Transition Engineering Perspective Shift

Transition Engineering - what is it you are really doing?

The answer is the same as for any engineering discipline - we make things work. What works totally depends on your perspective.

Perspective

Since 1950, and the end of the devastating world wars, making things work meant growth. Growth was the way to keep running ahead of that dark beast in the rear view mirror - The Great Depression and his nasty minions - bank failure, hyperinflation, unemployment, scarcity and hunger. We have been looking in the rear-view mirror so much that we have become future blind, letting the headlight dim until the way ahead is only a dark space bounded by ghostly converging white lines.

I have a theory that “perspective shift” is key at this time for everyone.

If you've been looking behind, turn around and look ahead, slow down, and turn up the high beams.

If you already get the climate science and the urgent need for action, then you need to shift your perspective from discussing sustainability to the transition engineering work.

If you have not worried to much about unsustainability you need to shift your perspective to understanding what it is that everyone is now using as the over-arching requirement for any project.

If you are a company or organization leader and you think you have done a good job because you are renting a LEED certified building, have done your CMARS accounting, and have hired a sustainability manager, then you need to shift your perspective to doing due diligence on downshift.

If you are pretty comfortable that you are on the winning side because you click a lot of Linkedin articles on solar PV, wind and EV’s then you need to shift your perspective to focusing on what people are NOT using, and NOT buying and NOT consuming more of.

If you are an engineer, thinking your job is whatever the client wants – done according to best practice and ethics and safety considerations – then you need to shift your perspective to being part of the transition.

If you think that there are solutions we can do to fight climate change, you need to shift to understanding wicked problems and how downshift is the urgent imperative.

If you want to try your hand at shifting your perspective try this video.

Coal Miners and Protesters

Comments

What about that Michael Moore Movie?

How dare they cast doubt on the sanctity of Renewable Energy? Why am I feeling like this about that movie? I have been asked by a LOT of people what I thought of Planet of the Humans ? Of course the movie has its story to tell and its own perspective that makes it interesting - it is a movie. The facts about renewable energy weren't off the mark. I don't know about the implied corporate handshake of our esteemed environmental leaders. I have only worked with Richard Heinberg, and have found him to be straight up. What it is that is disturbing for people is that their perspective is being shifted. You find out about climate change and climate destruction and you get over your shock and horror and denial, and then you want to bargain. You want to save the world. We will be good. We will use only good energy. We need wind and solar. We are good pe ople. And so the narrative is formed and the story begins to become impervious to facts. You can find a talk that I

What is Energy Transition Engineering and why it is imperative, with Sus...

I had a really interesting conversation with Jason Marmon of US Energy. He has worked in Oil and Gas and then decided to work on energy transition. We had a nice time brainstorming what energy transition means for oil and gas industry. Like everything these days, the go-to framework for debate is opposites positioning. In energy and climate change the position used to be "I'm not worried about climate change" vs "I'm freaked out about climate change". That framing didn't get a lot done, and it was masking the real issues, questions and potentials. The opposites positioning has moved on a bit and now the "it's not happening" people are off in their own bubble cooking up conspiracies. Now the opposites positioning is "Energy transition is switching to renewables" vs "energy transition is hydrogen and CCS". These two positions usually argue about the other not being able to replace fossil fuels at scale. That is correct

Peak Oil

Peak Oil! There is a big problem, and we are going to have to deal with it. Is it possible to actually come out ahead? The evidence has long been clear that oil resources are finite, and production will peak and go into decline early this century. The question is, why there has been so little high-level policy action? What about the proposition that dealing with the complex changes involved in the transition to oil supply contraction requires new kinds of engineering modelling and analysis. There are no miracle technologies that will mitigate the need for major policy, economic, infrastructure and land use changes. Researchers have the responsibility to develop new methods and tools necessary for policy makers and planners to manage this unaccustomed change. Without the right tools, the policy choice is between denying the problem and hoping for miracles. With the right Transition Engineering tools, the policy choices are about which changes in land use, ince

Energy Transition Engineering

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