Solar punk is not... here's what it actually is.
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- Опубликовано: 17 дек 2024
- Solar punk is a genre of hope about mitigating and surviving climate crisis with actually better and more community oriented lives. More green spaces, degrowth and clean energy. Corporations have been co-opting it for a few years now. He is a list of whet solar punk is not, and what it actually is.
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Great video, couldn’t agree more. Greenwashing at a glance can appear Solarpunk, it’s nice to have things clarified. There is more to solarpunk and societal issues than this video covered, but if this is all you see your set
A great -- and I think mostly realistic -- vision.
One thing: when I sold my car and decided to live a more active lifestyle with transit and car share as mid- and longer-haul options respectively, one of my goals was to not spend more time commuting, i.e. to not have a reduction in my quality of life. The "aha!" moment came when I realized that to be a healthy human, I need to get 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day. I used to struggle to get even that, even after retiring. But once I started counting walking or biking as exercise time instead of commute time, it all started falling into place.
All this to say: I think it's all possible without any reduction in quality of life that might be implied by slower or active transport options.
Yes, that's how I see it, time at the gym but with better scenery and I'm saving money as opposed to paying for a gym membership
I don't understand why so many single people and couples hate the idea of living in apartment blocks.
If you have a big family with kids then sure, I can understand the desire for a nice house and garden, but when it's just 1 or 2 people there's no need for all that space.
If you spend your time indoors then there's no difference at all between a room in a fancy house, a small apartment block, or a large one. It's still just a room with the same things in it.
I think the biggest hurdle we face is trying to teach people they don't need all those things they think they want.
Because living in condos means having to deal with lots of assholes and annoying folks. I have grown in one and hate everything about it. Having to go through a meeting and a majority agreement for what I can or cannot do to my apartment is a pain in the ass, not having a private and personal green space is trash. If I want to make a freaking food garden for myself, I want both the space for it and the freedom of doing it without having the dude leaving below me to stop me and annoy me with their complaints.
@@MrReset94 I've lived in an apartment block for almost 30 years, and not missed anything a 'proper' house has, and I know many others who feel the same.
There's a nice small park next to my place, I can't grow anything there but it's fine for relaxing in.
There's a small balcony with the apartments, it's not much but I know some people do have some potted plants on theirs.
Not all blocks have an association that controls what can be done, mine doesn't. I'm free to do what I want in my place, the only restriction is nighttime noise, and major things like tearing down walls.
In my comment I said "If you spend your time indoors". It sounds like that doesn't apply to you. I thought I was fairly clear that I was only talking about specific type of people.
An apartment block is fine for many people and I don't understand the instant hate as if they're awful for everyone. I even know people who ridicule my place while living in a three story block with the exact same amenities, they just have an instant hate for large block for some bizarre reason.
@@Scarletpooky you were lucky to not have any association or similar. Here in Italy, all condos have an admin and they call a meeting at least every month were all the tenants (at least one member per house) linda have to attend(if they want to participate in decision making). In the meeting various issues are addressed and some things are put to votes. In general seems right, democracy, but condos are the ultimate representation of what doesn’t work with the democratic system: some people are annoying assholes and cockblock everything for everyone all the time, even (mostly actually) the good stuff. Cause they are cheap or simply cause they don’t understand and feel there’s no need for that. Seriously, living in a condo in Italy is hell.
Covid. Pretty much made up my mind because of Covid. Wont be denied fresh air and sunshine for weeks or months causing my immune system to fail. watching Dbags in the burbs brag about soaking up the sun during a lockdown. And when other types of crisis hit, like blackouts? A cot in the rec center is you bed and your 3 level downtown penthouse suite isn't gonna change that. A tiny suburban house can get through a blackout just fine with some solar and maybe a backup generator. Condos and apartments have zero prep, having 72 hours of food isn't gonna help if you have no way to stay warm in your now fridgid 500 unit downtown high rise. Your headed to the emergency shelter, have fun. And btw, blackouts WILL become more common as the aging and outdated power grid is forced to charge EVs, run heat pumps, and heat buildings. All while dealing with increasing storms and extreme temperatures. IMO power grid is priority number one but LIBERALS see it as priority number NONE
My favourite for electricity production is geothermal bore holes.
Unlike how some people assume, they don't need to be built in geologically active regions. The earth beneath us has enough heat at a surprisingly small distance to run a generator. A single bore hole can generate enough electricity for a standard sized family home, it can them be covered over by the garden, yard, or anything else, leaving a small generator that can fit in a shed (and still leave room for the garden tools) The local sports centre has a bunch of bore holes under the running track, the generator is larger but still less than house sized (and looks just like a house from outside), and it provides enough electricity for the centre and the nearby housing estate.
There's also the added bonus that, because it runs on water, it can also provide heating for the buildings.
Because it's a closed system there's little to no waste, no fuel needed just water, and it needs a minimum of maintenance. There's a large initial instillation cost, but after that it's really cheap to run. I was told that, for a normal family house, a hole will pay for itself in around 5 years, after that it's huge savings, and that was before the recent price increases.
All it would take is to have each pavement/sidewalk have a line of bore holes underneath and every building alongside will have plenty of electricity. Except maybe the super tall buildings.
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Awesome video, huge fan of solar punk 👍
different people will come up with different environmental solutions so an environmentally conscious future is going to be more complicated than we can imagine
This video doesn’t get into accessibility for the 25-30% of any given population that is a huge part of solarpunk and in fact repeatedly discusses non-accessible solutions as ‘what it is’ which isn’t intersectional, which… isnt solarpunk. Good start but really feeling I dont belong in the future you lay out here, by large, despite agreeing with many points.
Can you elaborate the non accessible solutions? In the Netherlands mini electric vehicles are allowed on bike roads. There are a lot of ways to accommodate people with these solutions
@@anubis2814There are, but they aren't mentioned as an aspect of solarpunk in the video while, in reality, accessibility is a defining characteristic of the genre
@@arenomusic Could you elaborate? You both are extremly VAGUE what is the missing accessiblity you talk about?
@@m-2718 You're missing the point, it's not about the individual solutions (mini electric vehicles like the Canta as another commenter mentioned would be an example of that), it's about creating a society and an economy that isn't entirely dependent on fossil fuels ALONE so people of all ability levels can enjoy life. This involves everything from how labor is organized to how we keep track of time, asking for specifics is literally impossible.
Edit: *fossil fuels, not cars
@@arenomusic The way we keep track of time is based on natrual movments of the planet. We can't change how the actual planet moves.
Labor is quite much just changing the owner and push towards workers coops, but most of accessiblity is BY individual solutions, and GOOD portion of accessiblity can be just be dealt with remote work, also a lot of trasport, and wasted time, and A LOT almost all white/Gold collar work can be done remotly
totally underrated video
This channel doesn't get enough views.
I agree.
Ever roll through South Georgia?
@TheDiversifiedFarmer No why?
@@anubis2814 I'm in the area. Would like to chat if your ever in town.
Thin lines between echo chambers and enough difference to create hybridization of thought.
Big ag has really fouled up my life.
I must do something, you know
Evolution
Nutrition
Plant in nature
Plant in greenhouse
Inputs ≠Inputs
Outputs ≠Outputs
We've been through solar before. It is called medieval age
Nothing was powered by the sun except our food. The sun will power everything. That's what Solarpunk is.
@@anubis2814 but when animals and people eat the food it's an indirect solar power.
@@nooneshome8746 Yes that's called our entire existence since cyanobacteria since its not really a distinct period.
I wish i lived solar punk society.If we tried to make solar punk it wouldn't happen because human are creed and selfish.We are cruel to others species and to each other.
Humans are shaped by their environment and the environment is shaped by humans. There is a small percentage that are especially greedy and selfish, those with the power and money to shape the environment. There is a reason Hobbs believes that the natural state of man was base and terrible. hunter/gatherers aren't like that, they all have issues but they have leveling mechanisms against things like power, bullying and greed. The introduction of possessions changed all of that. Trauma and desperation and fear makes the normal person greedy and selfish, power and isolation makes the rich greedy and selfish.
In a natural disaster, humans have a natural ability to self-organize because we are hard wired to do so, but the constraints of society prevent that, because it was engineered to do so..
most based video i’ve come across. bravo!
You've made a lot of assumptions in that video, such as people having to take longer to get to work (people are lazy by nature) and people not working 40h workweeks for corporations (where would we get money from?) but other than that, great and underappreciated video
Oh right one more thing, solar is not that Pollution friendly (don't get me started on making wind turbines from composites) and it's really not viable in northern countries, I live in Poland and here solar energy just could not manage during winters and falls. The sun comes up at 7am and sets at 4pm and the whole day is cloudy (I mean total overcast) for weeks if not months at times
You've made a lot of assumptions that I haven't discussed many of these ideas in previous videos.
People are not lazy by nature, most people have a natural drive to work if they feel they are providing for the greater good, it gives them social standing and approval and a sense of accomplishment. Depression and anxiety and the basic structure jobs these days are designed, especially in the modern era are not designed to fit the human psyche and rely on fear of homelessness rather than promoting ones talents.
We are still running on the mindlessmanual labor model, where pay-by-the-hour and 40 hour work week actually makes sense. In the second industrial revolution the 40 hour work week and pay by hour drove people to work harder to make more things. However in modern service and thinking jobs, we have a limit on how much we can do before our brains crap out and we start making mistakes. Germany and Belgium has 6 weeks paid vacation and 37-39 hours a week with zero overtime, and are just as efficient and productive as the US because they are not having to fix mistakes made through mental exhaustion. The American 40 hour work week in inefficient and bad for the human brain except in some job cases. The work time structure and pay incentive needs to fit the actual job and not make every job a cookie cutting.
As for corporations, I'm a mutualist which is an anarchist lite, Where I believe all corporations when they get big enough need to be converted to worker owned and run cooperatives, the founder should be rewarded for their innovation but at a certain point, the workers are the reason it succeeds.
Also at this point thanks to CEO bankruptcy/shareholder incentives and private equity incentives, CEOs have zero reason to make long term decisions to pay off in the long run, just short term decisions and if the company goes under and everyone looses their jobs too bad. Also workers know their job and should have some say in how it functions, this is the principle of 6 sigma created by engineers. Workers can collectively run companies with better results better than any publicly traded company if given similar advantages.
Whilst I love a lot of this. Most of this either doesn’t exist because of zoning laws. Suburbs, community gardens, local electricity grids. These are all restricted by stupid zoning laws.
@@thecrimsonfire4921 Yes, why solar punk is a utopia to work towards. No utopian goal is easy or ends up perfect
@@anubis2814 Yeah, but a lot of people whom like solarpunk blame capitalism for our faults. This video kind of points out how it has nothing to do with the economic system, but instead is the fault of continuing bad policies and propaganda
@thecrimsonfire4921 Propganda created by car companies fueled by capitalism, and colonial era racism that refuses to die. Lots of corporate astroturfing boosting nimbys fears
@@anubis2814 The biggest divide amongst the western world comes from politics. Thats how most racism is fueled these days.
NIMBYs only have power because the government listens to them.
It’s not the car companies telling people electric is the future. It’s not the car companies forcing electric cars at a determined point in the future. Most car companies don’t even want electric, they are being forced to compete in that industry because of Tesla and government policies.
In my opinion, Solarpunk is a capitalist utopia. A limited but caring government that is held accountable. With a few checks and balances, capitalism is amazing.
Do you disagree?
very based, deserve a lot more views, will e sharing this channel with my comrades 🫡
Too bad Solar Punk will never happen, unless YOU make Solar Punk happen!
Top down is not solar punk, bottom up.IS solar punk
Maybe not in the US, but around the world there are communities and villages that are very much Solarpunk..
@@Siranoxz "...around the world there are communities and villages that are very much Solarpunk."
Name one.
Almere is a close enough place. Most if not all are not fully solarpunk, but if we work on it, it can be achieved!
Solar punk is the new *_Ecotopia?_*
Its something to shoot for so even if we miss the world is still better than the cyperpunk post apocalyptic version we are marching toward now.
5:21 "People wasting land should be exempt from congestion-pricing." [paraphrase]
You don't understand *_Georgism._*
Believing that public green space is wasted land is a colonialist mindset. George may have held this old fashioned mindset. Public green spaces sequester carbon, reduce pollution, reduce the heat island effect, reduce flooding, allow for food forests and foraging, perhaps even hunting and are powerful psychological and physical treatments for basic human well being. Wasted lands are ones that aren't used for the public good and just sat on and hoarded
@@anubis2814Local carbon-sequestration doesn't help a local community in any measurable way. Flooding is best controlled by pavement and concrete and storm drains. Food forests seem like a good idea to people who don't understand nutrition and sanitation.
@@aliendroneservices6621 No its ALL of the concrete that causes the flooding. Our insane number of parking lots have drastically increased flooding. If the soil is porous it can drain much faster into the water table. Flooding is worstened by pavement and concrete because it can't be removed fast enough. The most uncovered ground available the more water will make it down to the water table.
"Nutrition and sanitation" what are you talking about. Fresh grown foods are some of the healthiest, most of the foods we eat were selected because they travel well not because they are more nutrition, they are often less nutrition. Sanitation? How is eating thing grown in the wild where pesticides and herbicides have purposely not been used and the microbiome of the forest is preserved be any less sanitary than the stuff we grow in the field? Its still grown in dirt, has bugs in them and often manure water is used to water crops which causes e. coli and salmonella outbreaks.
You must be confusing raw milk with plants that have just "grown" there is no pasteurization process with fruit, tubers and veggies.
Carbon sequestration doesn't help a local community UNLESS EVERYONE IN THE NATION IS ALSO DOING CARBON SEQUESTRATION! This is why climate change is happening, people can't see the big picture, just "How will it effect ME right now". Carbon sequestration from biochar and old growth forests with a healthy microbiome can suck up way more than "productive" monoculture forest that is more often than not at best carbon neutral and at worst a carbon source.
@@anubis2814 "No its ALL of the concrete that causes the flooding."
So you think *_The Great Flood of 1862_* was caused by asphalt and concrete? Why hasn't anything like that flood been repeated, despite all of the asphalt and concrete in the US today?
8B people sequestering carbon is a wish, not a plan of action. Do it locally, and people will simply compensate by emitting more carbon elsewhere. (Not that that's harmful, but that's another subject.)
@@aliendroneservices6621 Because I said MORE flooding. dykes dams and levys have severely done wonders, the issue is that for the same soil types in Europe, they have less flooding when they have less asphalt and concrete on the ground in cities than US cities with our crazy 8 parking spots for every one driver. Also there are things like 1k year floods, 10k year floods and so on. Take for example Katrina, Had they not drained the wetlands that act as a water shock absorber to the system, the levy would not have been breached.
You are having issues thinking in systems, a balance of changes man can do and at the same time balancing it with nature. Similar to forest management where we stopped controlled burning the natives used and now have had some of the worst wild fires in American history. Yeah we stopped the fires, for a while, until they got so bad now they are just massive tinder boxers ready to explode.
bio gas is made from things like grass clippings in a biodigester. it also makes liquid fert as a second product..
Grass grows using atmospheric carbon and sunlight. it is circular ecology and therefore solarpunk.
You can combine the liquid fert with biochar made from different grass clippings to activate it too.
Lawn mowing, with rechargable mowers can become solarpunk sunlight to gas and sunlight to soilbuilding.
Lithium will never be solar punk.
Anything 'rare' is not for solar punk use. it has to be insanely abundant or ultra recyclable or regeneratable.
Liquid air created using plants like the highview factory in the uk from renewable energy to use in mechanical propulsion is super solar punk.
Compressing atmospheric air into liquid air is a form of carbon capture not even recognised properly yet.
co2 liquidises sooner and easier than the air it is in, so we get to bottle it essentially for free.
The air we produce, when spent in a vehicle as fuel, the vehicles 'pollution' is then cold, clean, co2 free air. our vehicles themselves become an instrument of diluting by way of mixing, the co2 and heat we have to face.
Nuclear is not solar punk. it is fossil fuel. it is 'burning' something to boil a kettle. as simple as that.
@gigabane7357 Biogas isn't quite there yet but it can be on the menu in the future. Grass clippings should only exist sparingly for things like sports parks. Yard grass should be local/ mixed with wildflowers or gardens if people need yards most yards in the US are not solar punk. Lithium is getting more and more recyclable all the time but solid state batteries are coming and will hopefully eliminate lithium.
Nuclear using nuclear waste is solar punk as it reduces the radioactive lifetimes of the waste but we are not there yet, mining for uranium isn't. Thorium is a by product of other things so it could also be considered solar punk
@@anubis2814 when I think of grass. I am thinking more of american switch grass, which pushes all of its nutrients into the roots at winter leaving a carbon husk to convert.
grasslands both wild and managed will still exist even if we ban lawns.
sand batteries slay lithium at scale for district heating and industrial uses.
Liquid air and adaptations to using it can cover most other gaps.
the end of the day, we literally have about 12 hiroshima bombs per second worth of excess energy imbalance due to climate change, we do not need fossil fuels or nuclear, all the energy is already there for the taking.
These become a prison as soon as there is a pandemic. Out in the burbs it's almost as if the virus never happened, people still got to hang out outside under the warm sun in their yards, still got plenty of exercise, and still got to tend to their gardens. While in many major urban centers people were fined for going outside in search of some sun and fresh air, or limited to an hour a day(like in a prison). The suburbs never had these to worry about because they owned their own yard they can have grass, trees, insects, birds, sunshine, and fresh air. Shared air during a pandemic? No thank you! There is a part of Solar punk I can refer to as "hospitalpunk" where everyone lives under strict medical rules including vaccines, pills, testing(in every orifice) because the very high density will make pathogens spread rapidly. Often solar punk could be masked, the sense of Identify would be different as your face would no longer be a feature for public display. Extensive decontamination systems would use too much energy to follow the solarpunk ideology. It would be much harsher on the population because when there isn't a virus flying around we would grow accustomed to expecting to have access to fresh air, sun exposure, fitness, and wellness facilities. Suddenly losing all that and trapped in a tiny space that(up until then) was only ever used as a place to sleep and cook food, the rate of depression would spike wildly.
@netook8 So you are fine with urban folks footing the bill for your unsustainable lifestyle. You should be able to take their hard earned money? They have to deal with this scenario but you don't because you are from the right class? Every square inch of land you own adds to the bill for car infrastructure. And the less dense the tax base, the less taxes there are to pay for it, so the city of state foots the bill giving you special treatment.
Land tax or gas tax or car tax by mile are the only way to pay for roads fairly. Either way, it will lead to more densification. Every dollar you spend on your car the government spends $9 on infrastructure
@@anubis2814 I'm fine with paying 100%+ more tax to pay for what I use. TBH I'm surprised the tax rate isn't adjusted based on the actual use. I find it very strange how taxes are higher in more dense areas. If I make the money and willing to pay I should be able to ensure my mental health next time there is another pandemic. I never liked crowds, I have severe anxiety when there are over 300 people within a single block. I'm sure your solution is just to fill me up with drugs to combat that anxiety. If taxes in the outskirts were set based on the operating costs, it might actually balance out the rural/urban divide. People who move out to the burbs would be doing so for lifestyle and privacy instead of the cost saving. Currently a place in your ideal neighborhood is considerably more expensive, when looking at Rent and Mortgage rate, you could DOUBLE or even TRIPLE the property tax rate in the suburbs before you would match the cost of living in downtown Especially here in Canada. Bit city costs are higher than most pensions can cover, mortgages are beyond most working class people. What would be helpful is if the options you provide didn't crawl at 10mph. Never does anyone mention the utility and important of motorcycles(electric especially), small(esp scooter and eduro styles) but with a max speed high enough to transverse more than 5km sustainably. and TBH if they can hard code FAA controls into drones, THEY CAN HARD CODE SPEED LIMITS INTO BIKES. Allowing an Ebike to go 60mph when the destination is 100 miles off the line, which in my case is often a power plant, battery plant, refinery, mine,, farm, or other vital industry that builds and feeds your city. Considering my specialized educational background, I'd be homeless if I was forced to live in a no car city starting from zero skill in another career. About the only thing I'm qualified to do for enough salary to not be homeless, is the signal and control systems in a transit system. There is also an alarming trend of folks like you not building up a savings and instead choosing to live in more expensive and convenient areas. We got tent cities full of people who can testify that is a bad idea. Currently, rent and mortgages in big transit oriented walky, bikey cities are so high, that even tripling the tax in the suburbs would barely make them comparable in cost. The only exception id say would be Japan, but that is because they have transit everywhere, their population is in decline, and they aren't shoveling in immigrants by the boat load like Europe.
@@netook8 So long as you agree with paying for it, I'm fine with you doing that. I grew up in the sticks and understand that anxiety however you do get over it in time. People from the city also fear people in rural areas thinking they are all murderers with gun, while people in the rural areas think every city is gotham and there are crimes happening on every street corner.
@@anubis2814 In my area the subway is a disaster. Often having to step over ODed druggies to get down to the train. If I have the money, I pay for parking or a Cab/Uber. and It's usually easy to tell which rural properties safe based on what is parked in the driveway. The subway issue(as several stations in my city are underground, though some are level and elevated) the lack of enforcement and supports. It's sadly a problem with many cities in the western world right now. And yes There are many areas of the city that are indeed, perfectly safe. It becomes a problem when crime effects the transit system
@netook8 What happens when housing is treated as an investment asset, but public transit isn't treated as an investment at all.
Since wind and solar (and tidal, geothermal, etc.) wouldn't actually work (even a village needs reliable power-service at low price), perhaps consider:
• Fracking punk
• Atomic punk
Fracking punk could be done right now.
Evidence that they don't work? They've been exploding in use and production, and now we just need to perfect energy storage to stabilize the grid. Fracking is just as bad as coal as it's around 50 times more potent a greenhouse gas, and leaks are insane at every stage of its production, what should have been a bridge fuel is now baking the planet just as fast.
I'm not against nuclear but there is a required scale up process and if energy storage becomes more affordable in time, it's advantage will be moot.
@@anubis2814"Evidence that they don't work?"
See my answer in another thread. In short:
No country runs on them.
No factory runs on them (including factories making wind and solar hardware).
Electricity prices skyrocket wherever they are forced onto the grid (and they are only present on any grid by being forced there).
Fracking is really the best technology to design an ecotopia around, unless you want to try cathedral-style uranium. Or seasteading on a barge or massively-multi-hull seawater-mining uranium-powered village-ship (kilometer or more around).
A single village isn't going to affect the global atmosphere, and people benefit from warmer temperatures anyway. And, even if they didn't, the cure to any woes would be more reliable-power, *_by any means necessary._* So, fracking makes sense for an ecovillage, regardless of climate assumptions.
As for storage, any storage makes the already unworkable EROI of wind-and-solar even worse. The best you can do is pumped hydro, and even that can't save wind-and-solar. There's a new idea called Hydrostor. Might want to look into that. I believe it's compressed air, but with a hydro element which makes it workable. Could be good to pair with a cathedral-style uranium-fired power plant.
Batteries can't store seasonally, so there would be no sense in pairing them with wind-and-solar.
@@anubis2814 i beleive fracking also aids earth quakes
wind totally works and making the blades different would also make the recycling doable, and solar works as well, even the old one. Newer ones are not only more advanced but they use a different glue, which means at their EoL, they can very easily be separated and nearly perfectly recycled
My favourite for electricity production is geothermal bore holes.
Unlike how some people assume, they don't need to be built in geologically active regions. The earth beneath us has enough heat at a surprisingly small distance to run a generator. A single bore hole can generate enough electricity for a standard sized family home, it can them be covered over by the garden, yard, or anything else, leaving a small generator that can fit in a shed (and still leave room for the garden tools) The local sports centre has a bunch of bore holes under the running track, the generator is larger but still less than house sized (and looks just like a house from outside), and it provides enough electricity for the centre and the nearby housing estate.
There's also the added bonus that, because it runs on water, it can also provide heating for the buildings.
Because it's a closed system that only needs water to run it's low to no waste, no fuel, and minimum maintenance. I was told that the initial cost is covered by around the first 4 years savings (for a normal sized family house), after that it's cheap. That was before the recent price increase, now it's going to be even quicker to cover the cost.
All it would take is to have each pavement/sidewalk have a line of bore holes underneath and every building alongside will have plenty of electricity. Except maybe the super tall buildings.
"The local sports centre has a bunch of boreholes under the running track..."
Solent University in Southampton, England?
@@aliendroneservices6621 Caird Park, Dundee.
@@ScarletpookyThanks. The geothermal portion (featuring 200-meter-deep boreholes) doesn't generate electricity. Instead, it provides low-grade heat which is turned into high-grade heat via a heat-pump (which heat is then used for district-heating). The heat-pump, in turn, is powered by a 600 kW generator running on natural-gas.
The bottom line is that electricity cannot be produced geothermally with mere 200-meter boreholes.