2016: When eveyone finally owns the means of production

2016 is upon us.

2016 is the time when everyone finally starts owning the means of production. The biggest mine in the world. The sun. The sun, which creates solar energy and wind energy and everything.

2016 is the time of phones that don't connect to anything and which can be powered by the sun, smart phones (computers in our hands), Twitter, Facebook, Google, TweetDeck, LinkedIn, about.me,  free wireless internet all over the place, fast and cheap ADSL, working from anywhere, the iPad, Skype, communications for free with anyone anywhere in the world, and who knows maybe in the multi-verse.

2016 is the time of scaleability, where homeowners and roof top owners will start owning the electricity grid in 2016. We will install systems that interact with the grid, and we will grow these systems without fraud and without corruption and the systems will be delivered in the time we say they'll be delivered.

For the first time in history, the people will really own the source of production, electricity. And when this is cheap enough, we'll use our excess electricity to take water out of the air and out of the sea, and when we can do that, we'll grow our own crops, and when we can do that, we'll make our own clothes, and when we can do that, we do what we want to do every day. If that means just tending our gardens, that's fine. If it means trading with people in our "flat world" on the other side of the world, from the comfort of our homes, so be it.

In 2016, the super-fast (communication), super-cheap, age is upon us. Communication centres will open. Satellite offices will become the norm, where people who can't work from home for whatever reason, will commute short distances to satellite offices, which will be integrated with fibre-optic connections to their main offices. These satellite offices will have video conferencing, board rooms, snooze rooms, coffee bars, pause areas, gyms, and they will be fun, just like Google and other offices are fun places to be and to spend our time.

In 2016, we will realise that time is our most valuable asset, and we will stop wasting it. If we are going to spend it we should do it wisely. Not sitting in carbon-monoxide fume traffic for hours on end, or paying e-tolls so that some overseas investors can get rich.

The time for mass exploitation is at an end.

In 2016, people will take ownership for themselves and the start of the end of mass apathy will be over. Our societies will be freer, with less crime, more jobs, more happy people, more localisation, and more fun. And a lot more local taxation, because of more employment, and more local businesses starting up, so that government can pay for all the things that we need, like communications, and an easy place to do business, so that we can enjoy our lives more. And this without borrowing and having to pay off international debts for 40 years.

The sleeping population of South Africa is slowly waking up. And when we wake up, and when we become conscious to our incredible, abundant planet, and our incredible, abundant energies.

2016: The beginning of the Prosumer Age

A consumer consumes things.

A producer produces things and often owns the means of production.

A prosumer is someone who can produce and consume, for example for the first time in history the poor and middle class can own the means of production, e.g. making electricity, desalinating water, etc, a lot cheaper than we can buy it from others.

We will all realise at some point that we can do this once our consciousness is raised. Until then we will continue in the consumer culture where we think that cars and other fancy stuff are more important than owning the means of production.

Allow me to help you invent a new prosumer future.

Windhoek City Announced Water Crisis

Just a day after the City of Cape Town announced the start of water rationing, pretty much by the possible doubling of water prices, Windhoek City announces water crisis.

Pool covers mandatory. Pools not allowed to be filled. I agree with the pool covers, but I think pools should be filled. Reason: just like embedded electricity generation is critical to the functioning of our grids, so embedded water storage will also be critical to our ability to survive as a species.

http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?page=read&id=34810

COP21, Paris, 2015

You might be interested in watching my video of Dr Hermann Scheer which I recorded at the Retech conference in Las Vegas in February 2009 https://youtu.be/w_KZ01ps6gI , especially from 3.00 to 3.12. This also remains my view. Whilst the COP (Conference of Parties - a government "how can we work together to solve the climate crisis" conference) conference is important, the world remains at a loss because its expectations are too high. We are, after all, at COP21.

Our minds have become muddled and polluted and the environmental pollution and climate change and "global weirding" (Thomas Friedman) are visual representations of what is going on inside us. I was very interested to see Prince Charles say something very similar to this in an interview this week. I think that the establishment is finally catching up with what us "weirdos" have been saying for decades. But that is the nature of the world.

I agree with Dr Scheer that the COP conference will never create the simultaneous world wide revolution that people expect. However, if you look at the huge exponential growth in renewables over the past 15 years and at graph such as the one below you can see that the revolution is actually happening without COP.

More here: 7.7 GW of PV installed in 2015, up 24% on 2014!!

Social Capital in an African Energy System

My second presentation at the SAEE (South African Energy Efficiency) Conference

12 November 2015

In order to have growth we need infrastructure, "base load" and very big power stations. But finding trained staff for coal and nuclear power stations, for their build, operation and maintenance is proving difficult.

Renewable embedded energy & storage as part of an integrated, smart, energy efficient, grid

Waste, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and SmartGrids.

My presentation at the SAEE (South African Energy Efficiency Conference) on 11th November 2015.

Dealing with "dumb" centralised "push" grids vs smart decentralised "pull" grids. Also dealing with energy waste and spinning reserve and what we can do with this.

Has our education system failed us and let to mass overconsumption and pollution?

The educational debate. Someone just asked me to comment on an article about bringing modern education to everyone on the planet via using the internet and home schooling, and this is my response.

Dear Hermann.

An excellent article and thank you for asking me to comment on it.

This article assumes that rural Africans and other Africans without adequate education (definition to be discussed) and also others in the world without access to our historical educational grids, should have access to the same kind of education that we had.

Recently I have been doing a lot of research in "Social Capital" in an African educational system. Last month, I spoke at a conference about this, and next week I am speaking about it at the SAEE (South African Energy Efficiency) conference in Joburg. (See http://mypowerstation-sa.blogspot.co.za/search?q=social+capital)

I don't believe that our earth can continue to sustain the kind of education that we have historically forced on our children. This has led to the mass consumption and pollution that we see today.

Instead, I see that cheap and reliable renewable energy + cheap and reliable internet bandwidth from anywhere on the planet + getting people to want to remain in their communities rather than migrate to the cities (because they can access the cities from their communities) + an educational alternative which encourages rural town development and rural wealth creation by using permaculture principles enhanced into bringing people into the internet and energy internet age, will solve our mass education problems. I see a return to city states, but enhanced to the point where everyone is "rich", ie has access to the kinds of amenities that we have today, ie fresh potable water, hot water, flushing toilets, energy efficient housing and buildings, readily available clothing and quality, organic, food, electricity, the internet, and educational resources that enhance their current lifestyles, rather than trying to make them like us.

In my opinion, our system is failing us, as it moves more and more resources to centrally controlled units (clouds), and instead of making us interdependent, is creating a culture of dependence which is getting worse and worse.

We need to test our assumptions and ensure that we want the best for other people, and not try to make other people like us.

Regards
David.