August 27th, 2010
Why Hydrogen Convergence matters to the Economic Recovery
Paul Krugman wrote an op-ed yesterday about the pace of the economic recovery. In this piece he talked about the failure of institutions to own up to the current crisis. We at the ebTDesign Forum take a different tack. We would point to those who say if the economy fails then let it.
These are people who deny the interconnected reality of the world’s economies. This kind of talk is dangerously close to the rhetoric that led the enactment of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Following it could result in lawmakers turning the Great Recession into another great depression.
To our readers and social media followers, we say failure is not an option. The American working and middle class don’t deserve the kind of economic hardship that this would portend. The people need the hope that their elected representatives won’t do anything that would make their economic system more structurally unsound.
While we acknowledge that most politicians don’t know what a long wave is, most have heard of creative destruction. They intuitively know that no matter how inconvenient it may be things change. And in these times, rationale people must consider non-traditional solutions like hydrogen convergence.
We would suggest to community leaders that hydrogen convergence is the best way to jumpstart sustainable job growth. The last big recession was ended by the emergence of the Internet Revolution and its relationship to digital convergence. This one will end when lawmakers fully commit to a cleantech revolution and the advancement of hydrogen convergence.
Zachary Alexander
Concepts: creative destruction, hydrogen, long wave, smoot-hawleyMay 5th, 2010
Can Hydrogen Convergence Shutdown Offshore Oil?
You may be asking how can the catastrophic risk of offshore oil drilling be eliminated. The short answer is that you can’t without completely outlawing the practice. The longer answer is that hydrogen convergence already provides a timeline for substantially reducing atmospheric CO2, methane, and nitrogen. We at the ebTDesign Forum propose modifying the timeline to include shutting down offshore oil rigs.
By diverting current subsidies for oil and coal, you would free up funds for early investment in hydrogen infrastructure. This would provide the automakers with an incentive to ramp up production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. More importantly, it would price gasoline and diesel out of the transportation market. Less demand will result in higher prices. The benefits of offshore oil drilling can’t make up the difference that direct and indirect subsidies provide.
The wild card in this scenario is that if the incumbent auto manufactures don’t act aggressively to satisfy market demand then new entrants will emerge to feel the vacuum. Major competition would rapidly drop the price of hydrogen fuel cell-related technology. You may think that the major auto makers can’t seem to figure out how to provide the American car buying public with the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles they desire. However, Vision Industries (a fuel cell truck manufacture) has found a way of building and selling “18 wheelers.”
What does Vision Industries know that the big transnational truck companies don’t? It appears they know that the movement from a fossil fuel driven economy to one dominated by hydrogen convergence represents a transition from one long wave (techno-economic event) to another. As you probably know, massive creative destruction occurs during these kinds of transition periods and one of the first victims will most definitely be offshore oil drilling.
Zachary Alexander
Concepts: fossil fuel, hydrogen, long wave, offshore oilFebruary 24th, 2010
Recognizing Hydrogen Convergence as the Next Long Wave
Some readers and other educators have asked what they should tell young people about how hydrogen convergence will affect their careers. We at the ebTDesign Forum would advise them to view hydrogen convergence as the next long wave. A long wave is a series of industry-related game changing events. Also, inform them that it wasn’t just the dotcom bubble that characterized the last long wave.
The last long wave started in the early 1980’s with the introduction of personal computers. It continued through the 1990’s with the Internet portal wars and into the new millennium with skirmishes over cloud-computing. Those people who jumped on this wave at the beginning saw their earning potential grow with each generation of new technology. They also enjoyed increased respect and influence based on their longevity.
Long waves represent the only operational way of resetting the wage scale. Because of this, national governments often endeavor to impose their will on its trajectory. They pick “national champions” much like the Obama Administration has done with the nuclear power industry. Unfortunately, the post-Globalization marketplace is littered with carcasses of these ill-conceived attempts at financial engineering and business coercion. Such is the case when dinosaurs are overtaken by the next long wave.
Zachary Alexander
Concepts: career, hydrogen, long wave, post-Globalization