Solarpunk

It’s been about 10 years since I first heard the word “solarpunk.” It came to me via Facebook feed, in the form of a link to Adam Flynn’s “Solarpunk: Notes Toward a Manifesto.” As a lapsed writer of SFF and one-time poli-sci major, this was a pretty irresistible title for me. So I clicked.

The piece still holds up (I’ve assigned it a couple times). It’s a brief and elegant medley of imagery, references, and sloganeering. It had stuff to say about pop culture, and politics, and the looming climate crisis. For me, the most exciting part was that it implied a science fiction that wasn’t ‘space manifest destiny’ (which I could tell wasn’t happening) or 'cyberpunk singularity’ (which I’d soured on living in the shadow of Silicon Valley) or ‘dystopia/apocalypse’ (which was oversaturated in the post-Hunger Games/Walking Dead media landscape of the teens). And that science fiction had a catchy name that seemed to open up bright vistas of previously clouded possibility.

I was living in the Bay Area at the time and realized that actually I kinda knew Adam. We had met a friend’s birthday escape room night in SF Japantown. So I sent him a message, and we got a beer and talked solarpunk, and pretty soon I started thinking about what I had to say on the topic.

The result was a longread-style essay on Medium titled “On the Political Dimensions of Solarpunk." Now, a decade later, this is one of the pieces of writing I’m most known for. It’s been read tens of thousands of times, cited in at least a dozen graduate theses, and translated into several languages. Here at around the 10 year mark of my involvement in solarpunk, I want to look back on this piece, talk about how it’s held up, how solarpunk has evolved, and what might be next.

Dutch engineers are turning ordinary buildings into green, living ecosystems—literally. According to recent reports from the Netherlands, researchers have developed innovative “living bricks” that Support natural moss growth, transforming walls into vertical gardens that not only look stunning but help tackle urban Pollution and climate change.

These moss-covered bricks work like natural air filters. They absorb carbon dioxide and other air pollutants, actively purifying the surrounding air. And that’s not all—because moss retains moisture and thrives in humid environments, it also cools buildings by reducing heat absorption. That means these bricks can help cities stay cooler during increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves.

I’m racing-downhill excited to announce the release of my latest solarpunk novel, Neon Riders. You can discover the ebook on this indie site. It will be findable on other channels eventually.

The illustration is by Neville Dsouza.

China is on a mission, and it’s one that could change the face of its landscapes forever. The Gobi Desert, a vast and ever-expanding sandy expanse, has long posed a threat to the arable lands and communities on its periphery. But China has a plan—a colossal, audacious plan—to halt this relentless advance. Enter the Green Wall of China, a project as ambitious as it sounds. Similar to the Great Wall that once shielded the nation from invaders, this modern-day counterpart seeks to protect against a different kind of enemy: desertification. This living wall of trees stretches for thousands of kilometers, aiming to restore ecological balance and provide a green shield against the encroaching sands.

One of the key aspects of the Green Wall project is the involvement of local communities. By engaging farmers, herders, and residents in tree-planting efforts, the project fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility. This grassroots approach not only empowers communities but also provides economic benefits. The planting and maintenance of the Green Wall have created jobs, boosted local economies, and improved living standards. Moreover, the increased vegetation has enhanced agricultural productivity, providing a more stable food supply for the surrounding areas.

I am new at this, but I have been trying to create a wiki/encyclopedia that focuses on teaching about the common topics of Solarpunk, while also having a focus on how to DIY where possible.

If you want to help out, that would be awesome! If so, you don't need to ask permission, since you should be able to edit (I will *not *be offended if you edit) or add to it yourself.

All of the items in the "Coming Soon" list are pages I haven't gotten to yet, but some link to the topics "Discussion" section where I have been throwing random thoughts or reference links. If you can make sense of my madness and would like to tackle one of those pages, please feel free to.

https://diysolarpunk.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

Professor Ada Palmer, a well-acclaimed historian of ideas, set the action of her science fiction series “Terra Ignota” several hundred years from now. The world she imagined presents vast societal and cultural changes, but the topic of climate change is treated much more implicitly. Within the context of professor’s books - and the now growing genre of climate fiction - let’s discuss why it’s so hard for us to imagine and describe the climate change of the XXI century.

So, when people ask me for one thing they can do to bring about a more positive future, I suggest they seek out stories of real change that are happening right now. I’m talking about local food projects, renewable energy projects and neighbourhoods coming together to create their own solutions.

Prompted by a post from @krishnanrohit: "I'm once again registering my annoyance at the fact that EVERY SINGLE NATURE DOCUMENTARY talks about how humans suck. Literally every single one. I am so tired of explaining to my 7yo son that no humans are not destroying everything. That he can be optimistic. It's obscene."

The article discusses the links between traditional sacred practices and care for the environment and the world, and then asks about modern secular societies:

Where does this leave secular societies in which technological or policy-focused solutions to environmental problems are not working, but where identification with the sacred has waned over time? Can something as deeply personal and experiential as the sacred be meaningfully shaped by design? Could mundane, often thankless tasks — cycling, tree-planting, recycling — be reframed not as chores, but as rituals of care and connection that inspire deeper commitment to environmental stewardship?

And continues, pointing out sacred spaces don't require religious belief:

The sacred need not be confined to formal religion. While the Grand Bassin’s significance is rooted in Hindu mythology and practice, the orientation it reflects — a sense of reverence, moral weight and emotional resonance — can arise in many forms. Sacredness emerges wherever people set something apart as meaningful beyond its utility: a forest grove, a war memorial, a national flag, a moment of collective silence. What matters is not the doctrine behind it but the way it shapes how people think, feel and act.

Of course, one might ask whether it’s even possible to promote rituals of care in the absence of care itself. Wouldn’t such efforts ring hollow or fail to resonate with those who feel disconnected from the natural world in the first place? But this is precisely where sacralization matters most. Sacredness does not only emerge from what people already revere — it actively helps generate that reverence. Rituals can bring people into a different frame of mind, one in which meaning accumulates through repetition, symbols take on weight and ordinary acts begin to feel purposeful. If environmental stewardship is to take root, it may not be enough to wait for people to care. Sometimes the path to care begins with practice.

Ritual helps people to care. Ritual, to put it another way, helps create empathy. And the natural world could definitely use some care and empathy these days.

Up Top Acres Is building Farms Above Our Heads

During DC Climate Week, we literally toured one of the freshest rooftops in the city. Up Top Acres is a national leader in rooftop farming and urban agriculture, managing over 40 farms and gardens across the East Coast.

We visited their rooftop location just blocks from the Capitol, where they’re harvesting lettuce, basil, tomatoes, strawberries, kale, herbs, and new ways of thinking about what a building can be. These rooftop farms help reduce stormwater runoff, cool buildings, and bring people together.

Might not fit perfectly with the theme here, but thought people might be interested anyway.

I'd recommend it to anyone who owns their house, has a reasonably accommodating roof (particularly south facing), and plans to be in their house for the next 10 years.

With the 30% US federal tax credit, I expect to make back the investment in roughly 13 years. I'm not counting either the rising price of electricity or the opportunity cost of just putting that money in an index fund.

After 13 years, everything should be profit after that. But it's not just for the financial reasons.

It's a 13.7 kw system. Peak I've seen it produce so far is around 12.3, with a little less than half the panels facing north. I'm not sure if or when I should expect peak production if not around noon on the summer solstice.

I do recommend having some kind of battery. I went with a Tesla Powerwall 3, partly because I spent so much time haggling and negotiating with my solar installer that I didn't want to make any further changes. Partly because I expect Tesla to be a name brand that will be around in ten years. Enphase is much better, but it's also much more expensive. There are probably better options.

I have the Tesla PW3 providing stats through the Fleet API to Home Assistant, which is where these graphics are from. One of the biggest reasons I'd recommend against Tesla is that you're dependent on your stats to pass through their cloud API and back to you. If your internet goes down, you lose stats. If Tesla gets annoyed with you, or just decides to stop providing the service, you lose stats. If the PW3 still had a local API like the PW2 did, I'd feel much more comfortable with it. I don't have a home solar installation so that I can be dependent on some company. For anything, if I can help it.

Theoretically, when the power goes out, the PW3 is supposed to switch over in a number of milliseconds low enough to keep all the computers and electronics running. It's supposed to be an advantage over a generator, which takes a few seconds. The one grid power outage we've experienced so far did have a noticeable blinking of lights and a server restart.

The battery allows us to continue to have power when the grid power is out, completely disconnected from the grid. At least in my area, if you don't have a battery*, your solar goes out when the grid goes down. They don't want your power feeding back into the grid while they're working on what should be dead lines. (You can get the cutoff system installed without a battery, but it's a significant chunk of a battery price, and you might as well just get a battery.)

During the spring, the battery was often lasting through the night. For awhile we tried to be as self-sufficient as we could. My utility company paid us about 10 cents per kWh (in credits only), and charged us about 23 cents per kWh. So early I was trying to minimize use of the grid as much as possible, with automations to use the battery at the early part of the evening and during the morning. Then I realized that, yeah, there's a difference, but it only settles up once a month. So the ratio is 1:1 until that one day when it settles. Now I'm much less concerned about being self sufficient, though the couple weeks of experimenting with it was fun.

I should have all the hardware, with the Tesla Universal Wall Charger to allow me to use a vehicle as a whole home battery. I just got an Ioniq 6, which I've really enjoyed, and has some Vehicle to Load capability. But even though all the hardware is probably there, the software certainly won't allow anything but a Cybertruck to do the reverse charging through the wall charger. For reference, the PW3 holds 13.5kWh of energy. The car holds 77kWh. So getting that to work someday would basically expand our battery capacity by 6x, and certainly get us through any night where we're not using AC, likely getting us through multiple cloudy days without AC. (AC uses about 3 kWh per hour, otherwise known as 3 kw.)

Uh, I've had this post open way too long, so I'll just post. I've learned quite a bit over the past year. If anyone's thinking about it or wants to fire off some questions, I'm happy to answer what I can.

Thermal insulation is a cornerstone of policies aimed at reducing the high energy consumption for heating and cooling buildings. 1 In many industrialized countries, building energy regulations require new and existing buildings to have insulated walls, floors, and roofs, as well as double- or triple-glazed windows. In cold weather, insulation slows down the heat loss from the interior to the exterior, reducing the energy use of the heating system. In hot weather, insulation delays the transfer of heat from the outside to the inside, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the air conditioning system.

Modern insulation methods involve the permanent addition of non-structural materials with high thermal resistance, such as fiberglass, cellulose, or mineral wool, to the building surfaces. Viewed in a historical context, this approach is unusual and stems from a shift in architectural style. 2 Preindustrial buildings often didn’t require extra insulation because they had a significant amount of thermal mass, which acts as a buffer to outside temperature fluctuations. Additionally, the building materials themselves could have high thermal resistance.

A return to vernacular buildings, which maintain interiors at a comfortable temperature through architectural design rather than energy-intensive technical installations, could significantly reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling. However, it’s not a short-term solution: it would require a large amount of time, money, and energy to replace the existing building stock.

Fortunately, history offers an alternative solution that can be deployed more quickly and with fewer resources: textiles. Before the Industrial Revolution, people added a temporary layer of textile insulation to either the interior or the exterior of a building, depending on the climate and the season. In cold weather, walls, floors, roofs, windows, doors, and furniture were insulated with drapery and carpetry. In hot weather, windows, doors, facades, roofs, courtyards, and streets were shaded by awnings and toldos.

This is an alt account. I doubt I will use it to post again.

A friend of mine leads a startup. They are beginning to draw attention and are soon to go for investment funding. They make something to be used in sports, medicine, and space.

My friend is frustrated with the ecosystem's current obsessions. 'AI B2B SaaS', making 10x returns in 3-5 years. None of it is sustainable. None of it solves real problems in a way that will keep them solved for decades to come. In a way that is truly new, and better than the old ways in consideration of social and ecological impact.

In your opinion, how might my friend best navigate their choices to positively influence the world? What actions would you take, in their shoes?

• Presented by @rolltime@freeradical.zone
• Recorded Fri 12 Jul 2024
• Uploaded Fri 22 Nov 2024
• Slides, references & links: https://rollti.me/hope2024

»For more than a year now, "AI" has been the tech world's most expensive obsession.

The scramble to burn money as fast as possible is both unprecedented and utterly familiar - but not every resource is as endless as venture capital funding. AI technology's energy consumption is beginning to approach that of a small country, and it shows no signs of shrinking.

How can we reconcile our hunger to compute with the need to avert ecological devastation? Is it possible for progress and sustainability to coexist? And how can hackers help computers save themselves?

This talk brings a fresh perspective to discussions on the problems, possibilities, and future of the human relationship to computing.»

Good discussion of two types of social movements: Inclusionary (building a wide coalition by appealing to many different groups) vs exclusionary (building group solidarity through us v them strategies). The challenges to both, and the ways the elite try to capture and appropriate inclusionary social movements to maintain the status quo.

Why is this "solarpunk"? Because solarpunk is a social movement, not just an aesthetic. If you want to make positive change (environmental or otherwise) you need collective action, and understanding the challenges to collective action helps you decide what orgs are worth committing to and see when those orgs have been appropriated.

The other articles in the series are “Widening the We” and “The Growth of Malignant and Exclusionary Social Movements” - linked at the bottom and also worth reading.

I found the boat + bikes solution pretty cool. Boats typically have much lower emission per kg.km of transported goods.