What’s so good about an eco-conomy?
In the 1930s the US economy was in the doldrums. What really saved it was not just the New Deal or other financial measures, but the Second World War. It promptly brought full employment, use of all spare economic capacity, and a sense of purpose. It also brought government-sponsored innovation. We believe that a green industrial revolution would have the same stimulating effect on the UK economy as the war did for the US, creating thousands of jobs, new businesses and new technologies.
Some argue that (i) economies need energy to prosper, and that (ii) the cheapest form of energy is to take the oil, gas and coal nature has so kindly provided for free out of the ground. While the former part of this statement is true, the latter part is not necessarily the case. For example, oil needs to be found, defended (by war if necessary), extracted, transported, refined, stored and distributed (and converted if to be used as electricity). It ends up a pretty expensive product, even if you exclude the true cost of polluting the atmosphere.
In the long run technologies that harness free renewable sources of energy such as wind, tide, solar heat, solar PV, wave, geo-thermal, bio-products, HEP etc., promise to be cheaper once harvesting techniques are sufficiently improved. Many of these technologies compete not with the cost of oil pumped from the ground, but with the cost of power delivered to your doorstep. With enough investment and research they will catch up and overhaul the competitiveness of fossil fuels. Most of the cost of the energy from new technologies is in the capital investment required. We are confident that price per unit of energy produced will follow the usual pattern seen with innovation and mass production, as for example with cars, computers and pocket calculators. Imagine a world without fossil fuels, powered by shiny new non-polluting machines producing boundless cheap energy – that is our vision of the eco-conomy.
What is in it for me?
Imagine sitting down to send a letter to your power company. Only this time, it is a red reminder from you to them saying that they haven’t paid the bill. At the bottom you include a warning that you will cut them off unless they pay up within 7 days, and you add the legalities about calling if they are struggling with payments etc. Wouldn’t that be a turn around! But that could happen if you were producing your own power and selling the surplus to the power companies, as many people are already doing.
The promise of the green industrial revolution to improve mankind’s lot is greater than all technologies that have gone before. It promises free power made at home, once a small capital cost has been paid. It promises a massive expansion of the economy, bringing jobs and wealth. It promises freedom from big oil, coal and gas, and from foreign despots. It promises to make you richer, more productive and better off. It promises a safe future for you and your children.
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