The deadliest deadline
July 1st 2007 Sometimes we need an approaching deadline to
galvanise us into action. But there isn't a natural
deadline for reducing carbon emissions to a
sustainable level. Mitsubishi's Energy Spokesman,
Jeff Whiting contemplates manufacturing one
Every few years, a massive public
deadline looms up and its all hands
to the pump to meet it. Afterwards
everybody relaxes and promises to be
better prepared next time – but they rarely
keep that promise.
A recent example was the 2004 Olympic
Games in Athens. The city had eight years
to prepare, but with seven of them ticked
away there was still a gargantuan amount
of work to do. The result was a frenzy of
activities and sleepless nights for Olympic
officials, city fathers, and many others with
a stake in the event.
And as the seconds of the eleventh hour
slipped off, frenzy rose to pandemonium.
But it all came good in the end; a brilliant
opening ceremony was followed by a
hugely successful Games.
There was a similar reaction a few years
earlier with the so-called Millennium Bug. It
is tempting to look back with the comfort
of hindsight and laugh at the naivety of
people thinking that computers that could
click over from seven to eight and from
eight to nine, would not be able to
manage the step from nine to zero.
But with a bit less bravado we can recall
what actually happened. The idea of the
Millennium Bug arose slowly; at first a lot
of people derided it, but gradually more
and more people came around to the idea.
Their thinking ran along the lines of: 'If
there is such a bug, I'm going to be very
sorry when I go into the office on 2
January and find all my company's data
lost forever. Perhaps I had better invest in
some precautions just in case.'
Big companies like Mitsubishi have to
start early on such projects, so we had
work in hand from about 1996. We met the
deadline, and watched the preparations of
companies upstream and downstream
from us in the supply chain. Most other big
companies followed similar schedules,
although a good few had only the tiniest
margin of safety. Smaller companies
started their work later, and most met the
deadline – many hitting the Athenian
frenzy/pandemonium interface!
The fact that the Bug didn't materialise
is irrelevant. The point is that companies
and other computer users left it until the
last minute to get ready, even though the
consequences could have been terrible.
We see similar behaviour at an
individual level. Nearly every one is slow to
renew their passport, write a difficult report
or visit their mother-in-law. It seems to be a
natural part of the human condition to
avoid doing things we don't want to do,
especially if there is something more
attractive to distract us.
History is littered with incidents of issues
being ignored
followed, by
fevered last
minute
preparations.
And when
things are left
until just too
late, events
can develop a
disastrously
unstoppable momentum.
Scientists have been aware of the
problem of rising temperatures for at least
30 years, and have been pumping out the
message hard and fast. (Personally I recall
first equating the idea of a finite planet with
pictures of Earth taken from one of the
Apollo moon shots, probably nearer to 35
years ago.) But the concept didn't really
enter the public conscious until far more
recently – perhaps around 1997 - and it
was a few more years yet before people
really started reacting.
Progress to counter carbon production
has been made and continues to be
made. But the question has to be: 'Will
enough be done in time, or will it be too
little too late?'
If we were building an Olympic village,
we'd have a final deadline to work towards
and as long as we hit that we could claim
success. But global warming doesn't work
like that: instead of a deadline we have a
creeping cancer.
The EU has put in place many directives
on climate change and energy efficiency.
These define the beginnings of the way we
need to shape future global manufacturing
as we develop a low carbon economy.
Quite simply the UK needs to meet these
directives – preferably ahead of schedule –
if we are to maintain our global
competitiveness and avoid carbon
penalties. Failing to comply will ultimately
deal us a body blow in which we have to
pay massive premiums for excessive
carbon use, which will price us out of world
market including our own domestic one.
Changes right now, even small ones, will
begin to put us on the right path and help
secure our national manufacturing future. More articles from Mitsubishi Electric Europe: | 
