rebound
Direct Rebound Effect
Recently I took the D-tram to Nußdorf/Vienna when suddenly the passengers looked out the window and admired a delightful little red car enthusiastically. It was a Fiat 500 Cinquecento the first series from 1957 to 1972. I searched the Internet discovering that the Cinquecento weighed between 450 – 550 kg and guzzled an average of 5 liters gasoline per 100 km. The model of the second series (1991 to 1998) already weighed 670 – 780 kg and the consumption increased to 6 liters per 100km. The current Fiat 500 weighs about one ton and burns up between 4 and 5 liters per 100 km. Producing a small car of the same type requires more material today, and despite enormous advances in engine development, the fuel consumption did not decrease considerably. Technical devices such as a refrigerator, TV or cars are becoming more efficient, but also larger. They require as much or even more energy and resources than their less efficient predecessors. Its called a direct rebound. If I were rich, I would buy a Rolls Royce Cullinan, an SUV: Weight 2.6 tons, 6.75 liters petrol engine, 15 liters per 100km, price over 400,000 Euro. Better for me is to acquire a pick-up for my farm.
Literature: Bernd Sommer, Entkoppelung, Wege aus der Wachstumsgesellschaft, Herausgegeben von Harald Welzer und Klaus Wiegand, Frankfurt am Main, Juni 2013.
Rolls-Royce Cullinan – > Caroline Krismer, a Tyrolean, is responsible project developer of the first SUV of Rolls Royce, www.oeamtc.at/autotouring
Autosalon Genf: The SUV boom continues – E-mobility is increasing!
Roland Leithenmayr VfV
Creative Destruction and Decoupling
Most individuals want to decide freely and focus on their own well-being even when Empathy (Golden Rule, Confucius, etc.) affects their actions. Well-being means for entrepreneurs to generate profits by continual searching to produce and market better and newer (cheaper) products and services. The US-Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter (8 February 1883 – 8 January 1950) calls this process “creative destruction”. This process should ensure continuous growth of the economy. Schumpeter’s opinion that it will ultimately lead to the demise of capitalism has not hitherto been verified. On the other hand the future of our planet needs environmentally to be secured too. To solve this dilemma, continually growth of economic requires to be decoupled from continually increasing material throughput. This is called “decoupling” and “dematerialization”. Many experts critisize that decoupling doesn’t work. Continuous innovation (green economy) creates jobs fighting against poverty worldwide. This is a contribution to the project (see Project) and document (see Document) of CSD “Human Rights and Sustainable Development” about Innovation (letter I) .
Roland Leithenmayr VfV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-economic_decoupling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction
NGO Committee on Sustainable Development Vienna 