Page 105 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

82 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

European Union, South Korea, and Japan can be seen in their articulation of a
vision and financial programs. Most of these countries also had established
government energy plans. China in fact has had national plans since the
People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. Having a plan is in fact
the basic program and purpose of most business educational programs. Gov-
ernments need to have plans, as most businesses do. Business plans are for
themselves and their clients. Yet the United States continues without any
national energy or environment plans. Most US states do not have them either,
whereas an increasing number of cities and communities are developing them
to plan for becoming sustainable.
This lack of planning has both long-term and short-term impacts. The
finance of new energy technologies and systems (like any new technology)
often depends on government leadership through programs in public policy
and finance (Clark and Lund, 2001). Fossil fuel energy systems in the 2IR have
been funded and supported by the governments of Western nations through tax
reductions and rebates that continue today. For the GIR, it is only logical and
equitable that such economic and financial support continues. That means the
US national government should provide competitive long-term tax incentives,
grants, and purchase orders for renewable energy sources rather than just fossil
fuels.
Meanwhile the European Union, South Korea, and Japan took the lead-
ership in the planning, finance, and creation of renewable energy companies,
whereas other nations including the United States did not (Li and Clark, 2009).
For example, because of the national policy on energy demand and use, Japan
has one of the lowest energy consumption measurements in the developed
world. This has been made possible by its continued investment in long-term
energy conservation while developing renewable sources of energy and
companies that make these products. Japan’s per capita energy consumption is
172.2 million Btu versus 341.8 million Btu in the United States.
One critical feature of a long-term economic plan is the need for life cycle
analysis (LCA) versus costebenefit analysis (CBA). Although not discussed
much in this chapter, Clark and Sowell (2002) discuss these two very different
accounting processes in-depth as the systems apply to government spending.
Each approach is critical in how businesses learn what their cash flow is and
their return on investment (ROI). The CBA model only provides for 2- to 3-
year ROI since that is what most companies (public or government) require
for quarterly and annual reports. However, for new technologies (like
renewable energy, and also wireless and WieFi technologies) more than a few
years are needed on the ROI. The same was true in the 2IR when oil and gas
were first discovered and sold. Now in the GIR, longer economic and financial
ROIs are needed.
LCA covers longer time periods, such as 3e6 years, and within renewable
energy systems some are as long as 10e20 years depending on the product
and/or service. Furthermore, LCA includes externalities such as environment,