"The Future Is Already Here..."

The blog title is from the noted science fiction writer, William Gibson. The rest of the sentence is what makes it great: "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed". Today's blog details how one entrepreneur has followed the future and created it as we speak. His efforts go back long before most knew anything about solar. Now it is big business around the globe.

Roger Voisinet saw Buckminster Fuller's spaces and heard his message. He brings a bit of the future to you now. I will try to post guest blogs from people at the front of the curve to inspire people to think creatively about the goals they wish to set. I hope they will encourage people to take risks and make changes that will benefit many of us.

here is his Facebook page link should you have questions for him:

 http://www.facebook.com/roger.voisinet


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One of the distinct pleasures of living more than a few decades is to be able to look back at the beginning of a project and see how it has aged over many years or decades. For example, now I can say with authority that solar heating systems installed in the early 1980's are still operating successfully and thus have earned the owner/investors a return on their initial investment that exceeded any promises. No longer is this just a sales statement made with hope and optimism.
 
A solar appliance can connect an owner or a spectator to a significant decision making moment in a life with positivity and a sense of accomplishment, if not delight. Recently on a trip to Montreal I was face to face with an iconic creation of a brilliant man who knew about connections at the molecular and social levels.
Buckminster Fuller is best known for his geodesic domes which continue to delight the onlooker with their simplicity, durability and practicality. The photo above is of one of Bucky's most beloved creations, the US Pavillion at Expo '67 now known as the Biosphere. The Biosphere is a public learning laboratory for all things environmental and a monument to Bucky's life.

Photo 1

Adjacent to the Biosphere and part of the exhibit on Terre des Hommes (Man and his World) is McGill University's entrance in the 2007 Solar Decathlon contest held each year in Washington, DC. This demonstration home (photo 1) features aspects of both passive and active solar technologies as well as many other sustainable building practices and design elements. This branch of solar energy is well known to the general public.  However, there is another branch of solar that is less well known but has a potential to have a greater impact on the world, especially in developing countries.
In 1976 I was fortunate to be able to spend two weeks with Buckminster Fuller and his team from Southern Illinois University in Vancouver at the UN Conference on Human Settlements called HABITAT. I represented Brace Research Institute which is a part of McGill University in Montreal . We specialized in something which Bucky approved of: designing and making very low tech, solar appliances for developing countries. Then, these were called "appropriate technologies". More specifically, we made and gave away plans for creating solar distillers, solar crop dryers and solar cookers. None of these simple appliances used electricity but all created something useful: clean water, preserved food and nutritious food respectively. These simple solar appliances have been distributed by NGO's in Kenya, Haiti, Zimbabwe, India, Darfur, Chad and Tanzania to name a few countries where fuel is scare but sun is plentiful. On a recent trip to Ghana, however, I saw virtually no use of the sun for creating hot water, electricity or cooked foods. I surmised that electricity was relatively new to southern Ghana and they so appreciated having this convenience most everywhere that the evolution to more local, self sustaining and environmentally friendly "renewables" had only just begun. And in part, I think, because there was no one locally promoting solar energy.

Photo 2

 It is fascinating still to see how solar is rapidly spreading throughout the world. For example, Rio de Janeiro will host the next Summer Olympics and the organizers announced that the entire Olympic city will be solar powered by a dramatic solar installation, called "Solar City Tower" (photo 2). Locally, here in Charlottesville, I can point to two fascinating solar projects I have built: one old and one brand new. In 1980, my company built for Southern Railway Corporation for their "Green Light for Innovation program, the world's first solar powered and heated railway depot. (photo 3) This building can easily be seen by any visitor to

Photo 3

Charlottesville's AMTRAK station on West Main Street. The second is a 68,000 watts (DC) per hour solar electrical generating system which was just installed on the Main Street Arena, in which I am an investor, on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. I arranged the financing for this installation, which is the largest privately owned solar system in Virginia, via a state of Virginia renewable energy grant and a low-interest, commercial, solar loan program which I successfully proposed to City Council. Main Street Arena  (photo 4) receives approximately 16% of is power now via the sun and it's output can be seen in real time at our Solrenview web site. So far since May 1st, 2012 we have eliminated over 34,000 pounds of CO2 emissions."  Solar connects us to our origins and each of us has a different perspective on the sun and its place in our lives and our cultures. But one thing is certain, the Sun is the source of all we know physically and energetically.

Photo 4

by  Roger L. Voisinet              8/13/12