Timeline
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| 2007 |
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2008 |
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2009 |
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2010 |
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2011 |
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2012 |
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2013 |
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2014 |
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2015 |
| Early action |
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Local community action |
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Massive world action |
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Deadline |
Vision
Create a sustainable world through the synergistic use of existing knowledge and capabilities that are cost effective today. First, conserve all materials, as in nature, so that they are always fully recycled or up cycled. Second, take full advantage of efficiency measures. Third, use only renewable sources of energy. Fourth, where non-renewable energy and materials are the only feasible option, provide investment in research, development of offsetting mechanisms in the short-term, and deployment of sustainable solutions for the future.
This world would see families in homes and people at work first choosing to conserve in every aspect of their daily routine from eating local organic food to traveling by foot and bicycle. Every aspect of energy and materials use will be measured so that the most efficient options for lighting, heating and air conditioning, for instance, are typically 90% more efficient than conventional options available today (2007). Only renewable energy sources will be used and they will be of a broad variety, widely distributed and serving multiple purposes (co generation of heat and electricity, shading south windows while generating electricity, allowing farmers to grow while harvesting wind to generate electricity, and storing renewable energy for use in transport using hydrogen). Finally, for those activities such as flying that require extensive additional research to find renewable sources of energy sufficiently powerful, abundant, and compact enough for the purpose, investment will be required through offsetting to compensate for emissions in the short-term while driving development of long term sustainable solutions for the future.
Goals
Action sufficient to limit global warming impact to 2 degrees Celsius and 400 ppm carbon dioxide.
Policy
- Reflect the true value of nature in economic models
- Tax carbon emissions as a means of reflecting true costs
Efficiency and conservation
- Make 100% of all lighting LED, compact florescent or more efficient systems by 2010.
- Make plug-in hybrid cars the minimum requirement for those that must drive, with a minimum of 100 mpg by 2015.
- Transition city/commuter driving to be 50% electric vehicle by 2015.
- Massively increase levels of public transit so that 25 percent of the people currently driving cars switch by 2020.
- Improve existing and new buildings energy efficiency by 50% by 2020.
- Improve power plant efficiency by requiring the use of co generation (heat and electricity) by 2030.
- Convert all farming to low tillage, organic methods for local consumption by 2015.
Renewable Energy
- Require 100% of all buildings, new and old, to install a solar thermal hot water systems and distributed solar PV (photovoltaic) or rooftop wind turbine electricity generating system sufficient to provide 25 percent energy reduction (reduced hot water heating) and 10 percent of electricity by 2015.
- Build and install in the best possible wind sites 4 million large wind turbines by 2015.
- Create new solar thermal generating plants in desert areas in order to replace 400 coal plants by 2030.
- Recover natural areas through re-forestation and ensure that the Amazon has the resources to restore 25% of what has been destroyed by 2015.
