Whilst I am well aware that new business models usually only come along in pilgrim steps and bring marginal changes on the surface, I would like to propose far-reaching innovations that are urgently needed in view of the climate problem.
These have already been taken up by some companies in the energy sector and, in their own estimation, have been well received. Perhaps because it can strengthen their traditional model on the one hand and offer them an equally good model on the other. In a way, it can use its structures as a subtenant to generate and transport products for the energy transition.
At first glance, this will take something away from other companies, such as haulage companies, which are already struggling with staff shortages. But it could also open new doors for them: Fully automated freight transport across the entire continent, free of accident risks, which in turn will benefit all companies.
As these companies‘ best asset is their logistics expertise anyway, this can be fully utilised and their own vehicles will only be needed for local deliveries. Long-distance transport is handled entirely from your own desk and at fixed times. Even from home if desired.
The situation is different for the manufacturers of heavy goods vehicles, which are then only needed to a lesser extent. But what sense does it make to impose the transport of highly dangerous H2 on long-distance roads and further increase the already high risk of accidents? In other words, sticking to a business model that brings more disadvantages than advantages for everyone.
For more information, please refer to the concepts in the appendix, where I also discuss the opportunities that arise in relation to Chemnitz’s role as Capital of Culture.
One of my greatest fears was that, due to the apostrophised efficiency of the system, it would be assumed that something like a perpetual motion machine would be introduced through the back door. However, since the DPMA has accepted both a patent and a utility model for publication in the near future, this concern has been dispelled. (Note: One of these has already been published, the other will be released in the first quarter of 2024). Especially as the Fraunhofer Institute as the leading technological institute of Europe, for example, has offered me the opportunity to take part in a symposium on bio-diversity with a pitch.
Boldness is a quality that seems to have been completely lost, even though it is the only way to achieve outstanding and major progress. It enables things to develop dynamically, like an accelerator. Whereas additive development only ever enables a little progress, which is difficult to achieve with many attempts, as it is based on the bureaucratisation of science. This does not allow for a flash of inspiration without which great inventions would never have come about.
Most noises that come along with modern technology are perceived as disturbing, even sickening. The only exceptions are those generated by the high-performance engines of sports cars, but who wants to live next to a railway line or busy road?
However, there are also noises that are perceived as beneficial: The sound of the sea or trees. Waterfalls, rain and wind. Even storms evoke positive feelings. These are exactly the kind of sounds that emanate from the EMAINS. The hissing evaporation of water, for example. This means that there will be no problems getting the necessary approval from the neighbours of this route. Especially as it guarantees them a secure supply of drinking water.
Although they cover only 12% of our planet’s land area, tropical forests contain at least 50% of terrestrial biodiversity. They therefore provide ecosystem services worth many trillions of dollars and contribute significantly to the global gross national product. If we were to invest 250 billion dollars in their conservation (annually), that would only be around 0.2% of GDP – a real bargain!
Dr. Frauke FischerDr. Frauke Fischer • Follower:in • Follower:iAward-winning biodiversity expert, consultant, speakerAward-winning biodiversity expert, consultant, speaker
This will prove that fun and friends can be combined. On top of that, it will relieve people of many worries. For example, the secure and constant supply of drinking water and all conceivable types of energy at all times of the year and at very favourable costs.
The detailed concept is already available to one of the operators of our electricity grids, where it is clearly being considered. I can well imagine a co-operation with them and you. As they are all closely interlinked anyway, the result will be as if by magic.
Everyone only wants one thing: H2. Oh yes, and then there’s AI, which is supposed to take over our thinking for good. But there are other problems that are even more urgent: Above all, H2O to quench our planet’s thirst. Overflowing motorways on which driving becomes a torture. Inflation that makes you fear for the future. Wars that are getting closer and closer. Last but not least, immigrants who are increasingly demanding entry into an apparent paradise that can hardly solve its own problems. The fact that everything is connected hardly occurs to anyone, especially not to AI. But everything should be solved together! Sounds impossible? No, it’s as simple as cutting the Gordian knot. The sword for this has already been forged by many clever minds, so it just needs to be picked up and used.
In this case, it is an infrastructure (IFS) that connects everything together. Seawater that is converted into H₂O in an ecological and mobile way, so that it can then be distributed across countries or converted into other required forms of energy. These IFS are already available everywhere as power lines and can, as a kind of subtenant, incorporate a water management system and thus become the most powerful instrument imaginable for solving all problems.
The fact that this is even possible in our climate zones was overlooked for a long time, so that we believed that we were absolutely dependent on the water in the tropical regions and had to force suitable countries to build over their own landscapes in order to serve us. Which in turn leads to the return of neocolonialism.
The opposite must be the case. Thanks to mobility, where the railway lines simultaneously enable something like moving chemical plants, all problems can be solved elegantly and ecologically. To make this possible, extensive soil sealing is no longer necessary, which also exacerbates climate problems and is therefore counterproductive.
All in all, a lighthouse project that will fascinate and attract people like a magnet. It opens up new perspectives in those countries from which people are now fleeing because they see no way out.
To summarise: isn’t it worth looking a little further than the $ or € that is being held up in front of your nose and, instead of being sustainable, just solving the obvious problems and then being confronted with ever bigger ones? We have long since reached this point. Simply working on the symptoms by breeding new, more resistant plants will not get us anywhere.
Brine recycling, fewer chemicals, more efficient plants: all of this needs to be developed further. Because the experts agree: there is no way around seawater desalination as an antidote to water scarcity.
Christine Elsner is an editor in the ZDF (German TV) environment department.