Our future survival hinges on our ability to overcome the challenges posed by population growth and are constantly increasing demands for the planet’s resources. Do we need to consume less, limit our wants and review our needs? Or shall we put our money on innovation, that powerful force unique to the species that has, thus far, guided us towards prosperity and growth?
In our past two articles, we examined both negative and positive trends in our effort to protect our planet from the effects of climate change. Today, we examine the issue as a whole and look into two competing ideas that offer a solution on how we will respond to humanity’s greatest current challenge.
In the book The Wizard and the Prophet, written by noted journalist and author Charles C. Mann, the author names the two sides of the debate as wizards and prophets. The prophets are those hardcore environmentalists who believe that by resource overuse, including uncontrolled energy usage and emission release, we will doom our planet with our species included. The wizards are those who believe that innovation will trump all, and only by betting all our money on technological progress can all of us win this fight.
Who to believe? On one hand, it is indeed true that our use of resources, especially energy resources, is getting out of hand. Yes, we’re seeing more energy efficient light bulbs, better energy optimization technology and other advancements that negate much of our growing needs for energy, with the result being that North America and Europe have stabilized their energy consumption. However, the growth of consumption is undeniable elsewhere. Asia is using more than twice as much energy as it did just 20 years ago. We’re seeing a serious rise in energy usage across South America, Middle East and other regions as well.
World Energy Usage (1990–2017) in Millions of Tons of Oil Equivalent (Mtoe)
https://yearbook.enerdata.net/total-energy/world-consumption-statistics.html
Innovation has made significant strides as well. Solar power is cheaper than ever before.In 1977, prices for crystalline silicon cells were about $77 per watt. June 2014, they were as low as $0.36 per watt, which is about 200 times less than four decades ago. We’re also looking into using technology to actively engineer our climate, the main targets being greenhouse gas removal and solar radiation management.
There’s an argument to be made for both sides: energy consumption is projected to rise well into the 21st century, but innovation may bring unexpected changes that tip the balance in our favor.
At FUERGY, we’re not looking to gamble with our future. Rather than put our money on one side of the debate, we’re hedging our bets by considering both the wizards and the prophets of the climate change discussion.
The FUERGY Device was designed by our team of engineers and energy experts who provided energy optimization solutions for large-scale customers. As such, it provides device owners with the same benefits that optimize their energy consumption, cutting back on their demands and reducing their demands for electricity from the power grid.
On the other hand, we’re also making full use of innovation; we’re using AI-powered energy sharing backed by blockchain, taking advantage of the all-time low costs of renewable technologies such as solar systems and leveraging the capacities of modern solar energy storage to create a secure method of trading green energy. FUERGY is creating a completely New Energy Ecosystem endorsing the energy decentralization and microgrid building.
So, our question for the wizards and the prophets of the climate change debate is as follows: why don’t we strive for both reduction and innovation? In its most extreme form, reduction alone is not far removed from a Luddite fantasy: we’re well past the point of a return to a simpler state, of living in harmony with nature. Population growth trends are enough to discourage the prophet’s dream of a global scale-back on resource usage. On the other hand, believing that innovation alone will counteract the powerful forces of nature is naive. What good is the best of our devices in the face of a super-hurricane? Should we consider wizards alone, we’d end up in a post-apocalyptic world that has removed itself from its natural environment through its extensive use of technology.
As with many other issues, we believe a more balanced approach is likely to be the best way forward. This is why we’re not looking to just provide a cutting edge excess energy trading platform, but also reducing each users electricity consumption and introducing energy optimization solutions to households and smaller companies.
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