talkabout a personal experience about efficiency. A few years ago, I was a firesafety equipment designer. It was a very competitive market, but allmanufacturers offered very similar solutions. At this time, fire alarmequipments consumed several tens of Watts. Nobody seemed to care much about itat the time because this consumption was equivalent to one or two light bulbs.But it bothered me, because the equipment needed large and heavy power suppliesand batteries to operate even in case of power outages. The devices were big,heavy and warm a lot. With a little research, I discovered electroniccomponents that allow designing smaller, more efficient, less consumption, andmore reliable devices. But they simply were not used, because the prevailingparadigm about heavy and energy-wasting equipment. My first project using thesenew components was still big, but consumption was reduced to one tenth of themarket standard. It was destined to Brazilian INPE's headquarters in CachoeiraPaulista. I believe that this equipment is still operational today. Subsequent equipmentsgenerations of have become more compact, reliable and energy efficient. If Iwere still working in the area, I know that nowadays I could obtain even betterresults. I mention this story to show that our technological development led usto the point where we can be more energy efficient, highly efficient. Much ofthe resources that we extract from the earth are to produce energy. Energy usedfor transportation, lighting, heating, cooling, and to manufacture mostproducts we use. Energy is a precious resource. Without energy, surely we wouldnot exist. Without abundant sources of energy, we could never reach 7 billionpeople population. All goods and resources that we need rely directly or indirectlyfrom our energy sources.Maybe we donthave to think about sustainable withdrawal as dramatically portrayed byLovelock. It may be possible to greatly reduce our environmental footprint bychanging the way we use energy and materials, and using the best technology wehave available. We can do thing like increasing energy efficiency, improvingindustrial processes, eliminating waste in manufacturing, storing, transporting,distributing and using goods, increasing consumer goods lifetime, using better andnot polluting water sources, improving construction techniques, using land andurban space more rationally, recycling 100% of waste produced and stop producingitems that can not be recycled. We can also have good sense sense on consumingand utilizing goods and products. Why would we buy a 50 TV if a 32 TV is toolarge to our room? Why keep TV or lights on when no one is using? Wecan also adopt sustainable energy sources (wind, solar, etc.), respectingenvironmental constraints. Hydroelectric plants have been identified as majorcarbon sources, usually because their dams flood large wood areas that, whensubmerged, ferment and emit CO2 and methane. One study showed that some hydroelectricpower plants emit more carbon than an equivalent thermal power plant. So it isnot just about adopting renewable energy, but doing so while respecting theenvironment. Itis hart to quantify how actions impact preserving the Earth and its delicatelife support system. My intuition tells me that some right actions and wellplanned may be sufficient to reverse the situation, since we abandon demagogicpositions, adopting serious and responsible measures. Recently, I herd about acampaign to save energy by turning of