Science book proposes a new vision – the whole of society to be electrified with renewable energy
Professor Sirkka Heinonen and Project Researcher Joni Karjalainen from the University of Turku, Finland Futures Research Centre have launched a new international science book called “Electrification in Peer-to-Peer Society – a New Narrative for Sustainable Futures”. The science book summarizes the findings of the four-year Neo-Carbon Energy research project.
The new book presents a new vision of an emissions-free society. In the peer-to-peer society, most sectors of society are electrified. Solar and wind power and energy storage will be widely in use, and synthetic products are created from the electricity produced with renewables. The book also presents four scenarios as manifestations of the vision. Deep social and cultural changes are singled out as the key ingredients of the vision.
– The rise of renewable energy is connected to the rise of the peer-to-peer society. Self-organised citizens are actively interacting with their environments. Thanks to the fall in the price of solar energy, mobile technology, ICTs, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) practically anyone can soon produce their own energy, the book authors Sirkka Heinonen and Joni Karjalainen mention.
The book assumes a future-oriented perspective, which underscores how the rise of renewable energy illustrates changes in the society as a whole. The conclusions of the book are intended to help decision-makers internationally to prepare for these changes and to move from anticipation to action. Business leaders can identify new sources of sustainable business, while the global civil society actors can assess how the transformation takes place.
The book is a new, revised version from a book originally released in Finnish in 2018. The book is launched on Monday November 4, 2019 as a pre-conference event to the international Club of Rome Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Order print copies of the book here: http://ty.fi/newnarrative
Access to the electronic version of the book: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-249-537-2
Heinonen, Sirkka & Karjalainen, Joni (2019) Electrification in Peer-to-Peer Society. A New Narrative for Sustainable Futures. FFRC Publications 1/2019, 133 p. Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku. ISBN 978-952-249-534-1 (printed), ISBN 978-952-249-537-2 (pdf), ISSN 1797-1284.