3.4 Energy consumption per capita
An excellent example of the injustice and the perilous
nature of our current situation, is the energy consumption per capita in
different regions of the world. The illustration shows how it varies
between different countries.
As seen, the energy consumption:
- of the wealthy nations is at least 10 times more per person
- than that of the poor nations
- North America, Sweden, and the eastern European countries of
the former Soviet Union have extremely high per capita consumption.
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In the eastern European countries, the high energy consumption
results from their dependence on outdated, inefficient technology.
Sweden's high energy consumption is due, among other things, to the
fact that their steel and paper industries require more energy than other
types of industries.
In light of the growing information-based society's ecological
awareness,
the imbalance between the wealthy and poorer nations
appears all the more unjust.
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International experts have therefore begun to assert that the
wealthy nations should unilaterally begin to decrease their energy
consumption by a factor of 4-10, which at the present time is a political
impossibility. Therefore, tensions between the poor and wealthy nations
can be expected to increase in proportion to the continuing decrease in
the earth's energy resources.
