“...and now for many a year there will be no more rambling through the aisles of the wood, with occasional vistas through which you see the water. My muse may be excused if she is silent henceforth. How can you expect the birds to sing when their groves are cut down?” Thoreau, Walden
As you will see from the video, the main news this week is that a big utility company want to make an ‘electricity superhighway’ (aka ‘autopista electrica’). They want it to run all the way to France, over the Pyrenees, heading just behind my land, coming from God knows where. Satan’s arsehole, probably.
It seems there is nowhere to hide. The quiet, simple life is under threat once again from the incessant march of so-called ‘progress’ and ‘technology’.
The thing is, this technology is outdated. This is a retrogressive step. It is the company, not me, that is behind the times.
Microgeneration is the future people! (Actually, it is the present. I’m not yet sure if we have a future).
I’m sure Big Nasty and Greedy Inc know this. And I’m sure they are shitting themselves. Think of all the profit to be lost if the people can generate their own electricity! Quick, lets build massive infrastructure, before it becomes completely redundant, and see if we can’t squeeze out a few more million in profits, before the excrement hits the solar-powered fan.
It’s ok, BN&G. I have an answer for us both. It’s a win-win situation. You will continue to make supernormal profits by screwing the little guy, and I will continue to be able to sit on my land without getting my gonads fried by your electric cables. Here’s how:
Instead of investing all that money in electricity pylons and bribes (sorry, I mean ‘compensation’) to local Government, you invest it in solar panels. You pay for the solar panels, their installation and, if necessary, their maintenance (NB solar panels rarely need any maintenance, but don’t tell the punters that – then you can stiff them for a few more Euros every month). You supply all the houses you would have supplied electricity for with solar set ups so that they can generate their own electricity! No cables! No children with cancer! No nuclear explosions or waste to throw into the sea! No monstrosities marring this beautiful landscape!
I know I know, it sounds terrible. But bear with me. You still get to make piles of cash.
Instead of households paying you a monthly direct debit for energy usage, they pay you a monthly direct debit to pay back the cost of purchase, installation and maintenance. Plus interest of course. Kind of like an electricity mortgage.
There you go. Clean, safe energy, but we still maintain people’s dependence on big business and therefore the status quo. Everybody happyish?
Great. Well then leave this beautiful countryside alone and go and buy up a pile of solar panel companies double quick, before the competition reads this blog and beats you to it.
By the way, I am giving this idea away for free. There is no patent pending. Just go out and exploit it.
Have a great day, big corporations of the world. May your directors’ bonuses increase exponentially.
1 comment:
Your right, in a way, due to a higher profit incentive, 'the grid' is more likely to be created and expand than off-grid generation BUT you can generate and sell stuff back to the grid or use it less/keep off it.
Some people have developed small nuclear plants for communities ( you bury them ) but it is all a stop gap with renewables or that hydrogen stuff from the moon ( the reason so many nations are going back to the moon ).
Still, interesting to see the profit motive, no adverts yet seen to 'walk somewhere' or 'do without this big new tv'
Post a Comment