Solarpunk Collective

I recently submitted some ideas to the consultation being undertaken by the Labour Party for a kind of "Green New Deal" for Britain. Unfortunately, my submission was lost due to a server error and I had to resubmit. It did allow me to revisit some of my ideas, and record them here. Opportunities in the low carbon economy Please describe any industries, sectors, or projects that you think are well suited to your region, city or town, that would help to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse Gas emissions are not limited to any one sector but are spread across all aspects of our society. From land use to transport, from construction to energy production. Each sector contributes a share. Reducing any one sector to 0% net emissions would only return our emissions to start of the 21st century levels. There are many ways that each sector can be addressed, and experts should be consulted on any possibility. Just one example that springs to mind is the proje...

Reginald watched the ants scurry up and down the line of seedlings, tending the little plants with their appendages. Every so often, one would pause and shake its little blocky head, looking this way and that, waggling its antenna as it received an update or new instructions. “I don’t know about you Reg, but I think I’m going to call it a day.” Suzy peered over her gogz at Reg, obviously waiting for a reply. Reg kept watching until one of the ants stopped for a longer period. He walked over to the bot and flicked open its access cover. Just as he suspected, it was shutting down for its evening update cycle. Reg waved his hands about, throwing shapes for the gogz to interpret as data. He signed off with a flurry of fingers and turned to Suzy. She had already headed for the locker room. They met again outside the farm cube near the lifts. Both of them were fresh from the shower and ready for an evening of relaxation or excitement or whatever was on offer that night in the...

What is solarpunk? That's a question that gets asked a lot. At least one source claims that solarpunk grew out of single post on tumblr in 2014. Solarpunk is a genre of Speculative Fiction that focuses on craftsmanship, community, and technology powered by renewable energy, wrapped up in a coating of Art Nouveau blended with African and Asian aesthetics. Some of the themes which were brainstormed in that original post were: Natural colors! Art Nouveau! Handcrafted wares! Tailors and dressmakers! Streetcars! Airships! Stained glass window solar panels!!! Education in tech and food growing! Less corporate capitalism, and more small businesses! Solar rooftops and roadways! Communal greenhouses on top of apartments! Electric cars with old-fashioned looks! No-cars-allowed walkways lined with independent shops! Renewable energy-powered Art Nouveau-styled tech life!  You can certainly find a lot of images on line which follow those ideas. Drawing by Owen C. ...

By the time they reached the half-moon village the sweat was pouring down Dante’s back like a river. The trees overhanging the road gave some shelter, but the beginning of summer’s deep humidity meant that even shade brought no relief. The rising and falling of cicadas was almost a roar. “Let’s see if any of those buildings have windows, we can set up an AC unit inside and cool off.” The group led the horses over the broken asphalt and in to the abandoned village. Hannah walked around the small room picking up trinkets and looking over the detritus of a life abandoned. There were no signs of what had happened to the owners. The small house was structurally sound and everything was tidy, but the dust lay thick on everything and it was clear no one had lived here for years. “What happened to everyone?” Jungwoo looked up from his minicomp, scrolling through feeds. “It says here the last person living in the village moved to an assisted living center in the city. The deeds to the ...

“Miss Wightwitch?” As always, the guard asked the question through the locked door. He didn’t slide back the viewing port or use the intercom. “Last I checked.” “Please answer yes or no.” “Yes.” “You have an interview in 2 minutes.” The female prisoner got up from the stiff cot, walked over to the radiator and picked up her prison jacket. It was a coarse synthetic garment which would probably last longer than she would. It was also itchy and uncomfortable. When she was alone in the cell she didn’t wear it. But you couldn’t attend an interview in your underwear. The walk took longer than usual. The single guard led her down several dusty hallways before going through a double locked door in to a nicer part of the prison. There were carpets here and the paint on the walls looked like it had been applied sometime in the current century. This was visitor country. In 16 months of incarceration, Ness had yet to see anyone who wasn’t a guard or an investigating agent. This meant...