What will your future look like in 2030?
WWF-Australia's new report outlines what a sustainable future could look like
© track5 (iStockphoto)
Petrol costs $4 a litre but it only costs you $25 to fill up your car for the week. Electricity costs three times the current price but you're still paying the same as you were 30 years ago.
You're shouting at the kids to get off the 3D holographic 'play cube' and to stop drinking soft drink. Dexter, your household nanny-bot, interjects:
"But I paid the extra one cent for green aluminium - I thought you'd be pleased!"
The one cent is neither here nor there, you explain. There's plenty of money in your account for computer games or sustainable snack foods. Australia's GDP has grown steadily to twice what it was in 2006, but sadly, so have our waist lines.
"I've told you to stop feeding them junk food, Dexter!"
If this sounds like a cute scene out of Buck Rogers, think again. A major new report from WWF has proposed a realistic and sustainable picture of Australia's future - minus the robot of course - that's far from the gloomy scenario we've come to expect from watching the news or the latest sci-fi thriller, if we act now.
The report, A prosperous low carbon future, provides guidelines on how to avoid the catastrophe of climate change, and it's now the starting point for discussions between Australia's businesses, energy companies, householders and politicians in their efforts to secure a safe climate.
Twice as wealthy, one third the energy
You, the average Australian, are going to be twice as wealthy as you are now based on estimated GDP growth. With this added wealth you'll probably have a house full of weird and wonderful appliances and various gadgets requiring electricity to power.
But with the sort of technology that is already available today - such as smart lighting, smart heating, super insulation and advanced recycling techniques - you'll only use a third of the energy you do now.
But before you go on a wild spending spree, bare in mind that although you'll be using less energy with all of your super-efficient new appliances, you're electricity bill will be about the same as it is today.
This is because energy producers will be required to bury their carbon pollution underground or use zero-emission technologies, such as wind, solar and biomass. While this is crucial if we're going to avoid dangerous climate change, it's also more expensive.
Walking to work
So you've dragged the kids away from their 3D 'play cube', you've convinced Dexter not to buy them any more junk food (no matter how green the packaging), and you're ready to jump into your light-weight super-efficient hybrid car and go to work, right?
Wrong again. You're going to walk - but don't panic, it's only a short stroll to your shared office above the local shops in the small country town you call home. Thanks to advances in information technology, you and thousands like you are able to escape the city, move to the bush and keep your corporate or specialised jobs.
You're in for a busy day. You've got a meeting in Melbourne first thing and in Toronto this afternoon. But there'll be no sitting around in departure lounges. You'll be conducting your multi-national business with the help of a full-sized virtual board room. No need for wasted commuter time, wasted fuel and wasted emissions. More time with the kids and a more efficient business.
Booming industry
It's pay day. You check your account online - always a pleasurable experience now you've got twice the spending power you did thirty years ago. The economy is booming and probably still based on a mining industry, wood, paper and chemical industries.
In fact, these industries may be three times the size they are today, but they're only producing 50% more greenhouse gas emissions than they were 30 years ago due to a successful carbon management scheme and the introduction of low emission technologies.
You've had your meetings, you've shored up a couple of major deals and you've decided to give yourself an early mark.
Enjoy the scenery
After strolling home, you drag your kids off the 'play cube', ignoring the bleatings of Dexter the nanny-bot, and bundle the family into your ethanol-fuelled hybrid car for an afternoon drive through the country.
Land clearing - one of the major contributors to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions - has been drastically reduced, so there's plenty of bushland scenery to enjoy. There's also a good chance of seeing a yellow-footed rock wallaby or a Carnaby's black cockatoo.
This time, however, the only animals you see are cows. But these are no ordinary cows. These are climate friendly ones that have a scientifically designed diet so that they pass 20% less wind, dramatically reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (methane).
The country-side these days is a busy place with lots of economic activity. You pass a farm-based energy plant, which is producing electricity for the national grid using agricultural waste. In the distance you see the blades of a wind farm gently turning in the cloudless sky.
But you don't see any farmers pulling their tills behind tractors in the year 2030. Turning the soil releases carbon into the atmosphere and so has been replaced with seed injectors. Seed injecting transforms farmland from a source of greenhouse gas into a 'carbon sink', which takes carbon out of the atmosphere and helps in the fight against climate change.
In fact, by 2030 rural innovations such as these have reduced the greenhouse gas emissions of the farming and forestry industries by around 66%!
Some things never change...
You've been driving for several hours now. You pass a cane farm, reminding you to check your fuel gauge - the ethanol in your fuel tank is produced from sugar cane residue. But the gauge has barely moved and you feel like you could drive all night.
By this time, however, the kids are complaining that they're hungry and the movie they're watching on the DVD has finished so you turn back for home.
"Not far now kids," you say as you round the final bend. Suddenly your car splutters and jerks. Uh-oh.. and with a weak cough, your super smart hybrid comes to a grinding halt.
You swear. The kids start to cry. And the road side assistance line has you on indefinite hold. Some things never change.
