Rethinking Energy

Arash Aazami

business models / economy / ecology

thank you

humans are funny

we’re the only organism that produces waste

we’re the only organism that produces squares

what is “sustainable”?

how sustainable is “sustainable”?

“Tsukuba (…), the site of perhaps the world’s worst electricity wind farm: in the 12 months it has operated, its windmills have consumed 43 times more power than they have generated.” www.econbrowser.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0

9

SEE VIDEO

POWERS OF TEN

economy or ecology

economy and ecology

it’s not about balancing economy

and ecology, but about fitting our little and

finite economy into an ever-existing ecology

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• more knowledge means less margin

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• more knowledge means less margin

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• more knowledge means less margin

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• created sustainable wealth

• more knowledge means less margin

• more independence means less turnover

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• created sustainable wealth

• more knowledge means less margin

• more independence means less turnover

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• created sustainable wealth

• more knowledge means less margin

• more independence means less turnover

• our shareholders would rather have money right now

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• created sustainable wealth

• brought benefit to the world

• more knowledge means less margin

• more independence means less turnover

• our shareholders would rather have money right now

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• created sustainable wealth

• brought benefit to the world

• more knowledge means less margin

• more independence means less turnover

• our shareholders would rather have money right now

as I led an energy company I found out we…

• increased awareness

• increased independence and ownership

• created sustainable wealth

• brought benefit to the world

• more knowledge means less margin

• more independence means less turnover

• our shareholders would rather have money right now

• well, ok, we had a CSR program, one day per year

…and I learned that all energy

companies were pretty much like

that…

…so, how do we bring change to the above?

altogether, we did not:• increase awareness• increase independence and ownership

• create sustainable wealth

• bring benefit to the world

• increase awareness• increase independence and

ownership• create sustainable wealth• bring benefit to the world

“in nature, nothing is created or lost. things are only transformed.”Lavoisier, French Scientist, 1743-1794

let’s start with a question:

Fossil fuel consumption (8000BC to 12000AD)

You are here

Source: Lawrence Staudt, 2007

Until 200 years ago, humans did not use more energy than the earth could produce, and within 200 years this will be the same again

Source: international energy agency

Source: international energy agency

and we lost track…

what is energy?

erm… well…

uhh… …que?

the ability to do work

now, let’s make this a bit less

scientific

if this guy cycles for 8 hours…

…he can lift this car all the way up

…and he just so happened to offer his services to you!

…to cycle for your laundry…

…for your heating…

…or for your lighting…

…but what’s that 8 hour job worth?

is it worth more than € 100?

…is it worth less than € 10?

…is it worth less than € 1?

…this poor fellow cycles 8 hours for…

€ 0,05(or € 0,006 per hour excl.

taxes and levies)

…and how long does he have to work for your home energy consumption?

2000 hrs?

20000 hrs?

200000 hrs?

every year, this person cycles…

…160.000 hours for you!

…but wait a minute: a year does not have that many hours, does it?

at any moment, 24/7, 19 cyclists are at work for you!

and these 19 cyclists feed on:

we have found ourselves the

cheapest labour in the world

congratulations!

…but is it really that

cheap?

…we got ourselves hooked

to finite fuel resources…

…and we deplete them

quickly…

…for every barrel of oil our earth

produces …

…we extract 5 million barrels in the same amount

of time…

99,99998%…the required saving on our fossil fuel consumption is:

to regain our balance…

…or 5 million times less than we consume today…

• increase awareness• increase independence and

ownership• create sustainable wealth• bring benefit to the world

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”Richard Buckminster Fuller, critical path, 1981

we decided it would be the easiest to do everything ourselves

we found out it would be the hardest to do

everything ourselves

but that’s exactly what

we did…

…and we blended everything into one integrated

solution

Path to Zero

with the Path to Zero,

we achieve a 30% energy cut in 4

years

30% less energy cost

30% less carbon footprint

30% more

independence

right now, thousands of energy users in

the Netherlands are on their Path to Zero

…and our first customers are on

their way to 100%

• increase awareness• increase independence and

ownership• create sustainable wealth• bring benefit to the world

“We can be richer than industry as long as we know that there’s things that we don’t really need”Willy Mason – Oxygen – 2004

what change do we wish to see in the world?

a 100 year

plan

our mission is, by 2110, to ban poverty and dependence by creating an abundance of energy from renewable

resources to an extent where energy is freely available to

everybody

• increase awareness• increase independence and

ownership• create sustainable wealth• bring benefit to the world

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” G.B. Shaw

who do we influence?

It’s all about being:Beneficial toAllStakeholders

• 101: Shareholders• 102: Suppliers• 103: Employees• 104: Employees’ families

• 105: Customers• 106: Society• 107: Ecology

it’s not about balancing economy and ecology, but about fitting our little and

finite economy into an ever-existing ecology

…there is no substitute for

action