Hats off to (Roy) McAlister

IF I said it, I must of meant it . . .
The AltEnergy movement got a huge boost this month, courtesy of a pbs special. [ Nova:Saved by the Sun ] Several pols have identified PBS as the most trusted source in america, ahead of things like 'the press', 'the government' , or religion.
In short, regarding ideas tranmitted over media, things on pbs are 'real' to Americans. This fact has NOT gone unnoticed, and a battle for the soul of public television is even now underway. (I blame Mit Romney, but all that is another story entirely. . . )

The single most impressive thing on offer on this solar-palooza was the cheeky fact that (As It Turns Out ) Germany had instituted a crash program to go solar, with the idea to get about 20% of their power that way by 2010. Now, in 2007, they have already hit the 30% mark!

I found this shocking, since everyone I talk to in the states sort of views solar power as a lovable pipe dream - maybe not as outright silly as Heironomous Instruments, but certainly not as something practical anytime soon.

I was pretty shocked - how did this elude my notice for years? ? Some quick research revealed that the German push WAS reported, largely in trade and finacial press. Not Surprisingly, Japan is the second [to Germany ] 'most Solar ' nation.

Gauging the responses at the diner, no one seemed to share my amazement. ' Well, that's Germany, not here. ' was the consensus. So I've been looking into this some more . . .

Las Vegas of course opened the doors here, and construction has just begun on the lagest Solar plant in North America - In Sarnia, On. - about 40 minutes outside Detroit. ( You may recall that Detroit is the 3rd LEAST sunny place in the continental USA)

Where part of the 'That's Germany' shrug has been the suspicion that the US are lagging behind technologically, the prime movers here seem to come from Berkeley California -much of the German tech, as well as the Sarnia plant has been built by or licensed from.
So, it's already happening, here and abroad. The next generation of the technology is already in use by NASA.

. . . So either I owe him an apology,
Which Brings us to Roy.

My first exposures to RoyWorld certainly had . . . a certain feel? ? ? Everything was in a certain VOICE one usually associates with, say, a Stanislav Szukalski getting you wise to the idea that half the human race are descended from Yetis, or Dr Richard Ruhling expaining how the Bible helps him predict earthquakes . . . well, not exactly yet, but LIVES could be at stake.
-ANd I know that INTENSITY, the urgency yet holding on to THE BIG SECRET, and the leanings towards GRANDIOUSITY . . . and perhaps I associate all that with my own personality avoidant disorder. . .

AS I've talked to people in the business of alternative . . . thinking, lets call it . . . the IDEA that the GREAT DAY already came -in fact it actually happened back in 2004, is depressing to them. It's like Christians finding out Jesus already came back - in fact he's been living in Des Moines the last 60 years. ( if anyone is interested in helping spread that as a rumor, please help me out!)
When I try to imagine this in terms of WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN, there are some interesting things afoot. We have the collision of a subculture with the monoculture. What do all the conspiracy theorists do who claimed Solar power was supressed when Exxon and BP start selling it to you?

The idea that Royal Dutch petroleum and Siemens have created Shell Solar ( is Roy on their board of directors?) has poured salt in the wound, and it seems clear to me that there is an underlying belief system at work here. Is there such a thing as Populist technology? ? ? Was there a political or perhaps more precisely an ideological dream at work the whole time? A liberation for the Enron generation? I can see this in the tail end of the baby boomers who were hoping for a Reckoning, where 'The powers that be' would admit that THEY were wrong and the fringe was right . . . ( Again with the right and wrong! Where does that come from - is it conditioned like 'Fnords' in the educational system? As I've already written, that's about the hardest thing to get . . .the 'I'm right and you are wrong ' thing eats up soooo much availiable energy. )

Or Nothing At All . . .

THEN AGAIN, Fuck all that - it looks like Solar energy is already passe! Here is the US patent (5590031) office's milestone grant to a zero point free energy device - http://www.google.com/patents?id=at0nAAAAEBAJ&dq=5590031 -[ a glance reveals that on Mythbusters, the dish antennae was replaced with a wire, which seems like trying to pick up satellite tv with a coathanger . . . ]

Sorry Roy - it looks like Zero point and Nano tech are going to be what you thought Hydrogen and Carbon fiber would be. ( as a dandy and fop, I am forever proud that the first commercial use of nanotechnology was in the making of stain-free wrinkle resistant pants! )

Then again, who knows what else might happen? To be sure, there are rumors, as always. The latest one is that the Irish are getting up to something big this summer with magnetics in the free-energy race . . . and who knows? ? Solar power is still sci-fi to some folks who are already getting it. Maybe that's what this is all about - How the Transition Happens. Everything that seemed like Sci-fi but is in fact tenable will eventually come to pass, and it doesn't happen in an exciting revolutionary way. I think that 'the revolution' has been an article of faith for a long time. So I would like us all to look out for the effects of this. I imagine there will be similar transitions requiring alot of lateral thinking for us all over the next decade.
Love,
-El Pirata