A more stable currency
Article Date: Nov 12 2008In the past 12 months, the pound has plummeted against the dollar and the euro. The Swiss franc, normally regarded as a ‘safe haven’ currency, has fallen too.
Meanwhile in other financial markets, shares, property and commodities have all plunged in value. Old certainties appear to have bitten the dust and even deposits don’t seem so secure any more.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think this is the end of the capitalist system. But there’s a growing realisation that we need a more resilient global economy, and for that we need low-cost, sustainable sources of energy.
Energy is the real currency. Everyone needs and uses it, so the ability to exchange power, through specially designed batteries for instance, provides an everyday medium of exchange.
This may sound far-fetched, but it’s already happening. In Germany, solar-powered homes already “sell” excess energy to neighbours or back to the grid, and the UK government is looking at adopting a similar system.
Go back in time 30 years, and these ideas were already being floated as a response to the oil crisis. Energy self-sufficiency was the watchword as people labelled every light switch with “save-it” stickers. But the past three decades of financial exuberance have obscured the need for consumers to use energy efficiently.
Now those ideas are being revived. Oil prices may have fallen in the short term, but the need to replace volatile and expensive energy sources with cheaper, renewable ones has never been more pressing.
