Avatars for Social Responsibility

Image Source:http://graphico.free.fr/hfr/pollution.jpg

As Yann Arthus-Bertrand (a famous aerial photographer, author of Earth from Above) says in his TED talk "...we don't want to believe what we know". He starts by mentioning that even though he came to talk about ecology, he flew from France to California, thereby producing 9 tons of CO2, the equivalent, he says, of two elephants!

For those of us who work with digital technologies and virtual worlds, it is easy to disregard such concerns, as if they only applied to the "real world". But what about the carbon footprint of our avatars?. An article published in the Near Future Laboratory blog mentions some interesting numbers that gave me pause:

According to professor Julian Bleecker Ph.D of USC and cofounder of design think tank the Near Future Laboratory, "a Second Life avatar produces 1,685 pounds of CO2 and an acre of real estate in Second Life produces 99 tons of CO2.

Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year (Second Life Servers): 153 kWH
Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year (Home User’s PC): 1,095 kWH
Total Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year: 1,248 kWH CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year (Second Life Servers): 207 lbs (94 kilos)
CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year (Home User’s PC): 1,478 lbs (670 kilos)
Total CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year: 1,685 lbs (764 kilos)

...Some equivalence for perspective:In 2003, the per-capita power consumption in the United States: 13,242 kWH
In 2001, the per-capita power consumption in Iceland: 26,947 kWH
In 2001, the per-capita power consumption in Keyna: 118 kWH
(World Resource Institute, EarthTrends — )

...Every year, every Avatar in Second Life produces CO2 emissions equivalent to a typical, honking, bloated, arrogant SUV driving 1,293 miles, based on the assumption that this kind of SUV generates 1 lbs of CO2 per mile".

We all know that we will have to make substantial changes to our lifestyle if we want to do our part in saving this "spaceship earth" like Bucky called it. If we don't we will leave the planet to our avatars instead of our grandchildren...

Si se puede!

This is just a random example: a whooping 11 miles per gallon!

I think it is a well deserved if unwelcome disaster the one that "great American auto companies" are suffering at the present time for their unwilligness to do the right thing and resist the lobby that has destroyed every possibility of doing what is right : the OIL cartel. 

In their case (I am referring of course to the management and the "shareholders" who "share" the responsibility as well) greed in disregard for life on earth was mainly the motive and excuse. (not to get us the users off the hook)

A case in point for comparison of philosophy/action: (and I quote from Wikipedia for expediency)

Throughout his life, (Buckminster)Fuller was concerned with the question "Does humanity have a chance to survive lastingly and successfully on planet Earth, and if so, how?" Considering himself an average individual without special monetary means or academic degree, he chose to devote his life to this question, trying to identify what he, as an individual, could do to improve humanity's condition, which large organizations, governments, and private enterprises inherently could not do.

Among the many inventions of his extraordinary mind his Dymaxion car is particularly relevant today. Remember that this is 1933! 

The car had a fuel efficiency of 30 miles per US gallon (7.8 L/100 km/36 mpg-imp). It could transport eleven passengers. While Fuller claimed it could reach speeds of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h), the fastest documented speed was 90 miles per hour (140 km/h.) Isn't that enough?

I believe that if this particular invention of his had been adopted (and evolve from there) we would not even know the phrase "global warming". Many other inventions of his have of course been so widely adopted that we are not even aware of them since they are so common in our daily life. But that is material for another post.

On a recent trip to NY I was able to see a comprehensive exhibition of Bucky's work at the Whitman. Although it was forbidden to take any pictures (what??? would he agree with that stupid rule? a man who wanted to give the world a better life for EVERYONE?) I was able to snap this shot with a tiny keyholder camera (so go ahead, sue me!)

Another interesting aspect of his work was of course the interdisciplinarian aspect of it. Even though he himself was a superb designer he collaborated with no other than Isamu Noguchi

on the design of the Dymaxion car. Noguchi designed a wind tunnel which was a factor in determining the aerodinamic tearshape  car.

This is a good site to see more Bucky stuff

So the point is that Si se Puede!, Yes, we can.

Avatar's carbon footprint

We did not really go into this discussion in our class, except by bringing up the fact that Google's use of a white screen contributes substantially to global warming. Google itself acknowledged it by turning their screen black for a day to save energy.

But on to avatars. An article published in the Near Future Laboratory blog mentions some interesting numbers that gave me pause:

According to professor Julian Bleecker Ph.D of USC and cofounder of design think tank the Near Future Laboratory, "a Second Life avatar produces 1,685 pounds of CO2 and an acre of real estate in Second Life produces 99 tons of CO2.

Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year (Second Life Servers): 153 kWH
Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year (Home User’s PC): 1,095 kWH
Total Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year: 1,248 kWH CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year (Second Life Servers): 207 lbs (94 kilos)
CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year (Home User’s PC): 1,478 lbs (670 kilos)
Total CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year: 1,685 lbs (764 kilos)

...Some equivalence for perspective:In 2003, the per-capita power consumption in the United States: 13,242 kWH
In 2001, the per-capita power consumption in Iceland: 26,947 kWH
In 2001, the per-capita power consumption in Keyna: 118 kWH
(World Resource Institute, EarthTrends — )

...Every year, every Avatar in Second Life produces CO2 emissions equivalent to a typical, honking, bloated, arrogant SUV driving 1,293 miles, based on the assumption that this kind of SUV generates 1 lbs of CO2 per mile".

We all know that we will have to make substantial changes to our lifestyle if we want to do our part in saving this "spaceship earth" like Bucky called it. If we don't we will leave the planet to our avatars instead of our grandchildren...