“Democracy seen as the pinnacle poster boy for all of our species struggles for freedom and fairness.”

With millennia of previous generations before us, bereft of a voice, or any rights we take for granted in our modern world, the struggles and endurance of those that fought for our right to vote, was a dangerous and life-threatening thing to do.

Such sacrifices are still going on today, so the achievement of those countries that succeeded in a one man, one vote system, cannot be understated. (more…)

“An open letter to the next generation we have let down so badly.”

Dear son

If you are reading this, then that must indicate the internet is still up and running and the most significant energy crisis predicted by many including myself has not yet occurred.

Time for changes or time for consequences?

I write this letter to you in the year you were born 2012.

This is the year which has shown the true extent of problems which face us all. The real issues and utter suffering caused to the average person in the street brought upon by the 2008 financial failure are only just beginning to bite. Unbelievably, still, no one has been called to account or faced justice for this yet. (more…)

“The world of unintended consequences is about to hit humanity where it hurts, in his stomach!”

Every action has a consequence.

For those that thought climate change was about giving the British Isles a Mediterranean feel, the reality is much more dramatic. Weather patterns are changing, and this is affecting our agriculture and more importantly, our ability to feed ourselves.

In a previous article, I reminisced about the childhood memories of free food, with 25% free offers available and 50% free packets were common. A practice which is fast dying out as food manufacturers look to counter the rising costs of energy, by reducing the amount they give you for the same or higher prices. (more…)

“Listening to a radio debate about global warming, it became obvious (but apparently not all) how humanity has painted itself into a corner.”

Climate change kills.

The needs and wants of people constrained by the engine of commerce are at loggerheads with the requirements of a healthy planet. Prioritising, one of the other will lead to a devastating outcome, whichever put first. The old rock and a hard place scenario.

So world leaders have signed up to the, go with what you know, approach and continuation of growth leading to resource wars, famine and ecological damnation. (more…)

Why do we let fool’s continue to chase gold?

It’s a fool’s gold to continue to increase industrial growth when it is apparently affecting our ability to feed ourselves.

Climatic changes bringing on crop failure, water supply problems and marine diversity. Nature needs protecting when so many humans, including the western world, depend.

So it comes as no surprise, that the former chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and current vice-president of the RSPB, Sir John Lawton, said this week, which the chancellor’s views on the environment are “potentially quite dangerous” and his views were “not interested in evidence”. (more…)

“While watching the queen’s jubilee celebration, it struck me how most of us are living through the best of times.”

Has humanity peaked?

What’s this got to do with solar panels? Please bear with me on this; the ending is banging.

Showing my seven-year-old stepson, images from the Hubble space telescope and satellite pictures of the Earth, I was surprised by his blasé nature of the subject matter. (more…)

“If one lesson can learn from history, it is that greed leads to downfall.”

Game-changing solar panels and installations.

It is an ugly characteristic, which both helps and hinders humanity, but mostly leads to ruin in the end.

Greed is humanity’s Achilles’ heel.

After reading a newspaper article about Richard Ricci, a London banker with a 100 million of pounds fortune, who was then photographed buying lottery tickets, to win the 97 million of Euro prize. Why?

Here, is a man who could never spend the amount he already had, attempting to amass even more wealth for himself. Here is evidence, that people like Mr Ricci, will continually hoard money away from society. This hoarding of wealth is why the engines of commerce are failing. (more…)

As someone who’s involved in the PV solar panel (photovoltaic) industry since 2004, I have seen the highs and lows of the industry over the last few years, with a continued stream of grants and tariff fiasco.

It has broken my heart recently, to see how poorly the latest government policies dealt the industry, but not all the blame should be lade at the door of the government.

The recent media interest from a high-profile court case, which cast a dark cloud over the industry, left consumers confused and left their confidence at an all-time low.

(more…)

“What do solar panels and the internet have in common?”

Greed caused the dot.com boom and bust of the turn of the millennium. People rushed to invest in a new exciting, technology with only one thing in mind, financial gain.

With a flood of people willing to invest, new and exciting internet companies now viewed as the next big thing, and at the time, many thought would be here to stay.

The fledgeling internet industry when Google was still in its infancy, saw an anticipated return on investment figures, which in hindsight were just too good to be true.

Anything coming across as familiar yet? Greed, it could be said, got in the way of a fantastic idea, but did it? (more…)

“Have you thought of where this modern road is leading? What’s humanity’s ultimate conclusion?”

When the lights go out.

We are all currently enjoying the bounty of thousands of years of accumulated wisdom, which have brought, peace to most of the world and technological revolutions climaxing in the ability to break away, study and admire the planet we inhabit, which generations before us, could never have even imagined.

The road, however, long, is not unending, and the ability of modern civilisation curtailed. There doesn’t seem to be a year goes by without the cost of energy rising higher or the price of a cultures lifeblood, petrol, increasing too. (more…)