How the Energy decentralization is bringing about autonomous social units

Energy released from the Big Bang still permeates what happens in the universe. It is the same energy that burns in stars, that forms stars as well as destroys stars and planets, and is the sustaining force for life on our planet. While the energy source that drove the Industrial revolution did not directly come from the Sun, but nevertheless the Coal and Oil would not have formed if not for the Sun. As we burned our way Coal and Oil to fuel our way of life and in the process polluted air, water and food chains, one never stop and think what would have happened to the world of Innovation and our way of life if the Industrial revolution was fueled by Solar Energy or Wind Energy. Maybe i am naive but if we had sense at the turn of the 18th century the pitfalls of what we are doing, we might not have gone down this path at all. Letting the market and profits drive the direction of humanity can have its own longer term pitfalls, for market rarely look at long term - 5 or 10 years is too long for the markets.

Nevertheless, we are at a juncture in our history where Solar and Wind together with Storage technology have brought a new approach and view of energy that in some sense is aligned to market dynamics much more than the Coal and Oil era. What this has bought is the ability for Individuals and communities to become essentially energy independent, by generating and storing their own power and using the utility or diesel generator or neighbor's power as backup. This trend if it catches on is a huge disruptor not just in the energy and utilities paradigm, but also changes the social fabric in significant ways. With high speed cellular connectivity, Drones and autonomous vehicles, self generated power and on premise waste management system, future of urban and rural communities will transform in ways we cannot fathom now.

Cities will change with Individuals and groups of Individuals taking care of their own needs with less and less dependence on the Urban bureaucracy that has spawned through the Industrial revolution. Internet and connectivity is de-centralizing work and innovation and energy autonomy will decentralize where you live and work as well. This will result in autonomous social units that are organized not around a set of services provided by an Urban center or a city or a town, but more around shared interests or shared philosophy or shared way of life and to some extent to a more tribal way of existence with all the benefits and more of the existing Urban systems.

While we may not have wished this, but for good or for worse, we are slowly but steadily drifting to a modern world built of social units that is self sufficient driven largely on energy autonomy and new technologies.