“We photograph to taste life lasting, in the moment and forever more. The future is now.”
I`m running on a beach in Panama that, for me, defines everlasting possibilities. Whew, that might seem to be a bit of a reach but I am in the travel, hope and sustainability exploration of what can be part a path to the 1 billion year plan. Hence the Dreaming part of the title in this piece. A lot of great plans start with a dream so here we go?
Here on Laslajs, Panama, on the Pacific Ocean, I can see for miles through endless sand and blue, blue and more blue sky that fuels a dreamer`s high. With each stride and moment of this running paradise it`s a natural leap to thinking about Solar Power. No cars in sight, little hydro available and no pollution possible but plenty of in your face, seemingly endless solar power on the Pacific coast of Central America.
This story plays all over the world in Nicaraugua, Thailand, Austrailia, Hawaii, Fiji, California, Ecuador and on and on. Each will offer these pristine, coastal solar revelations in one form or other. Obviously the sun shines everywhere including occasionally in Mexico City or Shanghai but this coastal sunshine inspires the less than obvious notion, at least at government levels, that we have a pretty powerful and benign path to a sustainable future.
I still think about a ‘National Geographic” moment in a bed and breakfast in Panama City where recently , finding a 1979 edition of this magazine, I discovered an add from the Exxon corporation promoting Solar Power. It was a crazy moment in American History where even Exxon was toying with the notion of a solar market. Now that sounds like a dream but it`s true and through a complicated set of political and economic historical consequences solar power was buried deep under rising oil subsidies and business. So here we are and the damage is done but the sun is still shining and I can no longer ignore it`s potential as I travel through another paradise. I`ve heard it said that the only reason that we aren`t entirely solar powered by now is because “Exxon doesn`t own the sun” and apparently there`s a bit of truth to that? But this worm has turned and the future is hopeful.
Solar power technology is advancing at such a rapid rate that hope is truly on this horizon. Solar power has just recently been reported to leap ahead of wind as an electrical source. Central America has come a long way in the past decade in developing policies and regulatory frameworks to promote renewable energy, and now projects are on the rise. From this report on Central American solar progress we see that Panama is expected be home to two large-scale PV plants of 2.4 MW and approximately 2 MW in capacity. Hopefully that`s just a tip of their potential? Meanwhile, the world is going solar with India planning the world`s largest project so far in Rajasthan (which I may visit in January), California continues to develope projects like the Mojave Desert, the largest self-consumption rooftop solar array has been built in Germany (which is fuel for urban solar projects), and now even the Vatican is going solar.
Here I was travelling the best of beach paradise in Panama and I`ve been inspired again to talk solar. Travel can be a great way to wander into the future and maybe soon I`ll find another add from Exxon talking the newest profitable source of energy? But that will probably mean that they are on the verge of buying a piece of it. And so it goes with our sustainable hope and future! Now I think I`ll have to explore some more of the sea, sun, people and culture of Panama.
Karmajungle 