Some reflections on how to come from 'talking about realizing a sustainable world towards 'realizing a sustainable world'

Some reflections on how to come from 'talking about realizing a sustainable world' towards 'realizing a sustainable world'

One of the most striking aspects of ongoing debates regarding sustainability, security of energy supply and social justice is the fractured nature of the perspectives used. All perspectives are true, but partial. And with all due respect to the qualities inherent in each perspective; not seeing the larger picture will lead the EU and humanity as a whole further astray. Further away from a sustainable, secure and socially just future.

One of the key issues seems to be the fact that the chaotic nature of society is often ignored. When seeking solutions, the temptation of reducing an overwhelming chaotic world to a spreadsheet with only a few elements, often is given in to. The responsive action on this simplified world often doesn't solve any of the problems addressed. The problems are merely shifted to another domain and/or time. Unfortunately this is often -implicitly- seen as a positive quality. This approach mainly creates incremental changes, serving interests of large organizations.

The need of a system change becomes evident when using an integral perspective into the matters indicated. All levels of all related matters should be taken into account: sociological, psychological, system theoretical, biological, physical, etc. According validation systems should be used for relevant domains. A daunting effort for the rational mind. Several projects are mentioned briefly below, that can to a large extent serve as experiments with an integrated worldwide scope.

A promising project is 'Concentrated Solar Power' (www.solarpaces.org). This means cooperation with North-Saharan countries and secure, 100% sustainable, electricity supply for all of Europe before 2050. As well as abundant drinking water and related tremendous agricultural potential in the North Sahara. Reasons to flee North Africa will be replaced by reasons to move in. In addition it is also necessary to disseminate this technology throughout the world, especially to the Middle East (www.trecers.net). So that OPEC countries can gain a new source of income, by supplying solar energy to other countries in Asia.

Through sustainable forestry [www.cfr.washington.edu/research.Forest_Energy/fact_sheets/] and mobile on-site methanol production facilities, the 100 million tonnes per year methanol market can be served. Per site per year, 30.000 tonnes dry bio mass can be transformed into 15.000 tonnes of bio methanol. Rural communities worldwide can dedicate themselves to sustainable forestry and earn money themselves (a production facility has a pay back time of 2 years; lease and other financial tools can be tailored for maximum value for all stakeholders). Since the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) is one of the most-promising fuel cell types, this methanol route seems ideally suited to bypass ever problematic hydrogen pursuits.

The methods and means are there for the EU to lead in current pressing problems. There is tremendous opportunity to create economic prosperity from green technology. In order to do so, a system change is necessary.