When John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote “Power to the People” in 1971, they were of course talking about the power to affect change, during a time of social revolution.
Today, during an energy revolution, Capricorn Power’s goal is also to give power to the people.
Power in the form of 24/7 renewable electricity, and more directly “to the people” by deploying electricity generation using a ‘distributed energy’ model.
But we realise that the people also have another power; to grant or withhold social license.
Capricorn Power must gain and maintain social license, to be able to deploy our renewable generators. Replacing fossil-fuel-generated electricity with renewables provides social benefits, but being renewable by itself, is not sufficient to earn social license. We’ve seen this with solar, on-shore and off-shore wind projects.
The community does not want to replace one set of problems (climate change, local pollution around mines and power stations, etc.) with another set of problems, such as alienating land, transmission lines, visual pollution, noise, high energy costs, equipment economic life and recyclability, and supply reliability concerns. Nor should they (we!).
In addition to satisfying the concerns that apply to legacy fossil-generated electricity and wind and solar, Capricorn Power must demonstrate the purest policies and performance in areas which apply to our unique technology:
- Our energy sources must be sustainable, e.g. waste materials and byproducts, and not materials that have a higher value use than electricity (e.g. human food, animal food, fertiliser, liquid fuels, materials recycling)
- We must not contribute to deforestation
- Biomass sources must not compete with food crops for agricultural land
- We must not increase the local transport
- Engine noise must not reduce local amenity
- Any emissions to air must meet the highest quality standards.
Only when we can demonstrate our bona fides regarding these community concerns, can we ask the community to consider Capricorn Power’s unique combination of community benefits listed below.
- Accessing wasted energy sources to increase total renewable electricity generation
- Generating renewable electricity 24/7, with no need for batteries
- Distributed electricity generators, on customer sites, to increase supply diversification and reliability
- Cheaper electricity (free energy sources, no network charges, economies of engine volume production)
- Eliminating the need to build more powerlines
- Small footprint ( < 3% of solar PV)
- Zero carbon, or (with pyrolysis) negative carbon, electricity
- Diverting waste from landfill