[p2p-research] Here is the article you requested...

[Michel Bauwens]

Thanks you so much Ryan,

I'm featuring it on the 6th:
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/local-and-small-versus-big-and-central-%e2%80%93the-case-of-power/2009/10/06

I'm hoping you'll write a piece for Re-public as well,

Michel

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 10:35 PM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Local and Small versus Big and Central –the Case of Power
>
> At the heart of home energy discussions as they touch the P2P world lives
> the question as to whether localized production can be made as efficient as
> central manufactured power.  While P2P advocates esteem the commons, most
> would see a local household-level power solution, such as a personal solar
> plant, as more ideal compared to a shared commons as “big power” --even if
> big power is theoretically a public utility with a chartered commitment to
> the public good.   Those who like the commons are typically suspicious of
> “big,” and probably with good cause.   This is especially true if a network
> of local power units can be linked into a resilient grid--an Internet of
> power.
>
> We worry that at some level the commons can become its own actor—something
> separate from those who share it.  Is a utility actually a commons or is
> it a shareholder-driven corporation that pursues its own ends?  Often it’s
> hard to say.  There isn’t much evidence that the gray areas generally work
> out to the sharer’s advantage.  Predatory types tend to grab free assets
> and capture them for personal gain.
>
> Of course the hallmarks (one way or the other) are sometimes clear: a
> corporation is focused on paying dividends to shareholder; a commons is
> focused on serving those who share.  But more often than not, there is a
> gray area…a blurred hybrid model where commons is part corporate and part
> shared resource.  When the domain is blurred, the risks of selfish capture
> by predatory asset-accumulators are typically great.
>
> The debate on power is becoming less blurred in Germany, and that may be a
> sign of movement toward the better.  In an Atlantic article<http://correspondents.theatlantic.com/lisa_margonelli/2009/09/the_frugal_genius_of_swarm_power.php>called “The Frugal Genius of ‘Swarm Power,’ Lisa Margonelli describes a new
> initiative to build small natural gas engines based on a Volkswagen product
> that make houses into mini-power plants.  Swarm power is compelling.  Here’s
> why:
>
> ·         Giving people control of their own destiny assures buy-in
>
> ·         Using small production expands the capacity to change
> incrementally
>
> ·         The technology is there now, works well, and is a huge
> efficiency gain
>
> We need to particularly test and dwell on that last bullet point.   The
> burning question must be…is it better, and what does better mean?
>
> It certainly appears as if humans just aren’t very good at planetary-scale
> schemes with central controls so far.  Somewhere in between the planetary
> scale and the local, we have that dangerous blurred domain where the commons
> often dwells.  On the other hand we do make pretty good ant-like workers
> in a locally shared commons when given a reasonable set of tools and options
> for sharing.  That much seems to have been proven.  So if we can do it
> distributed first, especially with linkages to a shared backbone, that’s the
> way to go.  In this case, Germans seem to be leading the way.
>
>
> --
> Ryan Lanham
> rlanham1963 at gmail.com
> Facebook: Ryan_Lanham
> P.O. Box 633
> Grand Cayman, KY1-1303
> Cayman Islands
> (345) 916-1712
>
>
>
>


-- 
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