Low-Energy Lifestyle: Lessons from
Cuba
Presented
by
Pat Murphy,
Executive Director
The Community Solution
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
The Problem – We Will Run Out of Oil
The Possible Decline Could Be Steep!
Alternatives Unlikely to Fill the Gap
Bio-fuels require land and fossil fuel fertilizers
Questionable Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
World grain stocks at a low point
Best dam sites are gone
Wood renewable but in short supply – deforestation continues
PV solar and wind turbines most rapidly growing
Also site-limited
Won’t scale well and are intermediate
David Pimentel – Possibly 40% of oil and gas
And much more expensive
What Is Best Response to Peak Oil/Gas?
Change the American Way of Life – change our “lifestyle”
Current way of life – energy-intensive lifestyle
New way of life – low-energy lifestyle
Our “Way of Life” will be negotiable if we run out of oil
Natural resources are finite!
Community Solutions – Physical/Cultural
Our goal is small local, low-energy communities
We think people are happier and life is better
Small communities are much more energy efficient
Small community philosophy
Cooperation is preferred to competition
Social interaction is preferred to consumer goods
How does “Community” help?
A cultural view satisfied with a low-energy lifestyle
Taking the First Step
Describing a low-energy lifestyle
Defining and explaining the main categories of energy use
Listing low-energy alternatives
Designing strategies to achieve them
Low-Energy Lifestyle – Key Points
More walking/cycling vs. less driving
We have 10 times more cars per capita than rest of world
Reduced size of meals, houses, cars
More “home economics” vs. two parents working long hours
Less mobility – people will not move as much for jobs
Live local entertainment vs. electronic national entertainment
Higher quality of life benefit for lower standard of living
Many social indices show declining quality of life
Bowling Alone
Low-Energy Lifestyle Considerations
Contrary to American “Way of Life”
“A way of consuming” – only a recent (1950s) “way of life”
Low energy fits earlier values – prudence, thriftiness
A more sustainable way to live
Consider legacy of
Nuclear waste, buried CO2 and air CO2, other toxins
More consideration for children and grandchildren
Avoids “betting the world” on exotic technology
Key Categories of a Low-Energy Lifestyle
Food
Transportation
Housing
Community zoning and land use
Others to be considered later
Education
Occupations
Business and economics
Food/Energy Changes 1900-2000 (world)
Cultivated area increased by 1/3
Harvest of edible crops increased by 6 times
People per cropland acre increased by 2.7 times
World population increased by 3.8 times
Fossil fuels use increased by 150 times!!!
Green Revolution – energy intensive “industrial agriculture”
Energy at the Crossroads, Vacliv Smil, 2003
Problems of Industrial Agriculture
Industrial food is not safe, healthy, or nutritious
Obesity rates increasing rapidly in U.S.
Industrial food is not cheap when all costs are in
10 calories of fossil fuel for every calorie of human food
Industrial agriculture is inefficient – wastes fuels
Much of fuel inputs end up in water ways and water table
Industrial agriculture injures the environment and wildlife
Mostly from the wastes of the fossil fuel used
Almost all agriculture pollutions are fossil fuel residues
Energy-Intensive vs. Low-Energy Food
Reduce frozen and packaged foods consumption
Manufactured groceries will be replaced by local production
Food should be grown locally
Reduce food shipment distance from 1200 to <100 miles
Organic food will eliminate pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers
Agrarian agriculture rather than industrial agriculture
Tens of millions of new farmers needed (15-25% of work force)
Labor intensive farming better for soil and more productive
Folke Gunther (Sweden) estimates 5-1 energy reduction
“Sustainability through Local Self-Sufficiency”
Other Agriculture Changes
Move to cooperatives, CSAs, farmers markets, organic farms
Move to animal traction to replace some tractors
Drying will be by sun and wind, not fuel-based machines
All people will take food and agriculture responsibility
Cannot remain ignorant of energy and health issues
Food growing and nutrition must be part of school curriculum
Organic vs. Industrial Agriculture
This is the fundamental choice
Replace fossil fuels with labor
Increase diversity
Reducing Car Energy by 10 to 1
Make cars smaller and lighter (from 20 mpg to 80+ mpg)
Lower frequency of use (from 11,000 to 5,000 miles per year)
Drive slower (from 70 mph to 45 mph)
Give up solitary driving (from 1.3 to 3+ passengers per trip)
Emphasize public transportation over private cars
Future Transportation
Carpooling and ride-sharing will predominate
Hitchhiking will become an acceptable norm
Cell phone technology can help this
Check Ride-Share – communitysolution.org
Single occupancy vehicles will be a luxury
Trains will replace planes
Buses/trolleys/jitneys/bicycles will replace cars
Speed limits will be reduced
Honda Insight
64 mpg
Available since 1999
Volkswagen Lupo
1999 78 mpg
Daimler Chrysler “Smart” Car
It’s not technology – it’s culture
69 mpg
Volkswagen Research Model
Top speed under 70 mph
8 horsepower - 235 miles per gallon
Looks futuristic but simply light and low powered
Homes in the Future
Low-energy, smaller homes will predominate
“Thick shell” construction without garages will reign
Houses will be much cheaper to build
And even cheaper to operate (low utility bills) !
More co-housing units will be built
There will be more compact developments on smaller plots
Eco-villages
Houses will include gardens – lawns will shrink
Root cellars, cisterns and roof rain catchments will be used
Addresses declining water resources
Reducing Home Energy by 4 to 1
Decrease size (from 2400 sq ft to 1000 sq ft) – 1950 size
Increase wall/roof thickness (from 2x4 walls to 2x10+ walls)
Change temperature range (from 70 to 60 in winter)
Reduce number/size of windows (from 12% to 6% floor area)
Double and triple glazing
Use flash and solar water heaters/“thick” refrigerators/freezers
Include “heat storage” in various ways
Passive solar
Rock and water storage
Basic Shelter Design – Thick Shells
New insulation technologies huge advance over 1950s
New glass also huge advance
High Energy House (McMansions)
5000-6000 sq. ft.
$800,000
Average new home in US – 2400 sq. ft.
Low Energy “Habitat for Humanity”
Less than 1000 sq feet
$46,000
Average small home in the world – 500 sq ft.
Community Structures
Cities will become smaller
Average house needs replacement every 60 + years
Small rural towns will grow and flourish
Lot sizes will shrink – clustered zoning will appear
Local and individual energy systems will increase
Individual house solar panels
Community wind systems
Suburbs will change from bedrooms to communities
A market on every corner again
Land Use and Cultural Values
People will live locally – road travel will decrease
Residential and non residential places will not be separate
Advocated in New Urbanism building
People will live close to their work – maybe the same building
Many modes of casual mass transportation will appear
Zoning will be based on energy analysis
Cuba – Low Energy Lifestyle Example
Cuba is unique in the world today
Oil use reduced over 50% in 1990!
Per capita energy use in Cuba is 1/15th – 1/20th of U.S. use
Cuba is changing from an industrial to an agrarian society
Emphasizing biotechnology – not genetic engineering
Large number of biological scientists
Focus is to build human resources through education
Medical and teaching education is a low energy process
Community Service staff visited Cuba three times in the last 18
months
Cuban History 1990 – Present
Soviet personnel left Cuba in 1991 – Soviet Union collapsed
Ended economic subsidies – $6 billion annually.
GDP down 85% in the first 2 years
Population lost weight (average 20 lbs.) – 30% per capita calorie
decline
Some cases of malnutrition and blindness
Major decrease in material standard of living
The “Special Period” – After Oil Loss
Cuba abandoned the Soviet Industrial Model
Changed from industrial/petrochemical farming to organic
Introduced private farms and farmer markets
Farms are smaller and use animal traction
Maintained free decentralized medical system
Used their limited oil resources to generate electricity
Deemphasized private automobile
2004 Status
Economy growing steadily at a slow rate
Food production up to 90% of pre crisis period
But nowhere near pre crisis level of energy inputs
Very little new housing – mostly remodels
High energy cost of cement results in short supply
Transportation is still ad hoc (improvised)
Everybody shares every vehicle
Medical care and education are above previous levels
Cuban Food
Involuntary vegetarianism – more energy efficient
Meat eating went from twice a day to twice a week
Increased vegetable and viandas (starches) consumption
Increased vegetable sources of protein
Decreased wheat and rice (Green Revolution) production
Urban gardens produce 50-80% of vegetables in cities
Rural areas improved education for farmers
Many people moved from Havana to the country
Wages raised for farmers, who are very well paid!
Little obesity now due to healthier diet and more physical work
Raised Beds at Havana Urban Farm
Designed for hand labor
Some placed on parking lots
The Modernized Agrarian
This man earns more than an engineer
Oxen Replaced Tractors
The farmer may have gone to agricultural college
Rooftop Gardening
Permaculture Applications
Rooftop Food Animals
Chickens, hamsters, rabbits
Grows some grasses for animals
Urban Gardens
Downtown Havana
Cuban Housing
Major problem – particularly in Havana
Immigration to Havana is limited
Increased efforts to develop rural areas
More sq. ft. per person in rural areas than in Havana
House sizes are small relative to U.S.
U.S. new house size: 2400 sq. ft. ~600 sq.ft. per person
Cuba new house size: 700 sq. ft. ~135 sq.ft. per person
There is a 4:1 ratio U.S. to Cuba sq.ft. per person
80% of Cubans own their home
Eco Village
Small but attractive
Simple Furnishings
Kitchen bath utilities are minimal
Wooden furniture
Wardrobes – few built-ins
Cuban Transportation
Every means possible – “Camels,” dump trucks, mules, bikes
Vehicles heavily utilized
Occupants per trip: 1.2 in U.S., 5-6 in Cuba
Roads lightly used and poorly maintained
Hitchhiking is an accepted alternative
In some cases illegal not to pick up hitchhikers
Some empty vehicles commandeered by “highway patrol”
Very inconvenient but very efficient relative to energy use
The Camel – 300 Passengers
Cheap Cuba mass transportation
Provincial Version of Camel
Each of these units looks different – innovation
Varied Forms of Transportation
Horse drawn units like this have taxi licenses
Rapid Innovation
Mass transport appeared immediately using existing vehicles
No time or money for light rail or subways or new vehicles
Simply used whatever was available
Added incentives to agriculture – “free market”
Big big change from socialist system
Many new kinds of business appeared
Government decreased regulation
A “social” transformation more than a technical one
Much of Cuba’s political philosophy was changed
Successful because of Cuban cooperative history
Competition is not the principle social driver
An example of “Community Spirit”
Medical System Did Not Collapse
Free medical care remained first priority during the crisis
Vital for the morale of the people
Cuba has same life span as U.S. – lower infant mortality
Has more doctors per capita then U.S. – more labor intensive
There is much more effort on prevention
System could not support fast food life styles
Doctors live in the neighborhoods they serve
Informally monitoring local health
Summary – Cuba Culture/Material Life
Cuba has best health care, education, and diet in third world
High life expectancy – low infant mortality rates
Free education through high school
Elementary class size of 15 students per class
Higher education free but limited availability <25%
Social security – men retire at 60, women at 55
Ages will probably increase
Food supply healthy and adequate – but not plentiful or rich
Far fewer material goods – cars, houses, furniture
Cuba cannot afford “consumerism” at any level
An example of “genteel” poverty
Cuba – Low-Energy Community Solution
Definitely a low-energy lifestyle
Changed from industrial priority to agrarian
Huge reductions in energy use for food, transit, housing
Major transformation of the society
Culture, politics, values
Not out of the woods yet
Great stresses on society
Still using energy to some extent
Unclear if the soil is yet sustainable
Social unrest – lure of Miami
Community Solutions Summary
Peak oil is coming – denial will be short-lived
It will change our way of life
Will not be able to live like we are now
Our task is to educate and model the transition
Three projects under development
Energy Information Management System (EMIS)
Food Information Management System (FMIS)
“Factor Four” Model Village – Agraria
One successful model proposed
Ride-Share Information System (communitysolution.org)
A Personal Example
Current
Moved from 1800 sq.ft. to 800 sq.ft.
Replaced car with Honda Insight – 64 mpg
Raising eggs for neighborhood
Started garden – will add neighbors land in spring
Replaced furnace in house with efficient unit
Replaced all light bulbs
Heavy use of bicycles
Planned
Build 6” walls on inside of exterior walls
Design and build window covers
Remember Albert Einstein
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking
we used when we created them.”
“I believe that the horrifying deterioration in the ethical conduct
of people today stems from the mechanization and
dehumanization of our lives – the disastrous by-product of the
scientific and technical mentality.”