Everyone’s trying to go green. Finding answers to energy problems has become a top priority, and many have turned to alternative energy solutions, like solar, tidal, wind and geothermic energy. Renewable energy is king. Some countries, like Germany, have even prided themselves on nearly eliminating their overall dependence on carbon-based energy. Nothing could go wrong now, right?
That is, until German recently found out that it’s producing far more electricity for its country than it needs. It’s also happening in the U.S., with both sunny California and Texas generating so much power that utilities companies lose money.
Excess energy sounds like a good thing. That’s even more energy going out to people who need it, without using damaging sources like coal, fossil fuels or nuclear power plants. So why does too much renewable energy do more harm than good?
It’s all based on our current system of handling energy. There are two main factors at play, it seems: how the energy is distributed, and the money that goes into these power plants.
Renewable energy can be somewhat unreliable at times. Some days may be incredibly sunny and windy, some may be cloudy and still. It’s because of this that coal and nuclear plants can’t be completely shut down. They’re a back up plan to distribute energy when renewable energy is low. But that also causes a major problem when solar and wind energy are high. The aforementioned utilities companies in Germany, California and Texas actually had to pay grid operators to use their excess power. They simply had too much power and it needed to be used.
The other problem is that shutting down extra plants causes both a financial and political problem. Shutting down plants that make money and that offer jobs to citizens takes a lot of effort, offers a lot of resistance, and demonizes the people trying to do it. Even if they’re trying to do it for a good reason. And that’s without getting into the nuances of how subsidizing affects the market.
Solutions have been offered to fix these problems, keep the market going, and allow different plants to compete. But here’s a question: what if this is just a sign of the times to come?
The idea of having so many resources that we want for nothing is becoming a reality. Many futurists predict that humans won’t be needed to work tedious, monotonous jobs soon. Robots and A.I. will do those jobs. The economy and what it means will change. Universal basic income–that is, money or resources given to everyone for living, eating and basic necessities–will be necessary. So is it time to start giving and sharing? Instead of limiting energy to certain areas and costs, should we just spread the excess to places that need it most? Can we automate the process and find a cheap method of maintaining it?
We’ve already seen companies giving up the idea of patents for the sake of sharing ideas and making progress. We know that we have to use renewable energy. Even if you don’t believe in global warming, we know that the effects of our current resources are literally destroying our environment in many ways. Energy storage is developing quickly, and is beneficial. And we know that, for as many people who live on the planet, we only take up a small amount of actual space.
So is it time to start questioning how we handle society? Is it time to stop looking at profit and start looking at progress? How do we find a way to take our world to new heights without the need for monetary compensation?
Let us know in the comments below: is this too much of a dream or can we create a utopian society where everyone benefits?