Body modification and Hair (braids and practical hairstyles)
Narrative Considerations
"Optimistic" Vision of the future - the problems we are facing have been solved
Doesn't mean it's easy now
Doesn't mean it wasn't an easy transition and that we didn't suffer significant losses along the way
Can be "mid-transition"
"Optimistic" doesn't mean free of conflict or drama, but I feel strongly that solarpunk stories shouldn't be primarily focused on war or survival (a-la post apocalyptic)
"Earth-first"
Inclusive
Ensemble Casts/Community focus
Dadaism vs Sarcasm
vs. Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
The relationship between Solarpunk and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
vs. Cyberpunk
The major differentiating factors between Cyberpunk and Solarpunk and key works to consider in the Cyberpunk genre.
Space and Otherworld Colonizations
Shouldn't be the focus of a solarpunk narrative. Can coexist as "something else happening", but Solarpunk at its core ought to be "Earth First".
Climate realities and timelines
Don't need to dwell too much here because there are lots of external resources.
What does systemic change entail, what is that process
Water
Desalination
Wastewater recovery
Conservation
Greywater diversion
Electricity
Wind
Solar
Hydrogen
Tidal
Algae/Bio power
Biomethane and Ethanol
Biofuel (burning wood or pellets of wood waste)
Mechanical energy/Kinetic harvesting
Nuclear
Fusion*
No more: Oil, gasoline, diesel, natural gas...
Energy STORAGE
Sand batteries
Gravity batteries
Graphene Supercapacitors
Other battery related innovations on the horizon
Heating and Insulation
Biotech and CRISPR
Food
Permaculture and Heugelkultur, Food forests and regenerative agriculture
Hydroponics and Vertical Farming
Aquaponics
Algae and other alternative food sources
Insect protein
Animal protein (meat, eggs, dairy)
Waste Collection and Treatment
Sewage was one of the most transformative innovations of our modern age and we can't just eliminate (heh) that.
Societal Change (In North America)
Will need to be approached in a culturally appropriate way in each locality, and I can only really speak effectively to the North American experience. If you'd like to contribute your vision for a different region, you can drop me a line and we'll talk about it. Take what applies and leave what doesn't fit.
Mutual Aid and Collaboration/Community Building
Our relationship to nature
Distributed Systems and Local-First Mentality
The changing nature of "Work"
Our relationship to death and impermanence
Including old age, disability, illness, and personal tragedy. Homelessness and hunger can no longer be acceptable.
Our relationship to technology and comfort
Religion(s) and Inter-Religious Affairs
Shit that's got to go
Fucking GOLF (at least golf on manicured live lawns in a desert)
annual vacations to Mexico and Hawaii
Cruises
"finding yourself" in Bali on a whim, but travel and tourism will remain
Timekeeping
Minerals and Industrial Chemicals
Our relationship to certain metals will need to change, particularly aluminum, lithium.
Forestry and Pulp and Paper
Housing and Urbanism
Conscientious location, strategic retreat
Passive house/net zero
Earthships
Modular housing
Micro-densification
No more suburbs
Manufacturing
Decentralized and bespoke
Design for Repair
Crade to Cradle/"Donut Economy"
Health and Medecine*
Focus on maintaining health, prevention.
Disability and Accessibility
Many more people will be disabled, in a solarpunk future accessibility will be prioritized
What that looks like...
Transport
LIMITED CARS, CAR-NOT-FIRST INFRASTRUCTURE
Bikes!!!!!
Trams!!!!!!
Accessbility!!!
Solutions for Air
Solutions for Water
Rethinking Global Trade and Transport
Education*
Skill-based rather than "degree" based
You earn a skill when you take a training and can demonstrate it three times in a real world application
Anyone with a higher-ranking skill can train on the skill below at-will and be compensated for it.
Whenever possible skills are broken up to permit access as far as possible to people with certain disabilities. Separates skill and "full time capacity"
Economics/Economy*
Capitalism Has Got to Go, but "Capitalism" is not the same as "markets" and "currency".
Currency and Markets
UBI
Compensation and Standard of Living
Communication
Automation and AI
Waste, Zero Waste and Plastic
Standardization as a means to reduce waste
Land Use and Rewilding
Carbon Capture and Storage
Geoengineering
What has been proposed and why we should be wary of it
The 1.5°C World
The 2°C World
The 3°C+ World
Timelines
Will be painful and uneven, will be largely bottom-up in a lot of places for a long time (no "rescue" is coming. )
The Great Unwraveling 2020s
This is what we're living through now. The Hard Truths become apparent and as much as we try to continue to live our current lifestyle, it's getting harder and harder to do so.
Major suffering in pockets of the world, if not full collapse.
Pandemics
Severe weather events crippling unprepared infrastructure
Reshuffling of global order through major geopolitical shifts and conflicts
Supply Chain breakdowns
Marked by protest, resistance, sabotage, and formation of sub-communities
The Hard Times 2030s
Significant disruption. "The End of Modern Lifestyle". Some would view this as "global collapse"
Instability in Power, Food, Infrastructure. Famine and major crop failure
Mass Migration
Major geopolitical tension, conflicts, wars of varying severity depending on location, possibly up to World War (if not begun in the 2020s)
Major restructuring of governments and societies (redefining of country boundaries, e.g. balkanization)
The Transition 2040s
Some return to geopolitical stability in pockets
Some communities adopt the systemic changes needed to survive and thrive in the new reality, but there are still holdout pockets (either for reasons of stubbornnes or inability/poverty)
Net Zero 2050
I think we're going to have to plummet towards Net Zero much faster than this but let's say for argument sake that "global Net Zero" can't be achieved until the 2050s.