Before articulating the question, I set out to look at, I provide three quotes which in a sense directed what I believe the question should be and hopefully open up new avenues for how to discuss this issue. Whether you agree or not that is another matter.
Expanding access to modern energy is a necessary condition for each of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of human development. ……… Modern energy services help to reduce poverty, improve educational opportunities for children and promote gender equality. World Energy Outlook 2009, International Energy Agency.
“If Alexander Graham Bell were somehow transported to the 21st century, he would not begin to recognize the components of modern telephony – cell phones, texting, cell towers, PDAs, etc. – while Thomas Edison, one of the grid’s key early architects, would be totally familiar with the grid. The Smart Grid: An Introduction; U.S Department of Energy; 2008
People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust. Howard Shultz: CEO of Starbucks.
New question
Should all societies have access to a modern innovative efficient resilient affordable adaptable/flexible and clean energy system that is available for all and can change to suit evolving technology and consumer demands that can be introduced into the market place in a timely and efficient manner?
If we haven’t been able to make serious in-roads into getting the world off a serious diet of fossil fuels, how can the above reframing of the question make it any easier when it actually appears much harder? It doesn’t even directly mention climate change or renewable energy. The new question effectively changes the frame of the issue and that opens the possibilities of why the current system of large fossil fuel electricity generation needs to change, suggests what the characteristics of change should look like, and leaves the how to make those changes completely open. Even though everyone would answer yes (or at least most people would) to the new question, the challenge is that not everyone would be in agreement with why it should change. Terms such as innovative or efficient are open to debate as is the term clean. What does innovative mean, clean compared to what. Hopefully this site will provide some ideas to possibilities and if there is one underlying idea it is that framing of any discussion sets the tone and available options to finding any sort of resolution that is relevant to the location.
Wicked Paths 