Session 8

This session we got into one of the most important topics that have been discussed in this class, energy. Our civilisation, our entire way of being is dependent almost entirely on the quality and quantity of energy that we use. Wars have been fought, countries torn apart, governments overthrown all for the need of energy.

The first thing that really caught my eye was the fact that we were once completely dependent on renewable energy aka wood. It it interesting to note that our energy needs have sky rocketed in the past 200 years. The last 200 years have also been the golden age of technology and to a lesser extent science. Rapid strides in scientific knowledge and technical know-how has exponentially increased our energy needs. An ever growing population hasn't exactly helped.

However science has also provided us more efficient ways of using energy, preventing a Malthusian end to our existence. However scientists postulate that we have reached the peak of the non renewable energy usage. Basically its all downhill from here.

However one of the key points I have taken away from this class can be applied here. A leader looks at adversity and see opportunity and that is what is happening. Opportunities exist in the production of transport, solar cells etc which use clean energy. An example is Shai Agassi, a man who quit a highly lucrative career at SAP AG, to start a company called Better Place which innovates in alternative energies for transport and electric cars. I'll post his blog and TED speech on the FB page.

Another interesting idea was the development of a prize for innovation in clean energies. Two prizes like this exist, the Zayed Future Energy Prize (http://www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com/) and the MIT Clean Energy Prize(http://mitcep.com/)

I would rate this session a 9.