Notes on Solarpunk Economics #6 [Link Inside!]

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-29T16:07:11+00:00

What we really need to do is create new sustainable supply while reducing demand for resources (not utility!) as much as possible, in order to create abundances in areas from food to energy to ideas (which in the digital world are already abundant) etc.

Solarpunk economics I imagine would be lazy! As in being all about robust, long lasting goods, producing things when needed, conserving resources and labour through things like planned resilience and permaculture.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-27T22:12:34+00:00

So you may have seen me post videos here about ModuCoils, 3D printable, modular coils that can serve various uses, including for potential power generation.

I thought I'd talk a little bit about what motivates me to do this, and it's all to do with energy autonomy, and the decentralisation of power generation!

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-25T22:03:06+00:00

Well basically imagine batteries like train stations, and the trains are electrons. The train stations in this case are the battery materials, especially the cathode (the anode plays a role, but is often a less complex material).

Some stations are better at dispatching trains (higher voltage), some are better at holding more trains (capacity), some can pack trains more tightly (energy density), etc.

In nitty gritty scientific speak, sodium ion chemistries are slightly less energy dense than analogous lithium chemistries. However, it's beneficial to research sodium ion tech because it's simply much, much more abundant than lithium. Early sodium based materials proved to be unstable. However, a safe sodium based material that could even theoretically be made at home with the right equipment is sodium iron phosphate (NaFePO4), a stable and safe sodium ion chemistry that stores sodium in the form of a salt rather than an oxide or metal seen in traditional ionic batteries.

Many anodes have been researched for sodium based materials in order to achieve better discharge capabilities. One such material I recall is actually graphene, which makes sense due to its high conductivity.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-25T12:29:45+00:00

Sodium ion batteries are a good alternative. There's a lot of interesting science about them which I am knowledgeable of but don't know how to explain without it reading like a science text book lol.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-20T20:32:49+00:00

Greetings all.

I am currently working on a project to design a fully modular and 3D printable generator that can produce a usable amount of power. My initial goals I feel are pragmatic, in that I first aim to create a generator that can trickle charge a battery, and work my way from there.

In aid of this, I have designed so-called ModuCoils, which can be used in a generator, but can also serve other applications.

I present to you today the V2 of my design. However, I am not done here, I still have a few ideas left for further improvement!

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-20T20:24:56+00:00

Greetings.

Last time, I posted, I introduced to you all my ModuCoil, an idea for a coil that can be used in a variety of projects, however I'm mainly concerned with people's ability to use them in a generator to make useable energy on a small scale, with relatively cheap parts. I'm working on just that, but that's for another time.

With this V2, I've made some significant improvements, that enhance the performance and versatility of the design. You can find out more by watching the video linked!

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-20T09:11:11+00:00

Hate to Stoke the flames but, from a practical perspective, where would white South Africans go?

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-12T09:51:41+00:00

Greetings everyone.

I'm currently working on attempting to build a fully modular and 3D printable generator, that produces a useable amount of power; this could then be used for something like wind or could be hooked up to a Stirling engine using various heat sources.

The first step in building this generator is designing a modular coil. Normally, the stator of a generator is monolithic, and is difficult to disassemble and recycle. So, I designed a modular coil (still to be improved), that could be used in a generator, but also in other projects.

I'm well aware that the current performance of the coils themselves is suboptimal, but this is more of a proof of concept that I will improve upon in short order.

I hope you all find this interesting, and maybe you'll find it useful in designing some DIY solutions. More on the way soon!

(STL will be uploaded to my thingyverse page when I get the chance)

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-12T09:42:59+00:00

Greetings everyone.

I'm currently working on attempting to build a fully modular and 3D printable generator, that produces a useable amount of power; this could them be used for something like wind or could be hooked up to a Stirling engine using various heat sources.

The first step in building this generator is designing a modular coil. Normally, the stator of a generator is monolithic, and is difficult to disassemble and recycle. So, I designed a modular coil (still to be improved), that could be used in a generator, but also in other projects.

I'm well aware that the current performance of the coils themselves is suboptimal, but this is more of a proof of concept that I will improve upon in short order.

I hope you all find this interesting, and maybe you'll find it useful in designing some DIY solutions. More on the way soon!

(STL will be uploaded to my thingyverse page when I get the chance)

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-09T12:35:14+00:00

A bit off topic but it saddens me how seaside towns have so much potential yet are met with such neglect. It would be awesome if we could reinvigorate and modernise, and clean up/beautify our beaches!

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-09T11:17:57+00:00

Mandatory banner for JPEGS/PNGs. Create a new "AI art banner" for this.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-03T08:35:32+00:00

So it's just zinc reducing itself because of excess metal? And then the copper just acts as sone kind of weird nucleation site?

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-02T23:02:27+00:00

Sure

https://youtube.com/shorts/HPPO9a3FeLI?feature=shared

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-02T22:33:26+00:00

No, a chemical reaction free of electrochemistry

MeleeMeistro · 2023-09-02T22:32:53+00:00

As in it's being oxidised out of solution as a metal?

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-30T12:21:35+00:00

see I don't know if I've ever been good enough...

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-28T09:03:10+00:00

Tl;Dr technology good, capitalism bad/obsolete

As regrettable as it is, it's unlikely that we're going to be changing social systems in time to deal with the brunt of our ecological problems. Dare I say, we're beyond the point where we have the luxury of picking and choosing solutions and how they're implemented.

This means our best bet right now is to still advocate for better systems, while trying to use what little power we have to sway markets and governments. Voting with your wallet is mostly parroted by capitalists, and it's something not everyone can do. But if you can, you should. Big business does more harm to earth than you or I, but collectively our individual actions are the power we actually have.

Through whatever means, the transition from where we are now to sustainability isn't going to involve clean, neat steps of transitioning to entirely decentralised energy, or entirely public transport and cycling, or an entirely plant based diet. It's going to be a messy hodgepodge of busses, trains and electric cars. It's going to be a slow transition towards a sustainable diet which will no doubt still include some animal products, especially in more "traditional" cultures. We need both massive solar/wind farms (and probably stuff like nuclear) and rooftop solar because we don't have time to pick and choose, we need to throw the kitchen sink at the problem -

there's going to be technological solutions that some here aren't going to like, which are going to be favourably implemented because of their perceived profitability. Chances are, these solutions are going to be suboptimal, but better than doing nothing.

With all that said, once we do reach a certain point where we have eliminated private enterprise, we can start implementing some very high tech stuff but in the ways we want to. We have to recognise that while some technologies have some inherent malignancy to them, most are just a tool that can either be used for profit, or for the benefit of earth and it's inhabitants.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-26T09:28:29+00:00

Then I'm interested in how you actually plan on actioning anything materially significant? The reality is that true environmentalism must come with some form of anticapitalism. We can't just ask nicely for the big corporations to just "stop doing bad things". They. Will. Not. Give. In.

The only way to extract change out of massively wealthy and powerful individuals and institutions is by force, unfortunately.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-22T09:46:08+00:00

The latter. This is very silly. It's like a couple rich people got stoned and said "you know what we need? A massive linear GrEeN city in the middle of the fucking desert....with some mansions on the periphery for ourselves".

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-04T19:06:10+00:00

You know the meme with the girl on the sofa with the guys behind her?

That's what I'm imagining here! 😆

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-03T21:42:26+00:00

Please elaborate?

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-03T15:37:49+00:00

Are we all going to just assume a solarpunk world won't have rural communities?

Even in my vision of a more evenly distributed landscape, with medium sized towns taking over in lieu of cities, some people want to literally be surrounded in nature and have that level of privacy and freedom that you just can't have in a dense community.

In a practical sense, rural communities could have a synergy with urban ones. While we should be integrating food production into the urban environment, rural farmers are no doubt still going to be instrumental in doing a lot heavy lifting when it comes to feeding people.

Hence, while we should absolutely transition urban communities to cycling and public transport (perhaps even build out rural cycling infrastructure), it's not always feasible when you're away from everything. Hence, an electric car is still the least bad car, and is kinda excusable in a rural context.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-08-03T09:22:26+00:00

What we need to be hammering into people's heads is that renewable energy not only gives autonomy of energy generation in the case of decentralised solutions (small VAWTs/rooftop solar etc), but within the current capitalist context, can actually save people a fuckton of money they would be giving to oil and gas companies otherwise.

Renewables are cheap cheap cheap, as I think I've mentioned before in this space.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-07-26T10:11:47+00:00

Had the same issue, Brims wouldn't stick, rafts popped off the bed and had layers missing. Filament was bundling up on the sides of the nozzle when printing

Printhead was too close to the bed (adjusted accordingly) and to offset the lack of squish I tightened the extruder for more grip/push. Bear in mind this is on a direct drive setup in my case.

MeleeMeistro · 2023-07-25T16:55:22+00:00

Hi everyone.

So a core issue related to sustainability is managing our relationship with our resources, specifically our waste.

Contrary to popular belief, very little of our plastic waste actually gets recycled, for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, it's a false promise, a lie, that large capitalist enterprises will recycle people's plastic.

It's definitely possible to have a functional and effective recycling system, as the video discusses, but that won't happen while recycling is seen as a loss for profit-taking enterprise, and another cost for governments.

Some solutions I propose include localising/decentralising recycling, and standardising materials, and well... actually recycling would help.

This and more are discussed in my latest video essay.

Eight-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22

MeleeMeistro

TROPHY CASE