A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.
www.brucenixon.com
Smart national and regional power grids that can balance both fluctuating demand and the
fluctuations of different sources of green energy.
Saving energy by turning off unnecessary lights at night in cities.
Decentralised renewable energy supplying communities with both heat and power.
Power generation by small and large scale hydropower.
Turning factories, homes, offices, farms and other businesses into generators of heat and power –
mini neighbourhood power stations.
Community power generation schemes.
Rooftop generation – but generally excluding micro turbines which are not financially viable for most
homes.
Homes as mini-power stations, e.g. using sun and light, selling what they do not need.
Better feed-in tariffs to make domestic and small business generation more attractive for people.
Adapting the national grid to facilitate feed-in.
Biomass for both small scale heat and power generation – but not large scale growing of crops for
biofuels – that diverts land from food.
Woodlands managed as local sources of fuel.
Micro-generation through small turbines and photovoltaic panels.
Solar panels and ground source for heating.
Combined heat and power.
Heat pumps.
I acknowledge, as sources, Geoffrey Lean’s 10 ways to save the world, Independent on Sunday, 15 th March,
2009 and Oliver Tickell’s Renewing our obligations, Guardian, Saturday, 27thSeptember, 2008.
Transport
A holistic transport policy, of which the following innovations can be a part, has great potential to contribute
to a more sustainable, happier, safer and healthier life. The development of engines that emit much less
CO2 or are powered by alternatives to fossil fuel has tremendous potential to reduce green house gas
emissions and enable the world to adapt to Peak Oil.
Trains, powered by electricity instead of diesel, especially electricity generated from renewable sources, will
make an increasing contribution. Braking systems on electric trains that return power to the supply for other
trains are already used on our railways. Regenerative breaking, as this is called, and kinetic energy, the
energy a moving object possesses because of its motion, is also being used in hybrid cars.
Freight The big question is how freight haulage and deliveries will be powered. Electric vehicles as yet are far
from providing a complete answer for ether personal travel or freight purposes. It is likely that both our
travel habits and road haulage will be fundamentally transformed.
Hydrogen fuel cell buses In December 2008, two design teams shared the London Mayor’s competition prize
for a new Eco-friendly London Routemaster. Two designs will be passed on to bus manufacturers, following a
competitive tendering process, to develop a final design which could be in service by 2011. However, David
MacKay casts doubt on the hydrogen fuel cell solution in the near future.
Hybrid cars Honda and Toyota have been successfully selling these for years. Honda, General Motors, Nissan
and Toyota are building new, smaller hybrid models. Whilst hybrids offer fuel savings of some 20-30%,
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