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Solarpunk is happening in Africa

climatedrift.substack.com

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Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#3

Post by dingnuts »

r14c wrote: post #2

solarpunk is just socialism with afrofuturist aesthetics. happy for them!

why are you happy? many African nations attempted socialism in the 20th century, and all of those states have since collapsed. trying the same failed strategy over and over doesn't bode well.

anyway, I hope they get electricity. the article said a lot about markets for something related to an ideology that rejects them.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#5

Post by baq »

r14c wrote: post #2

solarpunk is just socialism with afrofuturist aesthetics. happy for them!

Funny. I read the article and couldn’t shake the feeling that this is exactly how capitalism lifts whole countries out of poverty.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#9

Post by epistasis »

The grid is HUGELY expensive, an absolutely massive cost for our electricity. And it would still be expensive in a well-regulated environment where you can quickly and easily get permission to build, without, say, voter ballot propositions illegally blocking a transmission line for years [1]. Here in the US we have a very very poorly regulated environment for adding to our grid, it moves slower than molasses and there are so many parties that have unilateral veto points. The advent of a new transmission route in the US these days is pretty much a miracle event.

Now imagine a world where there's tons of bribes to government officials all along the way to get a grid going (in the US you just need to bribe landowners and hold-outs). Or there's bribes to get a permit for the large centralized electriticy generator. And you have to deal with importing a whole new skill set and trades, on top of importing all the materials, fuel, etc.

Decentralized solar plus batteries is already cheaper than electricity + transmission for me at my home in the US. The only thing stopping me is the permitting hassle or the contractor hassle.

Out in greenfield, solar plus storage is so revolutionary. This is bigger than going straight to mobile phones instead of landlines.

Africa is going to get so much power, and it's all going to be clean, renewable energy. Thanks to all the entrepreneurs and engineers over the past decades that have continuously and steadily improved this technology, it's one of the bright lights of humanity these days.

[1] https://www.utilitydive.com/news/maine-jury-clears-avangrids...

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