U of A High School Model United Nations 2012

Greetings ECOFIN Delegates!

Christmas is almost upon us and you guessed right, that means more HSMUN research (disclaimer: please don't ACTUALLY spend your Christmas break doing research). Just another quick heads up on the sustainable technological development topic.

You've all doubtless heard of the array of energy resources out there. Although this is not the only subtopic you must focus on as ECOFIN delegates, it is certainly one of the most important. Energy resources can be of 3 types - non-renewable, renewable, and perpetual. Non-renewables are the ones we all know and love - oil, natural gas, coal. These resources are dirty in the sense that they release significant carbon and other emissions into the atmosphere when they are burned. They are also limited in supply and will eventually be exhausted. Sustainable technological development focusses on moving from rough non-renewable technologies to cleaner non-renewables to renewables to perpetuals.

Renewable resources are resources that are not limited in supply, as they replenish on a visible timescale. The problem with these resources is that humans can have a significant impact; overuse or degradation of these resources comes with the cost of potentially permanent and severe environmental damage. For example, biomass (burning wood and other vegetation) and water are renewable resources. When these resources are used responsibly, such as planting a tree for every tree harvested, or using water without running rivers dry - they have much less negative environmental impacts than non-renewables (yes, carbon dioxide is still released into the atmosphere when you burn trees, but ideally if you plant one tree for every tree you harvest, the impact is cancelled out). Misusing these resources, such as severe deforestation, can have significant impacts such as desertification, loss of wildlife, changes in weather and water patterns, etc.

The best resources out there are perpetuals. These, like wind, tidal energy, and sunlight, are potentially infinite and cannot be directly impacted by humans. As more efficient technologies develop to harvest these sources, it is more likely that these are the sources our world will depend on centuries, and possibly even decades from now. Making the switch, however, is difficult and costly in the short-term, and that is where your mission lies.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!