Energy Democracy

A distributed model revolutionized the way industrial-scale computing was delivered. Is it possible that something similar could be achieved for energy production?  (Alternative Energy eMagazine)

 A new structure of energy production is slowly taking hold. Distributed energy production, based on the p2p model of the internet, is coming together with energy produced through renewables. Jeremy Rifkin describes how this is happening in his book The Third Industrial Revolution. The significance of distributed energy production in the context of social structure may not be readily apparent. Rifkin spells out some of the implications of empowering people to control their own energy production, and the profound transformation that a distributed energy system would have in democratising the social structure in education, health, commerce, and our relationship to the biosphere.

The EU has already endorsed the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) in 2007, and several European cities have invited the TIR team to plan the transition to a post carbon economy, eg Rome, Utrecht, Nord-pas de Calais, even Kazakhstan. Africa and China have also shown some interest. In the US the growth of renewables is beginning to worry the big utilities. 'The spread of renewable, distributed generation is happening so fast that utilities are now calling rooftop solar “an existential threat” to their business model'. In the UK community energy installations are being supported by the Cooperative Society among others, so that those unable to afford to install renewables themselves can participate. This is a movement which should interest all sectors of the population. It is an area of growth which is tackling climate change, not adding to it, and can also provide the millions of jobs unions are asking for.

The Trade Unions for Energy Democracy 'a global, multi-sector initiative to advance democratic direction and control of energy', is defining their own vision for energy democracy. 'A transfer of resources, capital and infrastructure from private hands to a democratically controlled public sector will need to occur in order to ensure that a truly sustainable energy system is developed in the decades ahead. ' The emphasis on the public sector taking responsibility for energy introduces the idea of reclaiming energy as a commons, which is the ultimate goal but may take longer to develop.

This new structure of distributed energy production needs to be widely publicised so that popular demand can hasten the process of what is already happening, and so that it can be monitored to ensure that big business does not find a way to take control. There will be strong resistance from those who want to maintain the centralised structure of the military industrial system, but here is a way capitalism can be undermined without the need for violent confrontation.

Many of those struggling against injustice in the West are not the poorest, most deprived in society, contrary to how Marx envisaged the proletarian revolution, and for that reason they are often accused of 'reformism' rather than a desire to overthrow the capitalist system. True, many would not relish reducing their standard of living, even when they are conscious that it is achieved on the backs of exploiting working classes in their own and other countries. Nevertheless the desire for a more just and equitable society is genuine. With increasing world-wide communication our concern for the human family and the whole biosphere is emerging. This understanding sees in the current crises the possibility of a new consciousness breaking through old habits of thought and patterns of behaviour, to an awareness of ourselves as integral to the human family and the web of life.

It is clear that this is the future, if we have a future. But it is a race against time. Whether renewables can take over from fossil fuels quickly enough to stem the growth of carbon emissions is anyone's guess. There will be objections from those who demand an end to the capitalist system as the precondition for any progress, and from those on the 'left' for whom the working class has to be in the forefront of any anti-capitalist revolution. Some may see using the market system to take us in the direction we want to go, as 'fraternising with the enemy' but I see it rather like the jujitsu method of manipulating the opponent's force against himself rather than confronting it with one's own force.

Many questions remain and certainly this is no panacea. But it opens a path from here to there which I previously was only able to visualise as a miracle. It may be that evolution is on our side and working in unpredictable ways to give us back the dignity John Holloway talks about in The Politics of Dignity and the Politics of Poverty. 'Dignity is the push towards social self-determination against-and-beyond a world that is built on the negation of self-determination.'

Ecosocialism Course Schumacher College, August 2013 with Joel Kovel

It has been a tussle, to allow myself to feel the instinctual revulsion arising when I listen to a download of someone's ideas, without the space to question or comment. It is not that Joel is totally averse to being addressed midstream, but the aura of adulation that surrounds him, makes real conversation impossible. It is also sad to me that those who have come to listen, do so without feeling the need to question or comment.

I am struggling here with the structure of the teacher/student hierarchy which is a 'power over' relationship. Although we were assured initially that we could appeal for an educational model which was more conducive, I feel it is useless to try to change it, since it appears to be benign and most of the others are at home with it. The possibility of starting a revolution is remote.

In this relationship I feel humiliated and small. I am not comfortable with being the victim, or with the aggression with which I react. Is there a possibility to find my 'true nature' here, to feel whole, in spite of the divisive and alienating pressures? To come to me as a friend in need, turning to myself, being with myself? Neither do I want to turn away from this self that feels humiliated and small, and reacts by kicking and screaming. Ultimately it is I who abandons myself, and can choose not to. I want to bring those two together.

It may be that holding on to that sort of 'power over' is a response to the feelings of humiliation that we may have suffered in the past, and the need to protect that small self, by identifying with the violator. The challenge now is to transcend these reactions by bringing about the union of the small with the empowered self, (is aggression being used by the empowered self to deny the pain?). Can we instead use our power to empathise with our pain, and mourn unmet needs, while reconfirming the fullness of the interior of being, the spirit which always accompanies us? To confide in spirit and ask for help.

When I stayed and listened with the group, it felt as though my time was being stolen, and my trust undermined. I questioned my need to make every moment count, could I put myself aside in order to be in this world? I tried to welcome feelings of violation of which I became aware, by maintaining my own space and integrity. I remember being inspired listening to radical thinkers while training in psychotherapy; or even the years I spent being taken to deep places internally, absorbing the words of my guru. So why not now?

I see the hierarchical nature of this way of communicating as re-affirming the dis-empowerment of the listener, and holding back the development of trust in our own authentic voice. The acquisition of knowledge becomes then filling an essentially empty space, giving us the sort of security we get from putting money in the bank. Knowledge becomes another commodity to be acquired, along with other experiences, for which we need experts to guide us. This understanding does not preclude us from learning from others, nor is it denying that someone may tell us something we do not know. But in a healthy relationship this always remains a two way exchange, with roles constantly being reversed, the teacher learning from the student, and vice versa. Nor does this way of communicating respect the integrity of each with our own sense of enquiry. It is a 'one size fits all' communication, as Joel has said 'I am who I am', take it or leave it.

Why is this important? And what is the feeling of violation I get from being in a space where this is not acknowledged? It is my very being which is being denied or ignored. Really? Aren't you exaggerating?

Thinking about this later I feel horror at what we experience as children when we have no choice but to sit through events that do not nourish our being. I have often looked back and assumed that I accepted, 'like a sponge' I used to say, experiences which now would feel intolerable. Although this feeling of violation has remained buried, this is not the first time it has come up. Numerous battles with hierarchy have ended in this bid for freedom, but this is perhaps the first time I have recognised what it is.

This morning for the first time we broke into small groups to connect with what might be going on for each one of us. In our group of 4 what seemed uppermost for 2 others was the anxiety of there not being enough time to get through the material. I pointed out how often this is the excuse we give for not paying enough attention to what is important – there's not enough time. It was not easy to stand by my own feelings, especially as no-one shared them with me. Also I had paid for the course and didn't want to feel I had wasted the money or time. But this morning I made the decision to pull out, and feel much better. It is clear from the morning go round that others wanted to plough on with the material. I said that my needs were probably different from others, and explained that I would not stay for those sections where I felt uncomfortable.


I feel a bit like a pariah, but it is of my own making.

Happiness, TIR, and the Circular Economy

I have been doing some research on Jeremy Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution  (TIR)  The book is subtitled 'How lateral power is transforming energy, the economy, and the world'.  In October 2013 Rifkin will be partnering with Ellen MacArthur and Bhutan Happiness Commission gen sec. Karma Tshiteem at the World Forum in Lille.
http://www.worldforum-lille.org/en/2013-event/highlights-at-a-glance.html
Amazingly Rifkin's project is actually beginning to happen. TIR was endorsed by the EU in 2007.  The mayor of Rome invited the TIR team to initiate a carbon neutral plan for Rome, in 2010. Other European cities are following, eg Utrecht and Nord-pas de Calais.
This comprehensive 5 pillar plan is not the fulfilment of our aspirations for the commons by any means, but a step in the right direction, using the collaboration of local and national government and big business. It allows us to see the possibility of progress being made, even while the mainstream continues to head full speed for the cliff. With widespread publicity and discussion of this project, I could visualise these plans being applied to Brighton and Bradford, Leeds and Leicester.
Rifkin indicates the profound effect such a project would have on the collaborative relationships between people, in education, health, commerce, and governance, and more particularly on paving the way for our appreciating the necessity of a partnership with nature and the biosphere.
We also need to appreciate the urgency of these steps. This is a race against time, against the irreversible effects of climate change. I am asking for your help in making the TIR project available to the public.
Contact me on anna@shsh.co.uk
Anna

Review of Jeremy Rifkin's book Third Industrial Revolution

 The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World 

This book is the first to present a solution to the question 'How do we get from here to there?' I heartily recommend this book. It is easy to read, reads more like an adventure story, which it is. Jeremy Rifkin's (JR) ideas have been endorsed by the EU and are already happening in cities like Rome and Utrecht. He has seen how the internet is providing a new way to connect not just information, but also energy production, and commerce, and the far reaching implications of this for breaking through the traditional centralising structures that have dominated much of our social relationships. So in education, health, and governance, the internet is providing lateral peer to peer connections that democratise top-down structures. This also applies to our relationship to nature which has been seen as there to be exploited. JR shows how we need to see our interdependence and work with nature, to connect with respect and love for all creatures, in order to find a sustainable way of life.

The Third Industrial Revolution - Jeremy Rifkin

Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Third Industrial Revolution, is quietly working away to get the foundations of a new energy policy in place in Europe and elsewhere in the next few years. Renewable energy produced in every building allowing millions of people to own and exchange on an 'energy internet', requiring huge investment and providing millions of jobs.

'Today, Internet technology and renewable energies are beginning to merge to create a new industrial infrastructure for a Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) that will change the way power is distributed in the 21st century. In the coming era, hundreds of millions of people will produce their own green energy in their homes, offices, and factories and share it with each other in an “Energy Internet,” a distributed smart grid just like we now generate and share information online. The establishment of a Third Industrial Revolution industrial infrastructure will create thousands of new businesses and millions of jobs and lay the basis for a sustainable global economy in the 21st century. The democratization of energy will also bring with it a fundamental reordering of human relationships, impacting the very way we conduct business, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.

Like every other communication and energy infrastructure in history, the various pillars of a Third Industrial Revolution must be laid down simultaneously or the foundation will not hold. That’s because each pillar can only function in relationship to the others. The five pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution, all of which are detailed in the Industrial Policy Communication Update, are (1) shifting to renewable energy; (2) transforming the building stock of every continent into green energy efficient micropower plants to collect renewable energies onsite; (3) deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies in every building and throughout theinfrastructure to store intermittent energies; (4) using Internet technology to transform the power grid of every continent into an energy Internet a distributed smart grid that acts just like the Internet (when millions of buildings are generating a small amount of energy locally, onsite, they can sell surplus back to the grid and share electricity with their continental neighbors); and (5) transitioning the transport fleet to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart, continental, interactive power grid.'

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/initiatives/mission-growth/files/jeremy-rifkin-industrial-policy-communication-update-executive-summary_en.pdf

Join me in suporting this project. email anna@shsh.co.uk phone 07954345550

Zapatistas Silent Mobilization - December 21 2012

The 'Gap' - between where we are and where we want to be. The importance of grieving in the process of maturation.

(Or How do we get there from here?)

(Or Is it too late?)

Wanting things to be different from the way that they are probably starts very early in life. Melanie Klein saw the young baby coping with anxiety and frustration by splitting, and then bringing good and bad together in what she called the Depressive Position. She saw this dynamic continuing throughout developmental life. The awareness that our needs may not be met immediately or at all can arouse reactions of anger but underlying that are feelings of grief and loss which need to be acknowledged and accepted before we can work with the reality of what is achievable and what is not. Klein sees maturity in bringing the good and bad object together allowing for an internal life in which conflicts can be experienced without having to destroy one another.

Roberto Gonzales describes the deep pain which often remains even when people have worked on themselves for years, and which contributes to attempts to change others or ourselves which often end in frustration. He describes reaching a spaciousness inside where there is full acceptance of what is. In this place there is no pressure to change. Here we can feel true empathy towards ourselves and others without the need for change. In order to reach this spaciousness there is a period of mourning to go through which corresponds to the 'Gap' between where we are and where we want to be, acknowledging unmet needs, and grieving for possibilities which have not yet, or cannot materialise. This recognition and the struggle to accept, can lead to feelings of helplessness and impotence, depths of despair and unbearable loss and dread which lie deep in the soul, possibly underlying severe depression and suicide. Our judgemental feelings towards self and others, appear to offer a way out by separating the good and the bad, but in fact contribute to our suffering. In this spacious field the only value is in what is, experienced fully in this moment, not experienced as a fact, but as a feeling, only subjectively verifiable. Self empathy together with empathic support from others, can allow this process to continue to a more wholistic appreciation of the self. For Roberto this is the recognition of the beauty of the needs themselves. Through allowing the process of mourning our unmet needs with compassion, we free ourselves from the constrictions which come through blame and fear, and become empowered to find ways to fulfill them.

For my teacher Maharaji, and many others like Eckhart Tolle, coming into the 'moment called Now' is the only place where reality truly exists. It is the marriage of the finite and the infinite, allowing space for the Unknown to enter. This is the beginning of radical transformation. With that understanding, reality is beyond concepts and therefore cannot be grasped by the mind, only experienced when we can lay aside the need for the security of knowing, based on the past or the future, which is so much part of our culture. To do so runs the risk of causing confusion and pain. Accepting our inability to know, we can become receptive, tuned in to resonances beyond our everyday world. With compassion and self empathy, fear of the unknown can be transformed into trust and gratitude.

This dynamic can be seen at the individual and the global level. The inability of the human race as a whole to confront its own destructive tendencies may arise from reluctance to face the inevitable grief and loss implicit in acknowledging what we have done to this beautiful planet, where we are headed and the risk of despair that is entailed. For Joanna Macy awareness of this 'pain for the world' is an essential stage in the Great Turning, the process of reconnecting to ourselves, each-other, and the natural world.