User Manual

7
2.3. Turning the tide – a long-term process
Europe has developed visions for a low-energy future and is intensely searching for ways to
implement the visions:
Vision for the future
We want to find ways to continue enjoying our lives in reasonable comfort, but using less energy, and
with fewer CO
2
and greenhouse emissions than today.
The scenario "Paths toward a 2,000 watt society" as part of Swiss energy policies pursues goals that
are similar to current efforts at the EU level.
Statistics and vision "CO
2
in CH: The 2,000 watt society" published by "Novatlantis" illustrates that
the path to a low-energy society is a long-term one.
Source: Novatlantis – Sustainability within the ETH
On the one hand, the chart illustrates the dramatic rise in energy use since the end of WWII (1945
through 2000). The short collapse in the increase is probably due to the oil crises (1973) and
recession (1975). Nonetheless, the oil crises evidently did not change behavior.
Greenhouse gases roughly keep pace with the increase in fossil fuels – and as is well known, these
have significantly increased too.
On the other hand, the right side of the chart outlines the vision for the future: The goal is a dramatic
reduction in the consumption of fossil energy carriers as well as cutting overall energy usage to 2000
watts per person.