I have a dream

I have a dream that one day we will enter a new era, when negawatts make the headlines of energy summits, conferences and meetings.

A day when negawatts are sold across world markets, from Wall Street to the City, from Dubai to Hong Kong. A day when the amount of negawatts produced and sold decides a country’s membership in the World Trade Organisation.

I have a dream that one day the time of weak energy requirements will be over.

A day when policy-makers are under high pressure to include stringent energy requirements in any new legislation.

I have a dream that one day mainstream economic theory will embrace long-term thinking. A day when analyses of market barriers join discussions of the rebound effect in the ash heap of history.

A day when new, holistic economic theories finally consider the entire energy system. A day when business schools only teach the negawatt business model, when short payback solutions are no longer in fashion.

I have a dream that one day the world’s inefficient technologies will collect dust in the International Museum of Inefficiency.

A day when I lecture on centuries of energy inefficiency, on the long struggle to enact policies needed to scale-up the deployment of efficient technologies and solutions.

A day when the younger generation doesn’t even know how to design inefficient systems.

I have a dream that one day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will read:

“Everyone has the right to an energy efficient standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including energy efficient food and clothing production, low-energy and low-carbon housing, medical care and necessary social services”

I have a dream today. That 2013 will be the first year of the negawatt revolution.

Will generation Y make my dream a reality?

This post was published for the first time on January 30, 2013 on the IEA sustainable building centre web site, www.iea.org