‘We live on planet Earth, not in Disneyland’

Imagine collecting all the scientific data on the world energy problem and creating a series of slides and lectures for a mainstream audience. Electric engineer Miguel Goden de Sousa Prado devoted 18 months doing just that.

‘It started in September 2008 when I was asked to do a presentation about renewable energy for a group in the Netherlands,’ Prado said. ‘I have been studying wave energy for about eight years, working on my PhD at Delft University, and this group wanted to know more about my research.’

By coincidence, 2008 was also the year when oil prices reached record highs. Prado’s family business in Portugal is agricultural, and since fertilizers are directly made from fossil fuels, the business was negatively affected by the jump in oil price. ‘With these two simultaneous events, I decided to study what was happening in the world regarding oil and energy,’ Prado continued. ‘The more I learned about world energy, the more it surprised me. The size of the problem is gigantic, and ignorance about this subject even more so. We live on planet Earth, not in Disneyland. In Disneyland, everything is possible. But on planet Earth, we have to follow the laws of nature.’

‘People think that driving their car to work everyday is normal. Having their house warm all winter long is normal. Going to the supermarket and buying bananas in January when you live in Europe is normal. But this is an artificial world that we created, and this world demands a tremendous amount of energy. And about one-third of that energy comes from oil, which is a non-renewable source.’

‘Life is energy, and it requires a continuous supply of energy. Renewable energy is not about being modern or trendy or green. It’s about the survival of our species on this planet.’

Prado’s presentations attempt to make information about the world energy problem and possible solutions accessible to everyone in non-technical language. His data is clearly referenced and at the end of the presentation he gives links to other websites, books, movies, and magazines where people can explore more on the subject.

‘You don’t need a PhD in physics to understand that if we live on a finite planet, that we also live with finite resources. For example, imagine what will happen if all Chinese and Indian citizens start to use as many refrigerators, televisions, dishwashers and cars as we do in the Western world?’

‘We are now 6.7 billion people and it is estimated we will be more than 9 billion by 2050. Any child at elementary school can divide the total surface of land by the total human population. By 2050, that leaves each person a 125-meter-long patch. Each person needs food, fresh water, a shelter, energy for heating and transportation. Is this piece of land going to be big enough to sustain our modern lifestyle and absorb all the residues that it produces? I doubt it. The only hope we have is to envision a world where we save energy, recycle materials, and use renewable energy sources.’

‘I was shocked by the lack of public awareness about this topic. Even inside the academic world, it’s not commonly discussed. It took a tremendous amount of time to collect all the information and filter out the garbage. It’s a complex problem, and you need to understand a bit of physics, technology, history, human behavior, politics, and economics to put all the pieces together. I can only conclude that the world energy problem is definitely a challenge for humankind in the 21st century.’

‘This problem will test human intelligence. And the test will be more than the ability to create new technologies for renewable energy. Can we learn to live integrated with the environment and not separate from it? Can we learn how to cooperate and share the limited resources available to us on this planet without waging wars for natural resources? These are the ultimate challenges we face.’

Miguel Prado lectures on the world energy problem next Thursday, 21 October: `People think that having their house warm all winter long is normal. Going to the supermarket and buying bananas in January when you live in Europe is normal. But this is an artificial world that we created, and this world demands a tremendous amount of energy.’

Miguel Prado

Miguel Prado, 39,is an electrical engineer specializing in wave and tidal energy. He works at Teamwork Technology BV, a company which aims at innovation through creative knowledge and entrepreneurial skills.

Prado gives a detailed overview of the world energy balance and provides a possible solution (in English) on Thursday, 21 October, from 4pm until 5:30pm at the Vrijhof Amphitheatre. Learn about Teamwork Technology Company and a preview of Prado’s slide presentations www.teamwork.nl. For more information, see www.utwente.nl/gw/sg/programma/prado.doc/