Other nations are doing this, why can’t we? – Someday EVERY household will be able to produce its own power for heating and lighting, using solar energy. Japan is planning on doing this by collecting solar power in space and zapping it back down to Earth and the countries in the European Union may join forces to create a huge group of wind turbines and solar panels in order to empower the EU.

Turbines off the windy coast of Scotland may combine with hydro-electric dams in Norway and solar panel “farms” in North Africa. In the January 3rd edition of the Guardian, Alok Jha quotes UK power and climate change minister Lord Hunt as saying, “There are projects where it might make sense to join up with other countries, so this comes at a very good time for us.”

Japan is planning to create solar cells that would capture the sun’s rays, which are 5 times stronger in space than on Earth, and beam them down to the ground through clusters of lasers or microwaves, which would be collected and distributed by gigantic antennas. The biggest problem will be transporting the components into space.

Perhaps because of our Federalist structure, which has been emphasized in the recent election and legislative arguments between the “red” and “blue” states, research in the US is moving in the opposite direction, toward the era of “personalized solar energy,” in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their own homes and communities. Plug-in electric cars are only the first step.

Japan doesn’t have any oil reserves are ours are running out fast (especially as we get into altercations with more oil-producing countries), so we’re rapidly getting into the same situation. If a tiny country like Japan can do this, why can’t WE do it too? Among the many states here in the USA we have the weather and geological diversity to produce solar, wave and wind power. Why can’t we all share this, the way the EU is planning to do?

In the future, we need to learn to share and be generous, simply in order to survive. In order for unknowncountry (with our great podcasts and edge news) to survive in 2010, YOU need to share with us. You can help us a lot by clicking on the “donate” tab on our homepage, but the best way to help us is to Subscribe today! Less than $12 gets you a 3-month subscription. Whitley has set aside the next 2 weeks for Dreamland interviews about child abuse, a topic that has long been of vital interest to him. This week, just for subscribers, he talks about his own hazy memories of being abused at the hands of the government, perhaps as part of the Nazi “paperclip” project.

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