By Dr. Shambhushivananda
We stand today at the crossroads of a fossil fuel driven age versus the renewable energy age. The former evokes the fears of conflicts and wars, scarcities and a future ridden with competition and mutual fights for survival. The latter opens new horizons for a world of abundant energy, new models of habitats, de-coupling of energy and food security and a paradigm shift towards a self reliant and a sustainable future.
At the crux of this movement towards a sustainable world lies a shift in worldview. Centralized models nurture centralization of economic power while decentralized models aim towards bringing economic democracy with the participation of millions of impoverished mass and their governments. If poverty is to be permanently driven from the face of this earth, we need to adopt models of economic development which are based on energy-efficient habitats, wide-spread use of renewable energy utilizing energy-storage system like Cellenium’s Vanadium Fuel Cell and Cellenium’s other ecological smart solutions related to total recycling of all wastes, water purification, fertilizer production, and tapping carbon dioxide to generate carbohydrates and abundant energy. We also need the support of a sentient life-style that respects nature, values compassion, sharing and service.
Ananda Marga Gurukula joins Cellenium’s efforts to spread sacred activism through a host of eco-friendly technologies that offer a promise of self-sufficiency in all essentialities especially provision of comfortable habitats, fulfillment of energy needs, food security, availability of drinkable water and regeneration of depleted soils through organic fertilizer.
Human beings need to take control of their biosphere by learning to manage the eco-system to fulfill all their essential needs. Cellennium has engaged in research on these issues for the past twenty years and is now ready to enter the marketplace to help alleviate the pressing economic problems created by the fossil fuel age. Ananda Marga Gurukula has championed the cause of economic self-sufficiency through its neohumanist educational philosophy and hundreds of educational centers in over 70 countries. The Gurukula-Cellennium partnership is a historic initiative to help all developing economies to adopt the shortest path to rooting out poverty, utilizing the most appropriate technological solutions aligned with the abundant potential of nature. The farther we go from nature, the more scarcity we shall have. The closer we align with nature, the greater abundance we shall have. This is the key principle of Gurukula-Cellenium global initiative.
Towards a Renewable Energy Age
By Khun Krisada Kampanatsanyakorn
Within the spirit of service to humanity, one must reflect on defining the biggest problem humanity is facing today. After many years of soul searching I have reached a personal view that the gravest danger is to the survival of humanity itself. This century has turned out many events that point to the final limit of our civilization. Super power proxy war is spreading all over and is escalating along with trade war, currency war, and propaganda war. If this trend continues thermonuclear war will be unavoidable, for the stake of this conflict is the last remaining large oil field and none of the old or new superpowers will allow the other side to win. This whole predicament comes from an entrenched addiction to fossil fuel by our whole civilization, and this precious commodity is finite and dwindling very fast. By following the numbers of annual total oil production one can easily see that we are already past peak oil — the total production declined several years ago. Our global food production and distribution are totally based on fossil fuel. A spike in its price will cause food prices to rise and social upheaval will follow as happened in 2008.
All in all, the present system is unsustainable. We have reached a limit not only of oil and gas but also our topsoil, fresh water, marine life, and fertilizer. Within the present system the best one can do, without a meaningful new paradigm, is to prolong the time before this breakdown. Change towards a sustainable way of life is needed in our time or civilization will definitely reach its end.
Is meaningful change possible and available? I personally believe so. Renewable energy from solar, wind and biomass is making rapid inroads replacing the fossil fuel domain. With breakthroughs in energy storage, intermittent renewable energy can replace fossil fuel one hundred percent now. Only the will of those communities with sustained will power to change is required to overcome the local fossil fuel mafia and business establishment. The realities of renewable energy negate the old premise that vital resources of energy are finite. It clearly demonstrates that energy can be virtually infinite; if we apply accumulated human knowledge wisely there is more than enough for everybody’s needs. Hopefully, there is no need for a third world war.
PROUT’s progressive utilization of resources needs to be translated into an action plan that includes: complete recycling of all wastes (solids, liquids, and gases), using bio-mass to generate electricity and organic fertilizers, building habitats utilizing green technologies, and transportation systems that utilize renewable energy sources. Never before have I seen the meaningful role of the spirit of Sadvipras (enlightened leadership) more acutely than today. Grassroots leadership is required to spearhead this meaningful change towards a sustainable way of life. The new generation of leaders needs to take upon themselves an activism toward enhancing bio-diversity, renewable energy, and complete recycling of solid, liquid, and gas in their own habitat.
In this new paradigm, it is not profit as the ultimate goal. It is food security, energy security, and its resiliency that are the goals. With human accumulated knowledge of today one can easily design a system that each household can use to generate surplus energy and food. Only through this foundation can one begin to build a more compassionate society and a real platform for collective spiritual evolution.
My real hope rests with the young minds of the new generation. Education is the key; to reorient and cultivate neohumanist sentiment for the welfare of all sentient beings. I welcome our association with Gurukula. Only through Neohumanist Education do we stand a good chance of achieving success in this meaningful change.
Pioneering a Practical Approach for Sustainable Habitats and Biosphere
Presented by: TG Building Systems Company Limited and Cellennium Thailand Company Limited at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Concept: The concept of this project is to design and build a new and more proper approach to human habitat development in cooperation and in synergy with the natural environment. The “Eco Village” aims to create communities that generate a surplus of electricity, water, food and fertilizer by use of innovative technologies now commercially available. These capabilities would maximize the degrees of freedom for their inhabitants or communities. By designing for an increasing access to free renewable energy and information, productivity can be enhanced and wealth can be gained. Sustainability can only be reached by making the use of renewable energies an everyday reality and by adhering to the principles of complete recycling of all waste streams – solid, liquid and gas. Renewable energy technologies such as solar, biomass, and electricity storage, among others, are all tangibly applied in the Eco Village and VSPP projects to generate excess supply of electricity for the occupants to sell back to the grid. Water in the Eco Village is captured, cleaned, used, treated and recycled. Fertilizer, char and carbon dioxide, for example, which are derived from solid waste generation and from biomass-to-power processes, are captured to enhance the further growth of new biomass. All of these, taken together, create powerful regenerative forces that can sustain and enhance our biosphere.
Other information: Some innovative technologies being applied to the projects are: Vanadium redox¬flow electrical storage and power conversion system; Energy-saving design and simulation process for house construction; Prefabricated, insulated, panelized and dry construction; Solar PV systems; Solar thermal systems; Thermal storage; Biomass energy conversion – biogas, wood-gas, charcoal to electricity; Vertical algae bioreactor for sequestering carbon and maximizing biomass production; Aerobic, microbial water purification system. The houses in the Eco Village are designed for energy efficiency and comfort. Solutions have been created to remedy normal practices that result in poorly insulated building shells and excess electricity usage for domestic cooling, lighting & appliances and hot water heating. There is maximum use of energy-saving architectural features, the right choice of materials for insulating the building shell, and the prudent integration of renewable energy and energy storage technologies.
Associated costs and benefits: Sustainability can be reached by making the use of renewable energies an everyday reality and by adhering to the principles of complete recycling of all waste streams
-solid, liquid and gas. The agricultural sector becomes the one of the major beneficiaries of this distributed resource paradigm (i.e., electricity, water and fertilizer). With surplus of resources being generated, the wealth of the community increases.
For more info please contact Dr. Piriyathep Kanchanadul, E-mail: