This post was mentioned on Twitter by jason_pontin: This was a sweet idea by @Bill _Gross. TED 2010 in 100 Tweets: http://bit.ly/aE8wnd…

I agree with your statements about an increase of freedom by reducing our tether to oil rich nations. However, I disagree with your statement that, in our current state of affairs, that fighting will stop once real renewable energy is garnered. For some unexplained reason, humans polar ideologies currently disrupt peace. Our only source of peace will be a perceived common enemy. I hope that one day we will have the foresight to see that, in itself, the disparity of energy resources is our common enemy. It hinders progress, holds back education and restricts equitable growth.

Great blog. Got drawn to it by a tweet you made rerouted through AIDG.

Two points. First regarding this, in some countries there is already a disposal charge on electronics such as in Ireland. We actually pay an extra charge when we buy the product to offset the effects of dumping it. This goes for everything from phones and laptops to toasters. This is already a nice idea as it does make you think about how temporary everything we consume is and how it can be stretched. I think we can go a step further from there and considering there are increasingly companies applying criteria for rating packaging (ironically Wal Mart now do this), why not associate said ratings with an equivalent weighted charge? It’s one way of rewarding someone for choosing the 5 year toothbrush.

Second with regard to your tweet about allowing people in developing nations to earn money remotely. I would really like to know more as having been to Haiti several times on aid work, I have often considered how to help increase their market for locally made crafts. Problem is always infrastructure. No postal system, no good roads and all that before the quake hit. Even though the one thing the haitians do have is a (relatively) great mobile network and sporadic satellite internet. Perhaps you’re aiming for areas with slightly better infrastructure. If you have a link please let me know.

I couldn’t agree more that energy=freedom. If the world focus was energy generation rather than warfare, we would eradicate hunger, etc…Not even mentioning that we would reverse the effects of this crazy coal/gas burning era. What you guys do at eSolar is great because you can store energy for the night hours, which is a huge “medal” on the chest of solar. I love the use of mirrors because it’s so much more elegant than photovoltaic, at least as long as cheap thin foil technology is operational. The work you do with eSolar and Idealab is awesome.
Can you email me, I would like to share something with you off line.
Sincerely,

Christopher Beau
Founder
WhiteEarth.org

It was very enlightening to come across your article about – Energy = Freedom. I think it we are at the brink of that solution already. To becoming totally independent we will have to consider – Need + Demand = Energy Supply. Since the demand keeps growing we will have to decrease the Need. This could be achieved by for e.g. breaking down cities into zones where the need is collectively staggered coupled with almost zero wastage.

It would be better if we could first utilize the available natural energy renewably and intelligently, for e.g. we could have coal fired plants with zero carbon emissions courtesy of Algae which could be harvested to generation bio-diesel.

You are absolutely right that our standard of living has increased with more control of energy but at what cost! Have we learnt to use it responsibly? Why? I guess, it is human nature that anything that is available to us without much effort, does not have a value-tag.

Very nice article. This was my first one since deciding to look career in renewable sources. Please keep it up.

Best wishes,

Arun