There is plenty of energy supply; …the problem is on the demand side

A few weeks ago, my son and I spent 3 days in a place which has not changed much since the 10th century. Mount Athos (the Holy Mountain) is a peninsula in the northern part of Greece, which more than 2,000 monks call home. It is a self-administered region (much like the Vatican) and has 20 large monasteries and numerous smaller sketes and kathismata, where hermits live. Since Osios Athanasios from Constantinoulopi (present Istanbul) established the first monastery (Megisti Lavra) in 963 AD, Mount Athos has not changed much. As R.J. Friedlander says in his book Paradise Besieged: “…the only electrical connection between Mount Athos and the world is a telephone line that also serves to guide lost monks through the wilderness to re-enter the habitation”.

Beyond the tremendous natural beauty and mystery of monastic life, a brief visit to this pristine peninsula leaves one in awe of the complete absence of modernity and minimal consumption. Monks have cut down consumption to the bare minimum and they have become self sufficient. They do not eat meat; their main food is fruits and vegetables, which they cultivate themselves. They collect water for their daily needs- cooking, hygiene, cleaning and gardening - and not a drop is wasted. Also, there is no other waste to spoil the environment; the limited food waste and other biodegradable items become fertilizer. Most monasteries do not have electricity, except for a few photovoltaics (PVs), which are used mainly to supply reading light.

The contrast between monastic life and life beyond the peninsula is stark. In the Washington DC area, where we live, as well as many other cities in the US, it is very common to find a couple living in a 5,000-10,000 sqft house! Construction quality of the house is another story!! Most of the money is spent to make it larger rather than making it more energy-efficient. I’ve seen housewives driving a Hummer (which consumes 4-7 miles per gallon of gasoline) to go to the supermarket to buy milk!! Father Nikodemos, a 71-year old monk in Mount Athos with whom we stayed, walks up the hill for about 40 minutes to get to the small grocery store and the bakery; no need for a Hummer!

These are just a few examples illustrating how much energy we are wasting. Unfortunately, the examples are endless. We need to stop claiming that the problem is inadequate energy supply and focus instead on energy consumption. I am not advocating that we should live monastic lives (even though a short session, every so often, would be helpful), but a close review of monastic life will certainly give us a lot of clues about what is essential in life and what is not. We really need a drastic change in the way we live.

We need bold initiatives of the magnitude of the Apollo program in the 1960s with clear and ambitious targets. This should include re-design urban communities to provide easy access from the residences to the office and utilize efficient mode of transportation. Buildings (both residential and commercial) need to change architecture to adapt to the natural environment and minimize energy requirements (e.g. "passive houses"); roofs and windows could become energy-producing devices. We need to accelerate the development and deployment of “disruptive” technologies, which reduce energy demand per unit GDP substantially; such technologies may include: bio- and nano-technologies; virtual meetings (through advanced video conferencing technologies) to reduce travel; new lightweight materials such as carbon fiber and renewable plastics; more extensive recycling, etc.

Above all, we need to focus on the “C” word; I am not referring to “Coal” (even though this needs to be reduced too), but “Consumption”. Presently, our socio-economic system encourages consumption. And since every product needs energy to be produced, it also maximizes energy consumption. We need innovative policies which harness the market forces to value conservation rather than consumption.