We do not need to reinvent the wheel – as we have a pretty good version already: “We have almost all the technologies we need” – Sidmouth Solarpunk

We could do with repeating this very simple message, perhaps with both a more personal narrative and an appreciation of the bigger picture, as told by Sage Agee:

Over the past few years, we’ve all sought ways to avoid being crushed. Some grew gardens, and some baked bread. I did those things too, but I also craved the fantasy worlds I could find only in books. I had a big family of older siblings that didn’t want much to do with me, and I could always escape into books. I have carried my love of reading, especially speculative science fiction and fantasy, into adulthood but often found that I was looking for more hope. Dystopian stories surely have a place, as a warning, but sometimes I feel like I’ve been warned enough. I want to know what to do in the face of despair, to not only avoid being crushed, but to reach for brighter skies. In times like those, I look for books that are part of an expanding genre — and a growing social movement — a counternarrative that has infused my days with hope. More and more lately, I find myself reading solarpunk...

Solarpunk provides a shining vision of a positive future, grounded in our existing world, one that emphasizes the need for environmental sustainability, self-governance, and social justice. Solarpunk imagines an inclusive, sustainable, possible future, where renewable technology meets ecological enlightenment...

In solarpunk, mesh renewable grids might electrify permaculture cities, while kelp-farmers thrive on abandoned offshore oil platforms. It’s a DIY world of green tech, upcycled goods, and scrappy nature-based design. Its world wouldn’t be possible without advances in green technology, the absence of fossil-fuel powered vehicles…

Solarpunk podcasts exist alongside manifestos, conferences, art, design, and architecture. Websites like solarpunk magazine or solarpunk.net provide expansive resources for writers and technology buffs who wish to explore a hopeful future. Jay Springett’s Solarpunk: A Reference Guide asks the key question of the movement: “What does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?”

Unlike cyberpunk, solarpunk aims to use technology as a way to envision a better future. And unlike steampunk, another speculative genre, solarpunk takes a realistic view of a starting point.

Befitting its science fiction lineage, solarpunk has influence on the present. Researchers at the World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology, for example, have begun research on vermicompost (the product of decomposition by worms) to produce energy, an innovation straight out of solarpunk.

Solarpunk has taught me how to channel my existential dread into hope. The best fiction creates a new reality, and I have found mine, in part. 

Solarpunk Imagines a Future Where Renewable Tech Meets Socio-Ecological Enlightenment