Technologies for a sustainable world

The present economic set up has scarcity of commodities built into the system. Put very basically, this means that the prices of these commodities are kept at a level that is profitable. If commodities were in abundance then no one would want to buy them, and the whole capitalist system would simply tumble. For example, if wheat began growing everyone, if every field on the plant suddenly began sprouting the crop, then there would be no trade and thus no profit in wheat. There would be no speculators either to artificially fix its price and no one in the world would go hungry. Believe me, there is enough land to grow all of the wheat needed by the population of the world.

We can get to this new way of existing through the system of a resource based economy, where life isn’t governed by money, by how much something will cost, but instead it will be based on resources, resources that are help for the benefit of everyone, not just a privileged few. These resources will be available by the application of technologies.

There is abundant food in the world right now, to feed everyone, and there are abundant natural energies, to provide all of the requirements for the planet indefinitely. The only thing that is stopping us from exploiting these bountiful resources is a system where profit is the prime motivating. For with abundance there is no ability to make profits.

Here are some of the exciting possible technologies available right now; of course these are never fixed ideas, for like everything ideas change, and new ways are being developed all of the time.
Transport

Maglev trains, which operate on the principles of magnetic levitation, are the proposed method of high speed transportation. Capable of exceeding speeds of 4000mph in evacuated tunnels, this would likely be the preferred method of long distance travel for both people and resources. These trains could travel over land and under the seas.

­The big difference between a maglev train and a conventional train is that maglev trains do not have an engine- at least not the kind of engine used to pull typical train cars along steel tracks. The engine for maglev trains is rather inconspicuous. Instead of using fossil fuels, the magnetic field created by the electrified coils in the guideway walls and the track combine to propel the train.

VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft would be used for emergency medical vehicles, as well as personal travel.

Automobiles would be redesigned with accident prevention technologies in place, operating solely on abundant electricity. Sonar and magnetic repulsion could be utilized to detect, and effectively repel other automobiles from collisions. A simple pendulum could be put in place to detect drunk driving, and initiate the override of manual control to an automated system. The materials in the car would be intelligent, so that in the case of an accident say, these materials would be able to repair any damage themselves

Seacraft would most likely be utilised for the transportation of resources and people across the oceans, where it is potentially impractical to build Maglev systems, and for undersea exploration.

 Energy

This would primarily be obtained through modern renewable technologies, with collection, storage and distribution methods being constantly updated as innovation is discovered. These modern technologies include: Geo- thermal, tidal, wind and solar power.
Geo- thermal energy alone has more potentilal energy for te world then all of the others put together. It comes from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, from volcanic activity and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. It has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times, but is now better known for generating electricity. Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly

There is enough energy in a hours worth of sunlight alone, to power the whole world for a year. The only thing that is stopping us from exploiting these free energy sources more, is the present limited teachologies, that only produce a frwtion of the engry avaible from these natural sourses. There is no need to use any form of polluting fossil based energies.

Water
Water can be taken from the seas and put through desalination proecesses, fit to drink. Jaques Fresco, talks of digging canels from the sea, and every mile or so, place transparent desalination filters along its side, to filter the evaporation of the water.

Already drinking water is being purified into drinking water in Orange County, California. The plant uses microfiltration, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light, and hydrogen peroxide disinfection. 70 million gallons of sewer water is treated a day in Orange County, meeting the drinking needs of over 500,000 people,

Houses
Michael Reynolds builds what he calls Earthships, houses made out of what other people call junk; tyres, cans and plastic bottles and clay are all features. And each house only uses renewable energy. Water is collected from the roof and used four times. Electricity is produced with by a photovoltaic / wind power system. This energy is stored in batteries and supplied to your electrical outlets. And the houses reuse all household sewage in indoor and outdoor treatment cells resulting in food production and landscaping with no pollution of aquifers. Toilets flush with greywater that does not smell.

He created the alternative word Biotecture to describe "the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability. His earth ships can be built anywhere in the world and won’t cost a lot to make either. The homes use totally sustainable methods to generate energy.

 

Tackling Pollution.
There are many new ideas coming along that can rid us of the toxics that are created by our present lifestyles.
Typical of this new breed of green technologies are a foam that converts CO2 into energy, and mushroom mycelium that will gobble up oil spills.
The foam is inspired by the meringue-like nest of a South American. The foam, which could help to tackle climate change, soaks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generates sugars that can be converted into biofuel. The foam, which will be installed in the flues of coal-burning power plants, captures carbon dioxide and locks it away as sugar before it has a chance to enter the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Due to its frothy structure, the foam can be up to five times more efficient than plants at converting carbon dioxide into sugar. What’s more these sugars couyld be turned into the bio- fules that could be one of the energy souces foir a future sustanble society. Thus saving valuable land that would otherwise be used to grow bio mass plants.

Mushroom expert, and Bioneer, Paul Stamets, has a viable solution for the long-term clean-up of oil and other pollutants. He has devised a method of using the mycelia, the fungal roots, of mushrooms, that spread outwards to create a vast mat of underground cells that permeate the soil.

These Mycelia can clean up after oil spills, pollution, storm damage, floods and volcanic clouds. It’s a process he has called mycoremediation. Once the Mycelium has taken root, it gets to work as a super-filter, producing enzymes and acids that break down the components of woody plants. But importantly, these same enzymes are excellent at disintegrating hydrocarbons – the base structure of all oils, petroleum products, pesticides and pollutants.

The Venus Project

The Venus Project was started around 1975 by Jacque Fresco and Roxanne Meadows in Venus, Florida. Since their inception, the project has been focused on bringing awareness to the idea that the current economic paradigms of money, barter and wealth are outdated, inhibit technological progress and cause socially aberrant behavior. Aberrant behavior is caused by the environmental conditions that exist in any monetary society. The solution lies in a reformation of the outdated monetary economy into a resource based economy. This economy promises an abundance of all resources necessary to human survival and the progressive replacement of human labor with automated technology. This would change the environmental conditions that are responsible for spawning aberrant human behavior such as violence, corruption, greed and exploitation.

A Resource-Based Economy is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter or any other system of debt or servitude. All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource; our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival.

Modern society has access to highly advanced technology and can make available food, clothing, housing and medical care; update our educational system; and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy. By supplying an efficiently designed economy, everyone can enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities of a high technological society.

A resource-based economy would utilise existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all.

A Radical Change

This is an extract from an essay from The Resource Based Economy, a site dedicated to a world which is free from the vicious grip that money has on us all. Where greed and competition are replaced by a realisation that only by mutual interdependence can we realise fulfilled and purposeful lives. To read the full article or to learn more about their work, click here  

A resource-based economy  is a society without money with the earth’s resources distributed equally without any form of exchange, barter or payment. It is not a new communistic approach. Neither is it socialism or capitalism. It’s beyond communism, socialism, feudalism, fascism, capitalism or any other ‘ism’. It’s beyond any social system that has ever existed on this planet, at least in our awareness. In communism the state owns everything. In socialism the state owns something while the rest is privately owned. In capitalism everything is privately owned.

In a resource-based economy the world’s population doesn’t ‘own’ anything, but has access to everything. Anything ever needed, like food, clothing, housing, travel, etc. etc. is provided in abundance through the use of our updated knowledge, values and technology. There’s no ‘state’ that is the owner of the resources, and nothing is privately owned. In RBE the world’s resources are considered the heritage of all the inhabitants of this planet, not just a select few. RBE is not a society where we will live in scarcity with few resources. It is not a society where a few control and distribute the resources. No, it is a totally new society where we let today’s and tomorrow’s technology be developed to it’s fullest to work for us, and where we utilize knowledge about nature and technology to provide a life in abundance for everyone. It is a society where we truly have the option to take care of each other instead of struggling to survive.

It is a totally new way of life, unimaginable within today’s value system, but still something most people truly long for in their hearts. It is a world where we can call ourselves Free and live with dignity and respect for each other, nature, the planet and the universe. It is a concept where value no longer is measured by money, but rather by the joy we feel, the contributions we make, and the development we take part in. It is a society where we utilize our minds and hearts in providing a healthy life for everyone, developing our knowledge about nature and technology, and using this in the most sustainable way.

Imagine a world without money, barter or exchange, where everything is provided for everyone, and everyone can pursue their own interests and dreams and live in the way they want. Be it moving closer to nature and grow your own garden of delicious vegetables, travel the globe and experience the wonders of the planet, make and perform your own music or collaborate with others to develop a new invention for the betterment of society. In a society where we don’t have to think about money and profit, we can truly develop ourselves and the human race into something completely wonderful.

The monetary system

The monetary system doesn’t work anymore and is obsolete. This is obvious when you look at today’s world with increasing unemployment, financial crisis, endless consumption producing endless waste and pollution, not to speak of crime and wars. You could say money has outplayed it’s role on this planet. It produces greed and corruption through the profit motive we are all a slave to. The economy is falling apart, and everyone seems to be struggling to get richer and richer or just to make ends meet. The financial crisis has so far made over 200 million more people end up in poverty. Now, about 2 billion people in the world are considered poor. Poor countries that have received massive loans from the World Bank have become much poorer after receiving the loans, because of the interest. And they can only hope to pay it back. The collective external debt of all the governments in the world is now about 52 trillion dollars and this number doesn’t include the massive amount of household debt in each country. How can we owe each other so much money??? Because we think we need it.

We don’t need money

It turns out that it’s not money we need. We cannot eat money, or build houses with them. What we need is resources. Food, clothing, housing, etc. Money is just a hindrance in making the resources available for everyone. Imagine if there was no money. Right now. No money. Everything would still be there, wouldn’t it? The trees, the mountains, the houses, cars, boats, air, grass, snow, rain, sun, animals, birds and bees and the people. Nothing has changed, really. Why? Because money doesn’t really exist. There’s no money in nature. It’s only an agreement between the world’s people, made up thousands of years ago as a means to control the world population. Instead of slavery, where one had to feed, house, nurse and guard the slaves, one invented money. With money everyone would have to fend for themselves, while the rulers collected taxes, controlling the masses.

It was a means of which people could trade stuff that they all needed. Labor, food, housing, etc. If it wasn’t scarce, there was no need to charge for it. Like water and air. The rulers claimed ownership to land, and thus became the “owners” of this land. They could then charge others for using it and for stuff that was produced there, like it is today. And the property could be sold and inherited in the bloodline. “Banks” became invented, and eventually; loans. And now society has become addicted to it, like a drug. But, like a drug, money is something that we don’t really need, we only think we do.

A need for change.

An international elite and a “global middle class” are causing havoc to the environment through conspicuous consumption and the excessive appropriation of human and natural resources. Their consumption patterns lead to further environmental and social damage when imitated by the rest of society in a vicious circle of status-seeking through the accumulation of material possessions. While irresponsible financial institutions, multi-national corporations and governments are rightly at the forefront of public criticism, this crisis has deeper structural causes.

So-called anti-crisis measures that seek to boost economic growth will worsen inequalities and environmental conditions in the long-run. The illusion of a "debt-fuelled growth", i.e. Forcing the economy to grow in order to pay debt, will end in social disaster, passing on economic and ecological debts to future generations and to the poor. A process of degrowth of the world economy is inevitable and will ultimately benefit the environment, but the challenge is how to manage the process so that it is socially equitable at national and global scales. This is the challenge of the Degrowth movement, originating in rich countries in Europe and elsewhere, where the change must start from.       

Alternative proposals are now being discussed to find ways toward an alternative, ecologically sustainable and socially equitable degrowth society.  New ideas and issues absent from mainstream dialogue on sustainable development are being developed: currencies and financial institutions, social security and working hours, population and resource consumption, restrictions to advertising, moratoria on infrastructure and resource sanctuaries, and many others. A wealth of new proposals evolved, including: facilitation of local currencies; gradual elimination of fiat money and reforms of interest; promotion of small scale, self-managed not-for-profit companies; defense and expansion of local commons and establishment of new jurisdictions for global commons; establishment of integrated policies of reduced working hours (work-sharing) and introduction of a basic income; institutionalisation of an income ceiling based on maximum-minimum ratios; discouragement of overconsumption of non-durable goods and under-use of durables by regulation, taxation or bottom-up approaches.

Abandonment of large-scale infrastructure such as nuclear plants, dams, incinerators, high-speed transportation; conversion of car-based infrastructure to walking, biking and open common spaces; taxation of excessive advertising and its prohibition from public spaces; support for environmental justice movements of the South that struggle against resource extraction; introduction of global extractive moratoria in areas with high biodiversity and cultural value, and compensation for leaving resources in the ground; denouncement of top-down population control measures and support of women’s reproductive rights, conscious procreation and the right to free migration while welcoming a decrease in world birth rates; and de-commercialisation of politics and enhancement of direct participation in decision-making.       

These proposals are not Utopian: new redistributive taxes will address income inequality and finance social investments and discourage consumption and environmental damage, while reduced working hours with a reinforced social security system will manage unemployment.

As the economy of wealthy parts of the world quietly contracts and our damage to the environment through new infrastructures and extraction activities is constrained, well-being will increase through public investments in low-cost social and relational goods.

Every new proposal generates several new objections and questions. We do not claim to have a recipe for the future, but we can no longer pretend that we can keep growing as if nothing has happened. The folly of growth has come to an end. The challenge now is how to transform, and the debate has just begun.

From The Second International Conference on Degrowth.