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2007 • Energies of the future, future lifestyles

March 31, 2007

"Energies of the future, future lifestyles" is the theme of the second Earth university held on Saturday 31 March 2007 at UNESCO: present state and future outlook for a very "burning" question.

The vital change in our society requires radical changes in our everyday behaviour. Many French people, aware of the importance of environmental questions, have started to adopt ecological and economic practices in their everyday lives. But we need to go further and change our whole lifestyle. The Earth university invites us to take a forward-looking approach and decode the question to project ourselves into the future.

One debate is devoted to global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions, whose impact we are only now starting to perceive. Another takes an inventory of our energy resources, whether fossil, renewable or nuclear. Another debate tackles the challenges to be met to deal with the new climate and energy paradigm and the environmental, economic and social upheavals to which it may give rise. The end of oil is not a utopia. It will create great upheavals in the field of transport. What kind of travel will we still be able to enjoy? Where will we find the products that future travel will consume? Biofuels, new hybrid engines, renewable energies... will the alternative solutions suggested today be those adopted tomorrow? Will distance working become common practice? Two debates look at these key themes. Building - another major consumer of energy and CO2 emitter after transport - must also change. Bioclimate architecture, passive houses, HQE (high environmental quality) building: what are the existing and future solutions to ensure high energy performance housing? This is what we will be discovering.