Bright Green Futures Ep. 20: Technofeudalists vs. Solarpunk

Often we call the war capitalism vs. solarpunk. Or we might call the antagonists fascists or Neo Colonialists or TESCREALs. Maybe their ideology is authoritarianism or their economics are Technofeudalism, a form of cloud-based capitalism from Yanis Varoufakis’ provocative book, which we’re going to talk more about. Maybe you think that better world will have anarcho-syndicalism or socialism or simply a restoration of our tattered democracy in nations that purport to have it.

We’re struggling to name the sides of this ideological war, even though we increasingly feel the heat of it as the stakes mount: it’s a polycrisis, and it seems like every aspect of our hyper-connected world is in need of some kind of fix or solution, if not revolution. We struggle for easy-to-name ideologies for either side because the polycrisis is so far-reaching, the world is not reductively simple, the sides are still lining up, and especially in terms of the climate crisis, the ground is constantly shifting (sometimes literally), and the future is brightly and terrifyingly unknown.

But I want to take a stab at it, and especially discuss Varoufakis’ book because some recent events are giving edges and clarity to the fight, and I’m honestly surprised how well solarpunk holds up as a counter narrative, an opposing vision to the capitalist hellscape. And I think that means something, that rigor, despite it still being (possibly) a small-ish movement.

We’ve talked extensively about solarpunk and hopepunk and hopeful climate fiction narratives on the pod, so I’m not going to recap all that here. But I highly recommend you follow Not Yet Weathered on TikTok, or at least watch her pinned video about how solarpunk is inherently political as a refresh.

Space solar inspires hope and skepticism as it inches closer to reality

Imagine you wake up and it’s raining outside. Your rooftop solar panels won’t be much help today. But you flick your lights on and start the coffee anyway, knowing the electricity reaching you through the grid is still powered by the sun — except via solar panels out in space.

That’s the promise of space-based solar power: low-carbon, flexible and reliable electricity that could provide clean power even when the sun is not shining on Earth. It would act as a backup power source, like batteries, fossil fuel or nuclear plants, while also complementing existing clean energy sources in an energy-hungry world.

The idea of powering the planet with energy from space is revolutionary and intriguing. Until recently, it seemed unfeasible.

Now, though, with the increasing impacts of climate change, growing energy demand and a rapidly developing space industry, various international efforts are emerging to make the concept, once confined to science fiction storylines, a reality.

Indeed, setting up a solar farm in space is no easy feat: it would involve assembling hundreds of thousands of photovoltaic modules as part of a mile-wide structure thousands of miles away from Earth while also building a massive receiver system on Earth in densely populated areas and integrating it into the country’s grid system.

Space-based solar is a “disruptive technology on the cusp of being commercialized,” said Martin Soltau, co-CEO of Space Solar, a leading company in the field backed by the British government. It’s “really going to provide that global-scale clean energy we need,” he said.

While Soltau’s enthusiasm is palpable, space-based solar power remains a hotly debated technology, with critics dismayed by the expense and uncertainty.

“There have always been individuals in the space and energy community who are passionately opposed to space solar power; they just hate the words,” said former NASA physicist John Mankins, known as the godfather of space solar power due to his nearly three decades of work in the field.

Via Fix the News