As mentioned before, there are currently lots of alternative energy available that is very clean and sustainable. However, the main problem is still cost. Funding is so hard to come by mainly due to the high research and development costs. For most generators, once a blue print is created, it is not that much more to build and maintain (for example harnessing wind power from a kite or biomass). That is why the solution to providing alternative energy for the world is found in a for profit business.
The “Plan”
To start, this business would need to be publicly traded, as this would be the fastest way to gain capital. This would immediately cause a huge barrier as convincing investors to devote millions into a prospective project that could potential fail is not a simple task. However, I think this barrier can be reduced by using the business strategy that Walmart uses, which is price wars. Lets use an example to illustrate this point.
Currently, biomass electricity can come as cheap as 2.5 cents per kWh. Taking our local electricity company BC Hydro as an example, they are charging us as high 8.27 per kWh. Which is a bit over 350% as much. By introducing the low costs to the city, I think it is save to say that most people would switch over. Of course, in reality there are a lot more complications to deal with, but for now, lets assume it is very easy for our business to enter this market. By increasing the price to say 4 cents per kWh after we eliminate the competitors, we can then use the profits to continue expanding to other cities. Also, once investors see the success in one city, they will be more reluctant to continue investing as we continue to expand to other cities.
Limitations – Wow… where do I start?
Ignoring funding (since we are assuming we can generate money publicly) and lobbyist (there will be people lobbying saving one eyed donkeys, so they are really unavoidable), there are still major issues to do deal with.
Since this is a publicly traded company, all people would care about is the profits. As this would have a huge payback period (assuming it becomes successful), it would be hard to hire a CEO willing to take the initial pressure of explaining why the company has not recovered its initial investment yet. Also, as most people have very short term financial goals, they may not see or care about the environmental beneficial gains that their city will gain through having a cleaner energy source. Since this company would be for profit, the goal of providing 3rd world country may never be met as people will only expand to cities where there is a profit to be made.
Another problem that would arise would be caused by geographical problems. Since each city has its own unique geographic structure, it would be hard to determine which type of alternative energy would be cheapest, cleanest and most sustainable. Ideally, we can set up biomass generators in all the cities and “buy” the garbage (much like recycling plants) from our citizens but even I am not fully convinced that turning garbage into energy is as clean as companies makes it sound.
Transformative Potential
Since the goal of this plan is to take one city at a time, the scale of it may not be too big. In reality, the project would be considered a major success if it was able to be the sole provider of energy to a couple of major cities. The impact would be huge. With a reduced emission (optimistically, there would be no emission), smogs from the cities would clear up causing less healthy problems for its citizens. On the flip side, it would only effect the people living in the cities. Even though we are providing more affordable energy, it is not to the desired people in 3rd world countries who would actually benefit more from having it. However, the most positive thing about this project would be that once successful, it will be very sustainable (only need to maintain the generator) and the benefits would be there for the city to enjoy for as long as people require electricity.
Another positive impact that a project like this could create, if successful, is that it would show people that there is money to be made from alternative energy. Right not, it is still not a major trend because no one is willing to take the initiative to prove that this is a successful venture. Once proven, the energy industry will be forced to change their business structure to provide cleaner and more sustainable energy sources to keep its competitiveness. Although, this still does not ensure everyone on earth having access to affordable electricity, but it definitely helps reduce pollution problems.
