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ALTERNATIVES

ALTERNATIVES

Video: Interview with Open Source Ecology pioneer Marcin Jakubowski

14th July 2016

Marcin Jakubowski is one of those crazy people who has been trying to open source a civilization starter kit from the ground up. Here he talks of why he considers himself farmer-scientist and open source ecologist; scarcity; distribution and post-scarcity; the definition, goals of open source ecology; the civilization starter kit of 50 irreplaceable machines….

The Anarcho-Primitivist who wants us all to give up technology

11th July 2016

Green anarchist John Zerzan is arguably the world’s most prominent anti-technology philosopher. His new book, Why Hope? The Stand Against Civilization, published by Feral House, makes the startling argument that ‘nothing produced by civilization can ever redeem the systematic attempt it has undertaken these few millennia to destroy or alienate human connection with the earth.”…

Video: This wind turbine costs as much as an iPhone, powers an entire house

10th July 2016

Avant Garde Innovations, founded by siblings Arun and Anoop George from Kerala, has come up with a low-cost wind turbine that can generate enough electricity to power an entire house for a lifetime. The size of a ceiling fan, this wind turbine can generate 5 kWh/kW per day— with just a one-time cost of US$750….

On Brexit: The fertile ground of bewilderment

9th July 2016

Charles Eisenstein in a new blog-post: The Brexit vote marks a rare moment of discontinuity, when the usual normalizing narratives falter and a society experiences a fertile and frightening moment of bewilderment. Brexit, though, is a mere foreshadowing of the vertigo that will ensue with the next economic crisis, which will dwarf that of 2008….

Indigenous Terra Madre festival – The Shillong Declaration

7th July 2016

The Indigenous Terra Madre festival 2015 at Shillong brought together indigenous peoples from around the world to share knowledge about food, nutrition and biocultural diversity. The Shillong Declaration, asserts that everyone has a right to good, clean and fair food and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage, tradition and culture that make this possible….

Bookshelf: Our Renewable Future

6th July 2016

The introduction to Our Renewable Future, a new book on the profound, all-encompassing energy transformation that will be witnessed throughout the world over the next few decades. Two irresistible forces will drive this historic transition: the necessity of avoiding catastrophic climate change and the ongoing depletion of the world’s oil, coal, and natural gas resources….

Research paper: Envisioning carbon neutral villages

2nd July 2016

This paper, published in Current Science Journal, is an outcome of the author’s 5 year engagement of working closely with rural communities in India for a climate change adaptation programme. It had 10+ thematic areas of research and intervention, including on local money flows, climate risk impact assessment, carbon neutrality, livelihood resilience and alternate energy….

No thanks to the govt, but coal may be on its way out in India anyway

30th June 2016

The Centre’s recent directive to state-owned power generation firms to stop coal imports and instead buy domestic coal, saw skeptical voices warning against seeing it as a sign of new commitment to reduce coal consumption. However, there’s good reason to the hope that India may be moving away from coal, irrespective of the government’s intent….

The commons: A credible strategy for building a radically different world

29th June 2016

David Bollier writes: How are we to imagine and build a radically different world when the incumbent system aggressively resists change? Our challenge is not just articulating alternatives, but identifying strategies for actualizing them. The commons —a paradigm, a discourse, an ethic, and a set of social practices— holds great promise in transcending this conundrum….

The Economic Times

These green socialists want to see a ‘hundred flowers bloom’

Soumya Aji writes: They have no formal structure and operate in village level groups in Karnataka. The motto for the effort, as of now, is “green socialism”. And they are slowly gathering heft, showing by example and by spreading awareness that there can be an alternative way of living, one that is self-sustaining and satisfying….

Video & report: Time to ditch industrial agriculture: here’s the evidence

25th June 2016

‘ From Uniformity to Diversity: A paradigm shift from industrial agriculture to diversified agroecological systems’, calls for breaking the chains that lock monocultures and industrial-scale feedlots to dominant farming systems in order to unleash truly sustainable approaches. In the accompanying video, Food MythBusters show why we really don’t need industrial agriculture to feed the world….

Bookshelf: Degrowth – A Vocabulary for a New Era

24th June 2016

Broroti Roy writes that in India, many are reluctant to use the term ‘degrowth’ because growth is seen as the only way to get rid of poverty. However, there are many grassroots initiatives emerging here, too, which follow the same principles of respecting the planet’s limits and pursuing the core values of equity and justice….

Morvarid Fernandez

How to achieve sustainable clean water for everyone

Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the one-size-fits-all approach of centralised infrastructure and instead pursue a suite of solutions tailored to local needs. Could it be possible to have water systems that have no adverse impact on the environment? Such a transformation will require new technology but also new ways for people to interact with water….

Why global capital fears ‘Brexit’

23rd June 2016

Helena Norberg-Hodge writes: Today, banks and corporations run Europe. For big corporations and financial institutions, diversity is an impediment, whereas monoculture – in all aspects of life, from seeds, fast food and clothing, to architecture – is ‘efficient’. For them, a single Europe-wide market of 500 million people was an essential step to further growth:…

Forecast: The world nears peak fossil fuels for electricity

22nd June 2016

The way we get electricity is about to change dramatically, as demand for fossil fuels comes to an end— in less than a decade. According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast, massive shifts are coming soon to power markets because electric cars and affordable battery storage for renewable power are arriving faster than expected….

Ashish Kothari: Livelihoods vs. Deadlihoods

Economic development and modernity have transformed livelihoods into deadlihoods. They are wiping out millennia-old livelihoods that were ways of life, with no sharp division between work and leisure; replacing them with dreary assembly line jobs where we wait desperately for holidays… Less visible is the pauperisation of those deprived of natural resources they depended on….

‘GDP = Development’: Debunking the myth

20th June 2016

Aniket Motale writes: Many new age economists have realised the limitations of GDP as a measure of development, including a few Nobel Laureates like Joseph Stiglitz. US politician Robert F. Kennedy once criticised GDP saying, “It measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile “. Let’s take a closer look at the arguments against GDP….

Interview: Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for U.S. presidential elections

18th June 2016

Dr. Jill Stein is an organizer, physician and pioneering environmental health advocate– and the Green Party’s candidate for president of the U.S. She presents herself as an alternative to a Democratic Party where Bernie Sanders may have support, but Hillary Clinton is the presidential candidate. In this interview, Stein discusses her campaign with Ashley Smith….

Report: Coal and gas to stay cheap, but renewables still win race on costs

16th June 2016

Bloomberg reports that cheaper coal and gas will not derail the decarbonisation of world energy. By 2040, ‘zero-emission’ energy sources will form 60% of installed capacity. Wind and solar will account for 64% of the 8.6TW of new power-generating capacity added over the next 25 years, and for almost 60% of the $11.4 trillion invested….

How viable (and sustainable) are solar PV systems? A debate

15th June 2016

Post the Paris climate agreement, the world looks to solar energy more than ever to reduce carbon emissions and counter climate change, with multi-billion dollar solar programmes announced by just about every major country. But just how efficient, and environmentally sustainable is the celebrated solar photovoltaic technology? Here’s what some leading voices have to say….