Social Business in
Transition Engineering
Professor Susan Krumdieck
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Canterbury
Advanced Energy and Material Systems Lab
Mechanical Engineering
Problem: Energy
Solution: Transition Engineering
Exemplar: Social Business – From the Ground Up
Energy Poverty
Google Image Search: Energy Poverty
Energy Scarcity
Krumdieck, S., S. Page, A. Dantas,Transportation Research Part A: 44 (2010) 306-322
Herculean Efforts to get More
Fracking
Tar Sands
Deep Sea
Mad Rush for Green Energy
Palm Oil
Photograph:
Sean Smith for the Guardian
Rapeseed Oil
Sugarcane
Food vs Fuel – Corn Ethanol
22.5 gal tank =
270 kg of corn
32 people for 1 year
Western Diet
10 people for 1 year
3rd World Diet
Seed corn could feed
1000 people for 5 years
Mandated
20% by 2022
10% by 2020
Energy Injustice
People already using copious quantities of energy
trying to get more
Degradation of people’s environment, food,
health in far away places where the resources are
extracted
People using copious quantities of fossil fuels
degrading the wellbeing of ALL other people –
Now and in the future
Problem Statement:
30% of the people alive today use
way too much energy
Transition Engineering
1st Rule of Engineering:
Know what problem you are
working on
Rotuma, Fiji
Rotumans use < 20 W
We use > 1000 W
Transition Engineering
Is not about how much energy you use
Transition Engineering
Energy Supply/Demand
3
Present
2
Future Scenarios
and Risk Assessment
6
Trigger
Events
1
5
Forward
Operating
Environment
7
Back-Casting
History
Development Timeline
Change
Projects
Path-Break
Concepts
4
History
Transportation Energy
Present Oil Adaptive Capacity
Future Scenario
Ex-Urban Sprawl
We can’t fix this with
• Biofuels
• Electric Cars
• Hydrogen
• Light Rail
• Buses
• Internet
• Self-Driving Cars
WE NEED:
15,000 people housed now
Within the urban area
Forward Operating Environment
Path-Break Concept
Christchurch City that is affordable,
accessible, vibrant, prosperous, educated…..
Without Using Oil
Google Image: Utopia
Fuel Use
100 Year Transition
Quantitative Analysis
• Transportation Energy
• Connectivity
• Accessibility
• Adaptability
• Soils, Water, Infrastructure
• Markets
• Building Stock
From the Ground Up Method: Quantitative Multi-Criteria Analysis
Soil Stability
Property Re-Development Index
Age of Buildings
University Village area information
New University Village Student Commons
New University Village Main Street
Trigger:
From the Ground Up
New Riccarton Ave
Re-worked “open” infill neighbourhoods
Diversity, Texture, Amenity
Source: Institute for Transportation and Development
Policy/ITDP, Jun. 26, 2010
High Street
Re-New-All Re-Development
Affordable Housing
Community Involved
Transition Design for 100 Years
PassiveHaus Construction
Economy of Scale
Transition: Social Business
Uses business best practice to solve a problem,
rather than provide shareholder dividend
From the Ground Up
Affordable Housing
Sustainable City
Public Infrastructure
Public Planning
Public Services
100 Years
Community
Market & Development
Design & Construction
Investment
Thank You
www.transitionengineering.co.nz