Energy Inequality in the Polycrisis
The Great Simplification #80 with Taimur Ahmad
This week…
Today, I am joined by recent Stanford graduate and biophysical researcher Taimur Ahmad to discuss energy inequality within and across nations. Taimur offers a unique perspective as someone who has spent years studying the issues of the polycrisis, while also having experience growing up in Pakistan and living in the United States.
Taimur Ahmad is the author of the Fictitious Capital newsletter where he writes about understanding the base layer of the global system: money/finance, energy, and raw materials. He studied economics at Georgetown University in Qatar and recently completed a graduate degree from Stanford University where he focused on energy policy and electricity markets. After working in agricultural development in Pakistan, he worked in the Middle East supporting clients across energy, CP&I, and national development. From these experiences, he realized the importance of reframing contemporary socioeconomic issues in an energy and ecological systems framework. His work is now focused on exploring the intersection of development in the Global South, degrowth/post-growth, MMT, and leftist social theory.
How does the culture of a nation and its access to energy interrelate to create huge differences in the daily lives of the people who live there? How do the looming implications of climate change and energy depletion impact the relationship between the Global North and the Global South? And how do issues of class, wealth, and ‘fictitious capital’ interplay with the larger poly-crisis at hand?
In case you missed it…
Last Friday, I unpacked why a reduction in the demand for gasoline will not - as commonly believed - result in a 1:1 reduction in the demand for oil. As the Electric Vehicle industry grows, at least one reason is that climate concerned citizens buy EVs because if gasoline isn’t needed, then less oil will be extracted and less CO2 will be emitted. While a significant portion of oil refining results in gasoline, we need to be aware of modern civilization's deep dependencies on the remaining products that all come from the same barrel of oil. Additionally, the products from oil need to be refined/distilled sequentially, meaning a reduction in demand for one (gasoline) won’t reduce the demand for oil itself - at least in the short/intermediate term. Only then can we understand and plan for feasible pathways to reducing oil production and consumption within the confines of a growth-dependent complex adaptive system.
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Very interesting hearing the Pakistani immediate perspective upon arrival here of how wasteful most Americans are about using the abundant available energy a large number of us have daily. It’s exactly what I would have thought he would have said because, I too, have spent a sizable share of my life living and traveling overseas.