A NEW PARADIGM, A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE?

by Toni Montiel

 

A few days ago I was kindly invited by representatives of a village in the Bages area to give a speech on behalf of the association “Solar Difusió”, together with other speakers from the renewable energy market.

The aim of this conference was to inform and foster a debate on strategies, alternatives and realities about the new energy sources (models, photovoltaic, biomass, marketing and so on). Solar Difusió showed a video on the alternative to the current energy model at the municipal level, a model based on territorial sovereignty, democracy and, most importantly, citizen involvement. After the speeches there was a lively debate.

Personally, I believe it was a rewarding event and I am convinced it gave people a new perspective on the harsh reality in the energy field. After listening to their comments, which were really interesting, I realized that the basic ideas had been perfectly understood, even though it is not easy to grasp the concept of self-provision of energy at the local level using your own resources (grey matter and common sense) in just 15 minutes!

I did not use a Powerpoint presentation, making use, instead, of a self-produced video which talks about the European goals for fighting against climate change set for 2050. It also gives a few ideas on how to implement self-sufficiency in a village as well as some examples of places where they have managed to implement self-sufficiency in certain areas.

I believe the purpose of such talks is to inform residents in different municipalities that in the energy sector (as well as in foodstuffs) there are alternatives to overcome the external dependency we are subjected to, alternatives which are based on democracy, participation and sovereignty…, which, of course, rely on the involvement of local resources (enterprises, associations, government administration, …) and, most importantly, which imply properly managing primary energy at hand. This is more feasible and possible day by day.

The day on which I gave my speech I came out with the pleasant feeling that we had managed to create quite a lot of interest among most of the people who attended, but I felt that some of them “could not see the forest for the trees” so I thought we had to try and change the way we perceive the different options in energy models.

Most of the people who asked questions or made observations, some of whom had extensive technical and financial knowledge, had a lot of interesting comments to make, which I duly noted. Some of them were worried about the RoI (Return of Investment) of renewable energy facilities, they said that if a plant was not cost effective in the short term, it was not worth making a long term investment. That triggered the thought that some people are set in the old ways and cannot or will not try and find other investment options (in this particular case at least).

That evening I reckoned once more that the people from that village should start making decisions for themselves so that everybody could benefit from them; only that way would they be able to turn the tables… and they would not be the first!.

I have the feeling that everybody thinks everything will remain the way it was before 2008. We are experiencing a change of cycle, a new paradigm, the solutions that we hope will come “from above” may not come (or not in the way we imagine). We should start considering whether we might have the capacity to “not depend” on external sources, such as large utilities, multinational companies or governments, in order to satisfy some basic needs of our daily lives. In small towns we have the privilege of being able to use many renewable resources so that our basic needs (food, energy, economy…) are more sustainable.

In order to be able to see beyond and take decisions in an informed way we should climb up an imaginary ladder that took us out of the wood, up to a vantage point from which we could see the whole from an entirely different perspective.

• Before starting the climb there should be commitment, involvement or at least willingness.
• The first rung is information: to know the reality of things, not what others would have us believe.
• The second rung consists of communication among people who want to find solutions to problems closer to home.
• The third rung could be common sense in finding sustainable and lasting solutions, and so on until we were able to better manage our basic services.
• …..

Each rung is a step forward in our social evolution and that of future generations. We are in a forest and have two ways upward: either we take “the lift“, stop worrying and get carried away by the old speculative dynamics (even if it takes us somewhere we don’t want to go to), or “the ladder“, actively participating in the design of our needs.

All this may seem a high risk exercise, not so! All that’s needed is coordination of human resources in order to carry out own collective projects. Going up the ladder is not easy for anyone! We have to do it, though, in order to get a better perspective, especially since we’ve been taking the lift during the last few decades and it has not always left us at the level we had asked for.

There is a sentence at the end of the video presentation that says: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” We intend to create an environment where people can reflect on what can be done for the town, from the town itself, by the people who live in the town and for their own benefit. All they need is to believe and go for it.

There are many associations, institutions and individuals (now more than ever and counting) who are willing to:

• Help others lose their fear of taking the plunge.
• Cut themselves loose from the vicious circle in which society is engaged (high politics, speculation, stock exchange, debt…) that overwhelms our minds.
• Dare to decrease their consumption and increase the quality of their lives.
• Learn how to develop ourselves as autonomous, free-thinking beings.
• Be intellectually productive so that they can provide solutions to everyday problems.
• Seek the path to professional success through personal well-being.
• ……..

For my part, as a member of Solar Difusió, I invite you to link up with other people or entities in order to seek synergies so that you can carry out personal projects which I am sure you have had in mind for some time but did not dare go it alone.

Society needs fresh air, new ways to do things, new sustainable solid models (energy ones as well). We need to recover old values, create networks with specific goals, share personal ambitions. We need individuals who preach with facts, individuals who, as the audience that listened to my speech, continue to constructively participate in their own future and that of future generations.

Good luck!

Toni Montiel

www.solardifusio.cat

toni@solardifusio.com