Our celebration of the 50th anniversary of Small Is Beautiful continues this June with the theme of “Creating a Global Renewable Energy Commons.”
The next Schumacher Conversation takes place virtually Thursday, June 15th at 2:00 PM EDT. As with all 2023 Schumacher Conversations, registration is free.
Register here.
In anticipation, we revisit two relevant essays from our archive. Together, they connect visionary concepts born of E.F. Schumacher’s generation with the challenge and opportunity of a global renewable energy commons.
The World Grid and New Geographies of Cooperation
In this 2022 article, Greg Watson considers where we might look for “optimal pathways for achieving a sustainable, equitable and secure energy outcome for all.” Unsurprisingly, Greg finds little inspiration in recent scenarios published by fossil energy corporations and global consulting firms. Instead, Greg looks back to mid-20th century luminary Buckminster Fuller to light the way forward:
“One of the clearest and most concrete roadmaps leading to a truly sustainable, equitable and secure energy future is that charted by a world-around electric grid, powered entirely by Earth’s renewable energy income—with the potential of providing everyone everywhere with reliable, affordable, and carbon-free electricity—as conceived and first proposed by Buckminster Fuller in the middle of the last century.”
“Bucky’s prescience,” Greg writes, “anticipated the intractable phenomenon described…as the Energy Trilemma: the inability to simultaneously optimize sustainability, energy equity and energy security.” By tapping solar, wind and water for renewable energy around the globe, a “world grid” could address all three.
An interconnected global grid would turn what is typically seen as renewables’ greatest liability — the intermittency of its sources — into an asset: taking full advantage of the “geographic, seasonal, and night-day complementarity” of the sun, wind, and waterways.
Surveying cross-border energy cooperation already underway, such as with Europe’s Union for the Coordinated Transmissions of Electricity (UCTE), Greg writes: “these efforts are, in effect, making the boundaries that separate sovereign nations more porous…” Such spontaneous cooperation is reason of optimism, suggesting that we have “emerged from what Buckminster Fuller referred to as humanity’s womb of permitted ignorance” into a new era of Earth Stewardship.
World Resources Trusteeship
How might we ensure that the limited minerals required for renewable energy infrastructure are sourced ethically, and distributed equitably around the globe? Once more, we look back for renewed clarity — this time, to the foresight of our Co-Founder, Robert Swann. In his 1977 essay, Swann outlined a new system of world resource governance.
“If we look at the question of natural resources form a world perspective, most people will agree in theory that, ideally, such resources as oil, gas, and minerals… should be held under a trusteeship for all the people of the world, allocated and used in such a way as to distribute equitably their use with a planned phaseout as other sources (such as solar energy) are made available…”
How could such a global Trusteeship come into being? Swann points to the principles of the Community Land Trust movement, suggesting that the “concept of the Community Land Trust could be applied on a world level to all natural resources.”
“Applying this concept to a worldwide trust, we could invite individuals around the world with the widest experience in land and trusteeship. One thinks of Vinoba Bhave or J.P. Narayan in India, while they were alive… Included might be some key members of the UN… or others involved with global resources (of the stature of Buckminster Fuller…).
Perhaps, initially, these “elder statesmen” would have an honorary position, while the working members of the trust would be selected… by local or regional groups…”
Sensing latent synergies between local land reform and Earth stewardship on a global scale, Swann envisions a new institution for a just, sustainable planet, rooted in practical experience. “[I]t is on this spirit, this instinctive need to protect and care for land that resides deep inside all of us,” Swann concludes, “on which the future of the human race depends – gradually returning land to its original place in economics, a gift from God or nature.” Such boldness remains essential for the emergence of a life-affirming energy transition.
Allied Organizations for June
Each month, we shine a light on aligned organizations and initiatives that are championing transformation in their respective fields. Those recognized in June’s theme are those working to usher in an equitable energy future capable of unlocking greater human potential. Below are just a few highlights—explore the full list here.
The Fair Cobalt Alliance (FCA) is a stakeholder action platform launched in 2020, bringing together actors from across the entire cobalt supply chain to support fair artisanal and small-scale (ASM) cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Their purpose is to assist in the building of a DRC cobalt mining sector that is known to be a responsible partner in providing the minerals needed for a green economy.
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is an independent, non-partisan, nonprofit bringing experts together across disciplines to transform the global energy system. RMI works with businesses, policymakers, communities, and other organizations to identify and scale energy system interventions that will cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The World Energy Council is the principal impartial network of leaders and practitioners promoting an affordable, stable and environmentally sensitive energy system for the greatest benefit of all. Formed in 1923, the Council is the UN-accredited body, with more than 3,000 member organizations located drawn from governments, private and state corporations, academia, NGOs and other stakeholders.
As the year unfolds, we will continue to highlight organizations working in each of our twelve 50th anniversary themes, bringing