In earlier blogs I’ve shown that the future can be bright (see: “Create your own future”, “Creating your own future: what is possible today?” and “A positive future scenario”). Therefore you do need the right future scenario and take the right decisions. But we have to change our attitude if we are to get here.
How can we accomplish a wonderful future? How can we build this self-sufficient city with free, independent residents that don’t have to work so much, and are happy if they choose to work (as described in my earlier blog “A positive future scenario”) ? First of all: don’t believe what a lot of politicians and world leaders are saying! Don’t believe them when they say we need oil, coal and gas so much that we have to start wars, or drill under the North Pool. Don’t believe the CEOs of the majority of large companies when they say we have to work a little bit harder to get out of the economic crisis. Don’t believe them when they say that our economy has to grow and their companies have to grow in order to come out of the crisis. The only thing they want is their salary or their power to grow!
You need to understand that solar energy is the best solution for all systems requiring energy. OK, there will be some alternatives, like windmills and even bio fuels. But all the energy can be obtained sustainably, without oil, coal or gas. Take a look at the WWF rapport on 100% renewable energy by 2050 [1]. You need to understand that we don’t need so much money to have a comfortable life; that a lot of the work we are doing today is only to keep others in work, but not to make our life easier. If energy, food and water are almost for free, and living in our homes is sustainable and therefore much cheaper, we don’t need all that money. Maybe we can even do without the current monetary system…
We just need to eat a little bit differently: less meat and fish; more fruit and vegetables; and maybe even insects. With a little more creativity and, for instance, a 3D food printer we can make beautiful meals without real meat, even though we don’t yet realize it. Get your food from the local market, out of the greenhouses or from vertical farms in the city, or why not grow your own food in your garden. Use the free time you now have to help others: help them in the garden; care for the needy; educate others and spread your knowledge. And above all enjoy life and be happy!
It is possible to make a sustainable future city that is completely self-supporting and with happy residents. In fact, this is already possible! But we can definitely accomplish this by 2030. We will have to change our way of life a little – but not very much. We have to eat less meat and fish. And we have to stop listening so much to all things the political and world leaders are saying. Especially when they keep saying we need oil and gas. Or if they saying we need our economy to grow, and that work is the most important issue.
It is not a life full of work that makes us happy. In this scenario, we don’t need all that work and we don’t need all the money that we need today. All we need is a good vision of our future. And to adjust our behaviour to go with it. We already have most of the knowledge of science and techniques to reach this goal. There is still some work to be done: to change behaviour and to optimize some of the science and technology to realize everything we need inside this future city. But it’s certainly possible. And we can do this if we do it together.
Literature and sources
[1] WWF, ECOFYS, OMA, “The Energy Report, 100% renewable Energy by 2050”, 2011
