#owgf — Public Fediverse posts

Peer-to-peer energy trading + cheap solar & storage = millions of people lifted out of energy poverty.
#Bangladesh #Cambodia #ClimateChange #Energy #MicroGrids #OWGF #Peer2Peer #RenewableEnergy #Solar #SolarPower #SolarPunk #Sustainability
https://owgf.org/2025/03/10/peer-to-peer-energy-in-developing-nations/

Peer-to-peer energy in developing nations

https://youtu.be/j6oB1UjwY5w?feature=shared

It’s estimated that globally 1.18 Billion people are living in energy poverty and 700 Million are living with no electricity at all. [1] Many of them are in rural areas with no chance of ever getting connected to a mains (Fossil Fuel) grid because the electricity/maintenance would be just too expensive. Enter peer-to-peer energy trading technology, coupled with cheap solar and storage. A technology that has the potential to lift millions out of energy poverty, especially those living in equatorial regions.

Established in 2015, SOLshare, in Bangladesh, has developed one of the world’s first solar peer-to-peer energy exchange platforms, allowing households with rooftop solar home systems to trade excess electricity in real-time. This technology enables users to become both producers and consumers of electricity, enhancing energy access in areas where traditional grid infrastructure is lacking.

The SOLshare platform is comprised of three key elements

• SOLbazaar Platform: This is the core of SOLshare’s P2P trading system, which connects households and small businesses. Users can sell surplus energy generated from their solar installations to neighbours, facilitating a decentralised energy market.
• SOLbox Meter: A bi-directional smart meter that allows for the measurement and trading of electricity between users. It supports mobile payments, making transactions seamless and accessible.
• Mobile App: The SOLapp helps manage user energy and tracks consumption and trading activities, enhancing user engagement and efficiency.

SOLshare’s initiative has significantly improved energy access for rural communities in Bangladesh, where approximately 60 million people still lack reliable electricity. Some of these communities have never had access to reliable electricity. By enabling households to monetise their excess solar energy, SOLshare not only addresses energy poverty but also empowers local economies by allowing individuals to earn income through energy trading.

The company’s technology exemplifies the benefits of a shift towards decentralised and sustainable energy solutions. The Fossil Fuels industry to this day claims that renewables can’t power the world, but if history has taught us anything it’s centralised Fossil Fuels can’t power poorer regional areas. While this technology is most applicable in rural areas it can be deployed in cities to help combat blackouts and rising electricity costs.

There are other similar initiatives happening in the developing world. I touched on another initiative in Africa in this article HERE. Also in Cambodia Okra Solar are deploying something very similar which they call a Mesh Grid. It can be quickly deployed, and in this case below, redeployed when needed. Someting that is increasingly important when it comes to Climate Change adaptation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI4S2lH9DdM

You can see other projects that Okra Solar are deploying around the world here: https://www.okrasolar.com/category/case-studies

It’s not just the developing world that can benefit from this type of Solar Micro Grid. In Australia remote communities that are currently dependent on diesel generators are now being powered by Solar and Batteries. These towns would also benefit from the addition of peer-to-peer energy trading as a way to save money and build more resilience into their micro grids. https://reneweconomy.com.au/horizon-slashes-diesel-use-with-solar-and-battery-microgrids-for-remote-towns/

Solar and Storage will 100% power equatorial regions, and beyond, in the the future. It will be cheaper and more reliable. It will allow for more energy independence and will dramatically reduce emissions. We just need to hit the accelerator pedal and get deploying these projects faster so they can benefit from economies of scale.

Notes*

The Bangladesh video is from Damon Gameau who embarks on a personal journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we embraced the best solutions available today to improve our planet and wellbeing. https://theregenerators.org/2040/

You can read more about Mesh Grids here: https://cleantechnica.com/2024/04/05/the-potential-of-solar-mesh-grids-for-last-mile-electrification/

Other links:

Al Jazeera video on Solshare: https://youtu.be/v33ERl42VYM?si=U_dZvHwzlnZEmKuk

World Economic Forum video: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2018/06/rural-bangladesh-villages-transition-renewable-energy-sebastian-groh/

#Bangladesh #Cambodia #ClimateChange #energy #MicroGrids #OWGF #Peer2Peer #Solar #SolarPunk #sustainability

Connecting with nature | Field Studies

One thing I am personally involved in right now is getting more greenery into my local community and encouraging more people to connect with it. This excellent video delves into the concept of Nature Connectedness, and how it is about more than having contact with nature, it means having a sense of a relationship with nature.

In this video The Natural History Museum outlines a five step pathway to guide people towards nature connectedness, as well as talking about how to engage with nature when in an urban environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwvCIlCmOM

Note:

This post was created in #WordPress and can be viewed in the #Fedivers at: @[email protected]

OWGF has a Fediverse companion profile at: https://mastodon.world/@OWGF

OWGF is also on #Pixelfed here: https://pixelfed.social/OWGF

#Biodiversity #ClimateChange #Community #connectedness #connection #nature #OWGF #philosophy #Regeneration #StrongTowns #Urbanism

Let’s use the word ReGrowth, not degrowth

We know the word degrowth is unappealing, thanks to loss aversion theory.0 Loss aversion theory refers to a cognitive bias in which a situation is perceived as worse if it is framed as a loss, rather than a gain. Losses tend to be treated as if they were twice as large as an equivalent gain. This makes it impossible to build a successful movement based on loss, such as a degrowth movement.

ReGrowth is essentially Regeneration. It means fixing the mess that mass consumerism has created. Fixing the untold damage that 70+ years of consumerism has done to our planet, our cites and to people. ReGrowth means taking what has been broken and rebuilding a better world around people and nature.

We need to ReGrow our social connections again, and cure the global loneliness epidemic. 1 We need to ReGrow our lost forests and regenerate our depleted soils. We need to ReGrow our cities into thriving spaces for people, nature, commerce and entertainment. Let’s ReGrow a pollution free planet and restore the abundant wildlife it once sustained. Let’s ReGrow our democracies from the ground up, through local communities. ReGrowth is a story of positive life affirming and life enhancing growth, not the toxic, exploitative, planet wrecking growth we have today.

How do we Regrow our world? It starts with one simple step; change the way we measure success. Because what gets measured gets managed. Instead of using GDP as an indicator of success we could use something different. Let’s call it RPI. (Regrowth Progress Indicator) RPI would measure environmental and societal impacts of every activity and take them into consideration in every decision making process. Everything we make and build and do would need to be contributing to ReGrowth in some way. This one change alone, if it was mandatory for Governments and Corporations, would change the world as we know it, for the better.

Changing the way we measure success changes the way we make decisions.
Instead of simply asking, how much will this cost and how much will this earn? we should ask “how will this ReGrow our community, our social cohesion, our biodiversity, our…?” Not measuring environmental impacts, health impacts, societal impacts has put us into this poly crisis. Measuring and taking action to avoid negative impacts is the way we get out. The only question then is, what do we measure to inform our decisions?

We already have some excellent thinking in this area. Genuine Progress Indicator. (GPI) Index of Human Development. (HDI) Human Poverty Index. (HPI) Gross Domestic Happiness. (GDH) Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare. (ISEW) Happy Planet Index (HPI) Green gross domestic product (Green GDP or GGDP) are all different ways of measuring what matters, that we can draw inspiration from. We also have Doughnut Economics, which provides a whole economic system that broadens the definition of economic success by incorporating factors such as social welfare, environmental sustainability, and human thriving.

If we put new metrics in place we encourage new thinking. Every problem becomes an opportunity to make life better. We kick off a race to the top, not to the bottom. Degrowth speaks to us of the need for less. We do need less pollution, less destruction, less climate change, less social injustice, but we need to frame it as ReGrowth, then we focus on more. We can think about a more vibrant society, more freedom, more social mobility, more resilience, more free time, more sustainability, more actual free speech, more good jobs, more…

SolarPunk is that ReGrowth story. It’s not about creating a perfect world, it’s about creating a better world, as well as accepting imperfection. It’s less of a destination and more of a journey, guided by new ReGrowth metrics. It’s about ensuring every day we are healing our planet, healing our societies, healing ourselves. Every day we move from an extractive and exploitation economy to a restorative and fair society.

There are three possible paths to ReGrowth. Through economic collapse, through incremental change or through rapid change. As we don’t know exactly when economic collapse WILL happen, we need to prepare for all three. With economic collapse and rapid change, it’s important to have a whole system thought out, ready for this great transformation, like Doughnut Economics. With incremental change we need to look at the world as it is now and try and implement as many smaller changes and ReGrowth metrics as possible. Whatever the way forward we can and should plan for them all.
ReGrowing after the collapse means two things. Starting now, building more sustainable communities. Like joining a Transition Town movement2 or starting a Solar punk Community3. As well as planning for a complete restructure after collapse happens. (Retro Suburbia)
ReGrowing incrementally means looking at how we can put those ReGrowth metrics into our governments, into companies, into local councils. Looking at how we can make changes within the current system. While accepting that this is not the ideal outcome.
ReGrowing for rapid change means facilitating rapid change. Joining a progressive organisation that seeks this kind of rapid change. Supporting the people who want rapid ecological based change now.4 This can also be done while pushing for incremental changes or building more sustainable communities.

Our world is like a sick and dying tree. Its branches badly hacked by consumerism, its roots damaged by political lies, its leaves burnt by climate change and its biodiversity diminished. But it still lives. It can still be saved, it can still grow 1000’s more offspring and create a giant forest. It’s time to ReGrow that tree, heel our planet and our societies and make them more abundant than we have ever known.

Featured image thanks to Sharyn Morrow https://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/ shared under CC licence

Note:

This post was created in #WordPress and can be viewed in the #Fedivers at: @[email protected]

OWGF has a Fediverse companion profile at: https://mastodon.world/@OWGF

OWGF is also on #Pixelfed here: https://pixelfed.social/OWGF

#Biodiversity #CircularEconomy #climateChange #ClimateAction #DeGrowth #Environment #OWGF #Regeneration #ReGrowth #Soil #SolarPunk #sustainability #Urbanism

Turning car parking into Green Spaces YEESSS!
#Urbanism #Greening #ClimateAction #OWGF

This video explores the line between utopian ideals and dystopian realities. These fictional scenarios might not be as far removed from our own reality as you think. Discover the architectural and social designs that subtly influence our everyday lives, often without our conscious awareness.
#15minuteCities #Utopia #Dystopia #OWGF #SolarPunk #Urbanism #Regeneration #WalkableStreets
https://nebula.tv/videos/stewarthicks-real-cities-are-turning-into-scifi-dystopias/

This video is a really really good example of the Circular Economy in action. It’s proper, ground-up, thinking. It’s putting Recycling and Reusing at the very heart of every decision and every step. It’s about starting off on the right foot and staying on the right path.

Builder Robbie Neville starts this video by saying “This industry was built on unbridled destruction and consumption of natural resources (what we are doing) starts with just understanding what we already have. We’re not even scratching the surface of that.”

How true is that? Reusing, in the building industry, is almost non existent. Robbie shows us in this video what can be achieved, if we make reusing an integral part of the construction industry. As well as thinking of climate change and social justice, every step of the way.

[Notes that accompany the video] Starting out as a builder, Robbie Neville noticed a truly shocking amount of building waste headed to landfills around Australia with no thought given to how it could be used. So he started salvaging it himself, and so began Revival Projects. A multidisciplinary practice that exclusively operates with existing materials and sustainability in mind. Building Australia’s first inner-city timber mill, repurposing entire heritage brick buildings bit by bit, and saving mountains of still useful timber from demolition projects. Repurposing it into shopfronts, apartments, houses and everything in between, Robbie and Revival projects have built a life based on pushing the building industry outside its comfort zone. They live on the cutting edge of re-use and recycling in Australia, and are one of the few practices like them around the world.

“I have a dream of a demolition plan, where every single element on that page, noted for demolition, has an associated note or instruction around what is to become of those materials, how they’re to be handled, where they’re to go and how they might be repurposed, in buildings of any scale. There’s no way that you have a use for every single component of that building. But if you’ve reached a conclusion that you’re going to take accountability for those existing materials and how they handled, I expect we’ll see some really creative outcomes and collaborations.”

There are so many other cool ideas discussed in this video. Other great projects and initiatives Revival Projects are working on. The idea of reusing materials on site. Urban tree reclamation. There’s even an App! It all highlights how poorly we are doing, when it comes to reusing, recycling and sustainability. More importantly it shows us what can be done, how it can be done and the change in thinking that is needed. The idea that “its not waste, its a potentially valuable resource that just needs thought and consideration on how it can be used,” should inspire us all.

Visit their web site here: https://revivalprojects.com.au/

https://owgf.org/2023/12/24/revival-projects/

#CircularEconomy #DeGrowth #Melbourne #OWGF #Recycling #Reusing #SolarPunk #StrongTowns #Urbanism