I had that terrible nightmare again. The one where I wake up and society is pretty much the same as it is now, except all conventional forms of power have collapsed and people now generate electricity through exercise. Desks have all been converted to pedal desks, if you want to watch the TV you have to run on a treadmill and even something as simple as boiling a kettle mean that you have to drop and do ten push ups to generate enough power. And the worst part? Everyone is OKAY with it. They’re all so fit and happy, drinking water and lightly glowing as they do their ordinary office work, pedalling away. And there’s me, the only unfit person in the entire world.
This is why I’ve been looking into commercial solar in Melbourne. It started off as a casual interest, but the nightmare has been coming up again and again, to the point where I’m worried it’s a premonition.
And look, I’ve done my research. Something like solar energy is going to be big news if all our current methods of power generation fail, because just pedaling on a bike or running on a treadmill isn’t going to cut it. That’s why I currently have solar panels on my roof, for all the good they do with this cloud cover. A couple of panels aren’t enough for this climate, but it’s a start. Once my entire roof is covered, it’ll start shaving dollars off my energy bill. By that time I’ll have looked into energy storage, which means I’ll have my own private supply to last me…some time, at least. So let’s say that all power collapses, all that’s left is pedaling or solar energy. I’ll have enough solar energy to get by, if I’m careful. My industrial energy storage methods mean I can live as a king, unmoving in a world full of people who never STOP moving. Maybe it won’t last forever, but…I can hold onto my comfortably sedentary lifestyle for a little bit longer, at least.