Energy, Economic Transformation and Islands in the Sun

St. Barts and Reversing the Resource Curse

A large number of countries and economies, according to The Economist are endeavoring to reverse the resource curse into an economic blessing. Among a number of examples of this trend, Indonesia has placed a limit on nickel extraction and Zimbabwe as well as other nations are?limiting lithium extraction from their countries. This economic gambit is largely based on the assumption that lithium-ion batteries will power the world’s future mobility.?

The highly disciplined (and successful) Marines have taught the Few and the Proud never to base important decisions on assumptions.?

Not to be outdone by foreign competition, the current U.S. administration has painted the U.S. into a Chinese lithium-ion processing corner. China processes roughly 70% of the production of the lithium hydroxide used globally in EV batteries.

Ingenuity and Transformation?

Financed by a DOT grant, Mike Strizki developed the Hopewell Project in New Jersey. The project combines solar-powered hydrogen production with geothermal energy to power a home, cars, boats and lawn mowers.?

NJ man an energy pioneer: Has house, car, lawnmower powered totally by hydrogen. Mike Strizki at his home in Ringoes, N.J. His passion for the planet-saving benefits of hydrogen power requires him to refine the fuel himself in his backyard. - NY Times?

From the Garage to the World?

Apple and more locally Grumman Corporation (now Northrop Grumman) were started in home garages:

Reversing the Resource Curse?

The Economist: Vision 2050

The stakes are high. The developing world is home to over 4 billion people and some of the most fragile democracies. Getting growth wrong would keep such places poorer for longer. This would be not just be a human tragedy, but also a potential source of political instability. To avert it, the developing world needs bold action and to resist the urge to build walls around itself.?

Technology and Political Bets?

The Economist: A bet on one technology could go wrong if others emerge. Parts of the developing world have paid dearly to learn these lessons before. For most of the 1960s Africa's policymakers had the same ideas as East Asia's, and the continent grew as fast, until picking the wrong champions left it languishing between 1975 and 1985. It is the poorest region in the world today.

Picking winners is also harder than it was 60 years ago. Then the choice was over which form of manufacturing to promote. Cheap, abundant workforces gave poor countries an edge. Manufacturing was the only sector in which poor countries got better faster than rich countries.

Today, however, factories have become more capital-intensive. Though manufacturing still offers a way to boost a country's productivity, it is less certain to become a poor country's comparative advantage [Ricardo]. That makes it even harder for policymakers to spot a good industry for them to place their bets.

Energy and Economic Transformation?

Bottling the Sun?

Return to St. Barts?

I tried to meet with Mike Strizki once. He was away - on St. Barts, installing hydrogen-powered energy systems for the homes of the rich and famous.?

St. Barts and other resorts and villas of the wealthy, like feudal manors, demonstrate the transition that is taking place in energy - in its availability and affordability.

Iceland, no island in the sun, uses geothermal energy to produce the hydrogen that runs its homes, buses and cars (EVs)

The Developing World?

Developed countries were electrified long before the developing world was and there are still places that have not yet been electrified.

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