Energy Council 2013 (conversion factors)