technocracy, carbon currency and smart grids

AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com NEXUS • 25

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PPaarrtt 11:: CCaarrbboonn CCuurrrreennccyy——AA NNeeww BBeeggiinnnniinngg ffoorr TTeecchhnnooccrraaccyy??ritics who think that the US dollar will be replaced by some newglobal currency are perhaps thinking too small. On the world horizonlooms a new global currency that could replace all paper currenciesand the economic system upon which they are based.

The new currency, simply called Carbon Currency, is designed to support arevolutionary new economic system based on energy (production andconsumption) instead of price. Our current price-based economic systemand its related currencies that have supported capitalism, socialism, fascismand communism is being herded to the slaughterhouse in order to make wayfor a new carbon-based world.

It is plainly evident that the world is labouring under a dying system ofprice-based economics as evidenced by the rapid decline of papercurrencies. The era of fiat (irredeemable paper currency) was introduced in1971 when US President Richard Nixon decoupled the US dollar from gold.Because the dollar-turned-fiat was the world's primary reserve asset, allother currencies eventually followed suit, leaving us today with a global seaof paper that is increasingly undesired, unstable, unusable. The deathlyeconomic state of today's world is a direct reflection of the sum of its sickand dying currencies, but this could soon change.

Forces are already at work to position a new Carbon Currency as theultimate solution to global calls for poverty reduction, population control,environmental control, global warming, energy allocation and blanketdistribution of economic wealth. Unfortunately for individual people livingin this new system, it will also require authoritarian and centralised controlover all aspects of life, from cradle to grave.

What is Carbon Currency and how will it work? In a nutshell, CarbonCurrency will be based on the regular allocation of available energy to thepeople of the world. If not used within a period of time, the currency willexpire (like monthly minutes on your cellphone plan) so that the samepeople can receive a new allocation based on new energy production quotasfor the next period.

Because the energy supply chain is already dominated by the global elite,setting energy production quotas will limit the amount of Carbon Currencyin circulation at any one time. It will also naturally limit manufacturing, foodproduction and people movement. Local currencies could remain in play fora time, but they would eventually wither and be fully replaced by the CarbonCurrency, in much the same way that the euro displaced individual Europeancurrencies over a period of time.

Sounds very modern in concept, doesn't it? In fact, these ideas date backto the 1930s when hundreds of thousands of US citizens were embracing anew political ideology called Technocracy and the promise it held for a betterlife.

bbyy PPaattrriicckk MM.. WWoooodd ©© 2010–2011

EditorThe August Review

PO Box 186Brush Prairie, WA 98606, USA

Website:http://www.augustreview.com

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BBaacckkggrroouunnddPhilosophically, technocracy found its roots in the

scientific autocracy of Henri de Saint-Simon (1760–1825)and in the positivism of Auguste Comte (1798–1857), thefather of social sciences. Positivism elevated science andthe scientific method above metaphysical revelation.Technocrats embraced positivism because they believedthat social progress was possible only through science andtechnology.

The social movement of Technocracy, with its energy-based accounting system, can be traced back to the 1930swhen an obscure group of engineers and scientists offered itas a solution to the Great Depression.

The principal scientist behind Technocracy was M. KingHubbert, a young geoscientist who would later (in1948–1956) invent the now-famous Peak Oil theory, alsoknown as the Hubbert Peak theory. Hubbert stated that thediscovery of new energy reserves and their production wouldbe outstripped by usage, thereby eventually causingeconomic and social havoc. Manymodern followers of peak oiltheory believe that the 2007–2009global recession was exacerbatedin part by record oil prices thatreflected the validity of the theory.

Hubbert received all of hishigher education at the Universityof Chicago, graduating with a PhDin 1937, and later taughtgeophysics at ColumbiaUniversity. He was highlyacclaimed throughout his career,receiving many honours such asthe Rockefeller Public Service Award in 1977.

In 1933, Hubbert and Howard Scott formed anorganisation called Technocracy, Inc. "Technocracy" isderived from the Greek words techne, meaning "skill", andkratos, meaning "rule". Thus, it is government by skilledengineers, scientists and technicians as opposed to electedofficials. It was opposed to all other forms of government,including communism, socialism and fascism, all of whichfunction with a price-based economy.

As founders of the organisation and political movementcalled Technocracy, Inc., Hubbert and Scott also co-authoredthe Technocracy Study Course, published in 1934. This bookserves as the "bible" of Technocracy and is the rootdocument to which most all modern technocratic thinkingcan be traced.

Technocracy postulated that only scientists and engineerswere capable of running a complex, technology-basedsociety. Because technology, the founders reasoned,changed the social nature of societies, previous methods ofgovernment and economy were made obsolete. Theydisdained politicians and bureaucrats, whom they viewed asincompetent. By utilising the scientific method andscientific management techniques, technocrats hoped tosqueeze the massive inefficiencies out of running a society,

thereby providing more benefits for all members of societywhile consuming fewer resources.

The other integral part of Technocracy was to implementan economic system based on energy allocation rather thanprice. They proposed to replace traditional money withEnergy Credits. Their keen focus on the efficient use ofenergy is likely the first hint of a sustainedecological/environmental movement in the United States.The modern emphasis on curtailing carbon fuelconsumption that causes global warming and CO2

emissions is essentially a product of early technocraticthinking.

As scientists, Hubbert and Scott tried to explain (orjustify) their arguments in terms of physics and the law ofthermodynamics, which is the study of energy conversionbetween heat and mechanical work. Entropy is a conceptwithin thermodynamics that represents the amount ofenergy in a system that is no longer available for doingmechanical work. Entropy thus increases as matter and

energy in the system degradetowards the ultimate state of inertuniformity. In layman's terms,entropy means that once you useit, you lose it for good.

Furthermore, the end state ofentropy is "inert uniformity" wherenothing takes place. Thus, if manuses up all the available energyand/or destroys the ecology, therecan be no restoration ever again.

The technocrat's way of avoidingsocial entropy is to increase theefficiency of society by the careful

allocation of available energy and the measurement ofsubsequent output in order to find a state of "equilibrium",or balance.

To facilitate this equilibrium between man and nature,Technocracy proposed that citizens would receive EnergyCertificates in order to operate the economy:

"…[Energy Certificates] are issued individually to everyadult of the entire population…

"The record of one's income and its rate of expenditure iskept by the Distribution Sequence, so that it is a simplematter at any time for the Distribution Sequence toascertain the state of a given customer's balance...

"When making purchases of either goods or services anindividual surrenders the Energy Certificates properlyidentified and signed…

"The significance of this, from the point of view ofknowledge of what is going on in the social system, and ofsocial control, can best be appreciated when one surveysthe whole system in perspective. First, one singleorganization is manning and operating the whole socialmechanism. The same organization not only produces butdistributes all goods and services…"

Two key differences between price-based money andEnergy Certificates are that:

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a) money is generic to the holder while Certificates areindividually registered to each citizen, and

b) money persists while Certificates expire. The latter facet would greatly hinder, if not altogether

prevent, the accumulation of wealth and property.

TTrraannssiittiioonnAt the start of World War II, Technocracy's popularity

dwindled as economic prosperity returned; however, boththe organisation and its philosophy survived.

Today, there are two principal websites representingTechnocracy in North America. Technocracy, Inc., located inFerndale, Washington, is represented atwww.technocracy.org. A sisterorganisation in Vancouver, BritishColumbia, is Technocracy Vancouver; itcan be found at www.technocracyvan.ca.

While Technocracy's original focus wasexclusively on the North Americancontinent, the movement is now growingrapidly in Europe and otherindustrialised nations. For instance, theNetwork of European Technocrats (NET)was formed in 2005 as "an autonomousresearch and social movement that aimsto explore and develop both the theoryand design of technocracy". The NETwebsite claims to have membersaround the world.

Of course, a few minor-leagueorganisations and their websitescannot hope to create or implementa global energy policy, but it's notbecause the ideas aren't still aliveand well.

A more likely influence on modernthinking is due to Hubbert's Peak Oiltheory introduced in 1954. It hasfigured prominently in the ecologicaland environmental movement. Infact, the entire global warming movement indirectly sits ontop of the Hubbert Peak theory.

TThhee MMooddeerrnn PPrrooppoossaallBecause of the connection between the environmental

movement, global warming and the technocratic concept ofEnergy Certificates, one would expect that a CarbonCurrency would be suggested from that particularcommunity, and in fact this is the case.

In 1995, Judith Hanna wrote in her article "Towards aSingle Carbon Currency" in New Scientist: "My proposal is toset a global quota for fossil fuel combustion every year, andto share it equally between all the adults in the world."

In 2006, the prestigious Harvard International Reviewpublished "A New Currency", which stated:

"For those keen to slow global warming, the mosteffective actions are in the creation of strong national carbon

currencies… For scholars and policymakers, the key task is tomine history for guides that are more useful. Globalwarming is considered an environmental issue, but its bestsolutions are not to be found in the canon ofenvironmental law. Carbon's ubiquity in the worldeconomy demands that cost be a consideration in anyregime to limit emissions. Indeed, emissions trading hasbeen anointed king because it is the most responsive tocost. And since trading emissions for carbon is more akin to tradingcurrency than eliminating a pollutant, policymakers shouldbe looking at trade and finance with an eye to how carbonmarkets should be governed. We must anticipate the policychallenges that will arise as this bottom-up system emerges,

including the governance of seamsbetween each of the nascent tradingsystems, liability rules for bogus permits,and judicial cooperation." (Emphasisadded.)

The authors concluded that "afterseven years of spinning wheels andwrong analogies, the international regime tocontrol carbon is headed, albeit tentatively,down a productive path". (Emphasisadded.)

In 2006, the then UK EnvironmentSecretary David Miliband spoke to theAudit Commission Annual Lecture and

Debate and flatly stated:"Imagine acountry where carbon becomes a newcurrency. We carry bank cards thatstore both pounds and carbonpoints. When we buy electricity, gasand fuel, we use our carbon points,as well as pounds. To help reducecarbon emissions, the Governmentwould set limits on the amount ofcarbon that could be used."(Emphasis added.)

In 2007, the New York Timespublished "When Carbon Is

Currency" by Hannah Fairfield. She pointedly stated: "Tobuild a carbon market, its originators must create a currencyof carbon credits that participants can trade." (Emphasisadded.)

Point Carbon, a leading global consultancy, is partneredwith Bank of New York Mellon to assess rapidly growingcarbon markets. In 2008, it published "Towards a CommonCarbon Currency: Exploring the prospects for integratedglobal carbon markets". This report discusses bothenvironmental and economic efficiency in a similar contextas originally seen with Hubbert in 1933.

Finally, on 9 November 2009, the UK Telegraph presentedan article "Everyone in Britain could be given a personal'carbon allowance'":

"…implementing individual carbon allowances for every personwill be the most effective way of meeting the targets forcutting greenhouse gas emissions. It would involve people

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being issued with a unique number which they would handover when purchasing products that contribute to theircarbon footprint, such as fuel, airline tickets and electricity.Like with a bank account, a statement would be sent out eachmonth to help people keep track of what they are using. Iftheir 'carbon account' hits zero, they would have to pay toget more credits." (Emphasis added.)

As you can see, these references are hardly minor leaguein terms of either authorship or content. The undercurrentof early technocratic thought has finally reached the shorewhere the waves are lapping at the beach. EEnneerrggyy CCaarrdd PPrroottoottyyppee

In July 1937, an article by Howard Scott in TechnocracyMagazine described an Energy Distribution Card in greatdetail. It declared that using such an instrument as "ameans of accounting is a part of Technocracy's proposedchange in the course of how our socioeconomic system canbe organized".

Scott further wrote:"The certificate will be issued directly to the individual. It

is nontransferable and nonnegotiable; therefore, it cannotbe stolen, lost, loaned, borrowed, or given away. It isnoncumulative; therefore, it cannot be saved, and it doesnot accrue or bear interest. It need not be spent but losesits validity after a designated time period."

This may have seemed like science fiction in 1937, buttoday it is wholly achievable. Technocracy, Inc. has offeredan updated idea of what such an Energy Distribution Cardmight look like. Its website states: "It is now possible to usea plastic card similar to today's credit card embedded witha microchip. This chip could contain all the informationneeded to create an energy distribution card as describedin this booklet.

Since the same information would be provided inwhatever form best suits the latest technology, however, theconcept of an 'Energy Distribution Card' is what isexplained here."

If you study the prototype card, you will also note that itserves as a universal identity card and contains a microchip.This reflects Technocracy's philosophy that each person insociety must be meticulously monitored and accounted forin order to track what they consume in terms of energy andalso what they contribute to the manufacturing process.

CCaarrbboonn MMaarrkkeett PPllaayyeerrssThe modern system of carbon credits is an invention of

the Kyoto Protocol and started to gain momentum in 2002with the establishment of the first domestic economy-widetrading scheme in the UK. Written into international law in2005, the trading market is now predicted to reach US$3trillion by 2020 or earlier.


Graciela Chichilnisky, director of the ColumbiaConsortium for Risk Management and a designer of thecarbon credit text of the Kyoto Protocol, stated in her article"Who Needs a Carbon Market?":

"The carbon market is therefore all about cash andtrading—but it is also a way to a profitable and greenerfuture."

Who are the "traders" that provide the open door to allthis profit? Currently leading the pack are J. P. MorganChase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. A Bloombergarticle, "Carbon Capitalists Warming to Climate MarketUsing Derivatives" (4 December 2009), noted: "The banksare preparing to do with carbon what they've done before:design and market derivatives contracts that will help clientcompanies hedge their price risk over the long term.They're also ready to sell carbon-related financial productsto outside investors."

At J.P. Morgan, the woman whooriginally invented credit defaultswaps, Blythe Masters, is nowhead of the department thattrades carbon credits for the bank.

Considering the sheer force ofthe global banking giants behindcarbon trading, it's no wonderthat analysts are alreadypredicting that the carbon marketwill soon dwarf all othercommodities trading.

Of course, a currency is merely ameans to an end. Whoever controlsthe currency also controls the economy and the politicalstructure that goes with it. Technocracy and energy-basedaccounting are not idle or theoretical issues. If the globalelite intends for Carbon Currency to supplant nationalcurrencies, then the world economic and political systemswill also be fundamentally changed forever.

PPaarrtt 22:: SSmmaarrtt GGrriidd——TThhee IImmpplleemmeennttaattiioonn ooff TTeecchhnnooccrraaccyy??The Technocracy Study Course established a detailed

framework for Technocracy in terms of energy production,distribution and usage. According to Scott and Hubbert,the distribution of energy resources must be monitored andmeasured in order for the system to work—and this is thekey: monitoring and measuring.

They wrote that the system must do the following things:"1. Register on a continuous 24 hour-per-day basis the

total net conversion of energy…"2. By means of the registration of energy converted and

consumed, make possible a balanced load."3. Provide a continuous inventory of all production and

consumption."4. Provide a specific registration of the type, kind, etc., of

all goods and services, where produced, and where used."5. Provide a specific registration of the consumption of

each individual, plus a record and description of theindividual…"

In the 1930s, such technology did not exist. Time was onthe technocrat's side, however, because this technology doesexist today and it is being rapidly implemented to doexactly what Scott and Hubbert specified: namely, toexhaustively monitor, measure and control every kilowatt ofenergy delivered to consumers and businesses on asystem-wide basis. It's called Smart Grid.

WWhhaatt iiss SSmmaarrtt GGrriidd??Smart Grid is a broad technical term that encompasses

the generation, distribution and consumption of electricalpower, with an inclusion for gas and water as well.America's ageing power grid is increasingly fragile andinefficient. Smart Grid is an initiative that seeks tocompletely redesign the power grid using advanced digitaltechnology, including the installation of new digital metersin every home and business in the United States.

These digital meters providearound-the-clock monitoring of aconsumer's energy consumptionusing continuous two-waycommunication between theutility and the consumer'sproperty. Furthermore, themeters will be able tocommunicate with electricaldevices within the residence togather consumption data and tocontrol certain devices directlywithout consumer intervention.

According to a US Departmentof Energy publication:

"The Department of Energy has been charged withorchestrating the wholesale modernization of our nation'selectrical grid... Heading this effort is the Office ofElectricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. In concert withits cutting edge research and energy policy programs, theoffice's newly formed, multi-agency Smart Grid Task Force isresponsible for coordinating standards development,guiding research and development projects, andreconciling the agendas of a wide range of stakeholders."

This is a relatively new initiative, but it is racing forward atbreakneck speed. The Office of Electricity Delivery wascreated in 2003 under President George W. Bush, and waselevated in stature in 2007 by the creation of the position ofAssistant Secretary of Electricity Delivery and EnergyReliability to head it. It is not clearly stated who "charged"the Department of Energy to this task, but since theSecretary of Energy answers directly to the President, it isassumed that it was a directive from the President. Therecertainly was no congressional directive or mandate.

IImmpplleemmeennttaattiioonnOn 27 October 2009, the Obama administration unveiled

its Smart Grid plan by awarding $3.4 billion to 100 SmartGrid projects. According to the Department of Energy'spress release, these awards will result in the installation of:


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• more than 850 sensors, called "phasor measurementunits", to monitor the overall power grid nationwide;

• 200,000 smart transformers;• 700 automated substations (about five per cent of the

nation's total);• 1,000,000 in-home displays;• 345,000 load-control devices in homes. One such project in the Northwest is headed by the

Battelle Memorial Institute, covering five states andtargeting 60,000 customers. The project was actuallydeveloped by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), afederal agency underneath the Department of Energy.Since it is pointedly illegal for a federal agency to apply forfederal funds, BPA passed the project off to Battelle, a non-profit and non-governmental organisation, which waspromptly awarded $178 million.

It is interesting to note that BPA takes credit fororiginating the Smart Gridconcept in the early 1990s; termedEnergy Web, it is comprehensivein scope from production toconsumption.

According to Battelle's 27August 2009 press release:

"The project will involve morethan 60,000 metered customers inIdaho, Montana, Oregon,Washington and Wyoming. Usingsmart grid technologies, theproject will engage system assetsexceeding 112 megawatts, theequivalent of power to serve86,000 households…

"'The proposed demonstration will study smart gridbenefits at unprecedented geographic breadth across fivestates, spanning the electrical system from generation toend-use, and containing many key functions of the futuresmart grid,' said Mike Davis, a Battelle vice president. 'Theintended impact of this project will span well beyondtraditional utility service territory boundaries, helping toenable a future grid that meets pressing local, regional andnational needs.'"

Battelle and BPA intend to work closely together, andthere is an obvious blurring as to who is really in control ofthe project's management during the test period.

In a "For Internal Use Only" document written in August2009, BPA offered talking points to its partners:

"Smart Grid technology includes everything from interactiveappliances in homes to smart meters, substation automationand sensors on transmission lines." (Emphasis added.)

AA NNeettwwoorrkk ooff TThhiinnggssAs the World Wide Web (WWW) is to people, so the

Network of Things (NOT) is to appliances. This brand-newtechnology creates a wireless network between a broadrange of inanimate objects from shoes to refrigerators. Thisconcept is "shovel ready" for Smart Grid implementation

because appliances, meters and substations are allinanimate items that technocrats would havecommunicating with each other.

For instance, in 2008, the Pacific Northwest NationalLaboratory (PNNL) developed a small circuit board called aGrid Friendly Appliance™ (GFA) Controller. According to aDepartment of Energy brochure:

"The GFA Controller developed by Pacific NorthwestNational Laboratory is a small circuit board built intohousehold appliances that reduces stress on the power gridby continually monitoring fluctuations in available power.During times of high demand, appliances equipped withthe controller automatically shut down for a short period oftime, resulting in a cumulative reduction that can maintainstability on the grid."

According to PNNL's website: "The controller isessentially a simple computer chip that can be installed in

regular household appliances likedishwashers, clothes washers,dryers, refrigerators, airconditioners, and water heaters.The chip senses when there is adisruption in the grid and turnsthe appliances off for a fewseconds or minutes to allow thegrid to stabilize. The controllersalso can be programmed to delaythe restart of the appliances. Thedelay allows the appliances to beturned on one at a time ratherthan all at once to ease powerrestoration following an outage."

You can see how automatic actions are intended to betriggered by direct interaction between objects, withouthuman intervention. The rules will be written byprogrammers under the direction of technocrats whounderstand the system, and then downloaded to thecontrollers as necessary. Thus, changes to the rules can bemade on the fly, at any time and without the homeowner'sknowledge.

PNNL is not a private enterprise, however. It is "owned"by the US Department of Energy and operated by BattelleMemorial Institute!

All of this technology will be enabled with Wi-Fi circuitrythat is identical to the Wi-Fi–enabled network modems androuters commonly used in homes and businessesthroughout the world. "Wi-Fi" is a trademark of the Wi-FiAlliance and refers to wireless network systems used indevices from personal computers to mobile phones,connecting them together and/or to the Internet.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, "[t]he need for SmartGrid solutions is being driven by the emergence ofdistributed power generation and management/monitoringof consumption". In its white paper, "Wi-Fi® for the SmartGrid", it lists the specific requirements for interoperabilityposted by the Department of Energy:

"• Provide two-way communication among grid users,


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e.g. regional market operators, utilities, service providersand consumers

"• Allow power system operators to monitor their ownsystems as well as neighbouring systems that affect themso as to facilitate more reliable energy distribution anddelivery

"• Coordinate the integration into the power system ofemerging technologies such as renewable resources,demand response resources, electricity storage facilitiesand electric transportation systems

"• Ensure the cyber security of the grid".Thus, the bi-directional and real-time Smart Grid

communications network will depend on Wi-Fi from end toend. This is easily understood from the two figuresincluded in the Wi-Fi Alliance whitepaper.

While the consumer is pacified withthe promise of lower utility costs, it isthe utility company that will enforce thepolicies set by the regional, national andglobal regulators. Thus, if aneighbouring system has a shortage ofelectricity, your thermostat mightautomatically be turned down tocompensate; if you have exceeded yourmonthly daytime quota of electricity,energy-consuming tasks like washingand drying clothes could be limited toovernight hours.

Smart Grid and the utility'scontrol extends beyond electricity.There is a Wi-Fi linkage to gas andwater meters as well.

GGooiinngg GGlloobbaallA BusinessWeek article, "How Italy

Beat the World to a Smarter Grid",published on 16 November 2009,stated: "After several false starts,2010 finally could be the year whensmart meters go global." Indeed, itwas:

• Italy has already implemented Smart Grid technology in85 per cent of its homes nationwide;

• Earth2tech.com reports that Smart Grid will generate$200 billion of global investment in the next few years;

• The International Electrotechnical Commission has laidout a global roadmap to ensure interoperability of SmartGrid systems between nations;

• Global companies are rushing to gain their share of theglobal Smart Grid market: IBM, Siemens, GE, Cisco,Panasonic, Kyocera, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, etc.;

• China is spending $7.32 billion to build-out Smart Gridin Asia.

Other countries with Smart Grid pilot projects alreadylaunched include Germany, France, England, Russia, Japan,India, Australia, South Africa and a host of others. Regional

organisations such as Smart Grids Africa have been set upto promote Smart Grid in smaller countries.

In every case, Smart Grid is being accelerated bygovernment stimulus spending. The global vendors aremerely lining up their money buckets to be filled up withtaxpayer funds. As is the case in the US, there was little, ifany, pre-existing or latent demand for Smart Gridtechnology. Demand has been artificially created by therespective governments of each country.

PPaarrtt 33:: TTeecchhnnooccrraaccyy EEnnddggaammee——GGlloobbaall SSmmaarrtt GGrriiddToday in 2011, the development and implementation of

Smart Grid technology in the US—reinventing the electricalgrid with Wi-Fi–enabled digital power meters—is

proceeding at breakneck speed. Global companies like IBM, GE and

Siemens are putting their full effortbehind the "build-out" that willconsolidate all of America into a single,integrated, communication-enabledelectricity delivery and monitoringsystem, with planners working onstandards that will integrate all of NorthAmerica including Mexico and Canadainto a single, unified, Smart Gridsystem.

Moreover, there is a serious initiativeunderway to create a Global Smart Grid

that will integrate all thecontinents on the globe!

The Global Energy NetworkInstitute (GENI) presents itsDymaxion™ Map of the world,from the perspective of the NorthPole, which reveals the global gridcurrently under construction (seediagram on page 28).

The only part of planet Earth leftuntouched is Antarctica.

The yellow lines represent high-voltage electrical transmission

links that are capable of transferring large amounts ofenergy from continent to continent.

The GENI project is gathering momentum and isendorsed by the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,US Senator James Jeffords, Dr Noel Brown ([the nowformer] North American director of the UN EnvironmentProgramme), the United Nations and the governments ofCanada, New Zealand, Switzerland and China, amongothers.

The nature of the global grid is revealed on theTerraWatts.com website:

"There is a new world wide web emerging right before oureyes. It is a global energy network and, like the Internet, itwill change our culture, society and how we do business.More importantly, it will alter how we use, transform andexchange energy…


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"There is no energy supply problem, there is an energydistribution problem, and the emerging solution is a new worldwide web of electricity."

GGeenneessiiss ooff tthhee GGlloobbaall SSmmaarrtt GGrriiddThe GENI website credits the late R. Buckminster Fuller

(1895–1983) as the conceptual father and designer of theglobal energy network. In his 1981 book Critical Path, Fullerwrote:

"…This world electric grid, with its omni-integratedadvantage, will deliver its electric energy anywhere, toanyone, at any one time, at one common rate. This willmake a world-around uniform costing and pricing systemfor all goods and services based realistically on the time-energy metabolic accounting system of [the] Universe.

"In this cosmically uniform, common energy-value systemfor all humanity, costing will be expressed in kilowatt-hours, watt-hours and watt-seconds of work. Kilowatt-hours will become the prime criteria [sic] of costing theproduction of the complex ofmetabolic involvements per eachfunction or item.

“These uniform energyvaluations will replace all theworld's wildly intervarying,opinion-gambled-upon, top-power-system-manipulatablemonetary systems. The time-energy world accounting systemwill do away with all theinequities now occurring in regardto the arbitrarily maneuverableinternational shipping of goodsand top economic powerstructure's banker-invented, international balance-of-tradeaccountings.

“It will eliminate all the tricky banking and securities-markets exploitations of all the around-the-world-time-zone activities differences in operation today, allunbeknownst to the at-all-times two billion humans whoare sleeping."

If this sounds familiar, it should. It is an unvarnished re-hash of 1930s-style Technocracy, except on a global, versuscontinental, scale.

Electricity is delivered equally to all, and the price-basedeconomic system is replaced by a "time-energy worldaccounting system" based on kilowatt-hours, watt-hoursand watt-seconds.

There is no evidence that such a system will ever work,but that hasn't stopped global groups from rushingheadlong into this global initiative. Take, for instance, theWorld Economic Forum…

WWoorrlldd EEccoonnoommiicc FFoorruumm aanndd CClliimmaattee CChhaannggeeIf sceptics were to question the seriousness of

organisations like TerraWatts and GENI, they shouldconsider that the elitist World Economic Forum (WEF) has

thrown its collective weight behind the initiative. It hasmanaged to link the advancement of Smart Grid to thereduction of carbon emissions, thus promising a tangibleway to fight global warming.

Founded in 1971, the WEF meets annually in Davos,Switzerland. Attendees are mostly the "who's who" of theglobal elite.

The WEF presented a major progress report in January2011 on the Energy Industry Partnership Programme andreferred to a recent energy publication:

"'Accelerating Successful Smart Grid Pilots', a WorldEconomic Forum report developed with Accenture andindustry experts, sets out the centrality of smart grids as keyenablers for a low-carbon economy and in response toincreasingly growing energy demands. Over 60 industry,policy and regulatory stakeholders were engaged in the'Accelerating Successful Smart Grid Pilots' report, toidentify the factors that determine the success, orotherwise, of smart grid pilots... There is an opportunity to

launch the next wave ofdevelopment towards a lowercarbon energy system, and successfulsmart grid pilots will be a keystep in this process." (Emphasisadded.)

Mark Spelman, Global Head ofStrategy at Accenture,participated in the WEF's 2010Smart Grid Workshop. Whenasked the question, "What valuecan Smart Grid add in the next 30years?", Spelman replied: "Smartgrids are absolutely fundamentalif we are going to achieve some of

our climate change objectives. If you like, smart grids arethe glue, they're the energy Internet of the future, and theyare the essential component which is going to bringdemand and supply together."

TThhee IIEEEEEE SSttaannddaarrddss AAssssoocciiaattiioonnThe global energy network, or Smart Grid, will operate

according to universally accepted engineering standardsthat make data and energy flows compatible with eachother. Who will supply such standards? The venerableInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

The IEEE claims that it is "the world's largestprofessional association dedicated to advancingtechnological innovation and excellence for the benefit ofhumanity".

Founded in 1884, it has been involved with electricitystandards and development since Thomas Edisoninvented the light bulb. Today, however, the IEEE ismassively global, with 395,000 members in 160 countries,and it supports approximately 900 active standards invarious fields of engineering and electronics.

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As it states on its Smart Grid website,the IEEE has staked its claim, in clearlanguage, on the global energyinitiative:

"There's no global organization tooversee all nations' energy systemstransformations—it is a vast movementand it's in its infancy. With our 38societies and seven councils IEEE ispositioned to lead the smart gridinitiative. Through them and our395,000 members, who work in theworld's academic, government andprivate sectors, IEEE touches virtuallyevery aspect of the smart grid.

"We leverage our strong foundationand inclusive collaboration to evolvestandards, share best practices, publishdevelopments and provide relatededucational offerings to further thesmart grid. We are at the forefront ofadvancing technology and facilitatingsuccessful deployments throughout theworld.

“Working hand in hand with other

leading organizations to create one setof standards for the smart grid is theway we can ensure success."

IEEE's bravado is not unwarranted. Ittruly is the only global organisationcapable of such a monumental task.When given the challenge to unify theglobal energy network, 395,000engineers should be enough tocomplete the mission!

CCoonncclluussiioonnTechnocracy is a collectivist, utopian

political-economic system run byengineers, scientists and technicians. Ithas the potential to be far moreoppressive and controlling thancommunism, socialism or fascism.Smart Grid is born out of Technocracy,and not the other way around.

It is not clear who will oversee any orall facets of the Global Smart Grid. Theimplied suggestion is that it will be thesame engineers and globalcorporations that are currentlydeveloping it.

With the global groundswell of

activity to create the Global Smart Grid,it is doubtful that the initiative can bestopped, especially since it is so closelyintertwined with the global warmingmovement and, hence, withsustainable development and even theUnited Nations' Agenda 21 program. ∞

AAbboouutt tthhee AAuutthhoorr::Patrick M. Wood is the editor of TheAugust Review, an Internet-based researchcentre focusing on the global elite,especially the Trilateral Commission, andThe August Forecast and Review, whichanalyses global economic markets andpolitical events. For more information,http://www.augustreview.com.

EEddiittoorr’’ss NNoottee::Due to space constraints we are unable topublish the complete versions of PatrickWood’s three articles, “CarbonCurrency” (26 January 2010), “SmartGrid” (2 March 2010) and “TechnocracyEndgame” (23 June 2011). To view theseand the accompanying references, go tohttp://www.augustreview.com.


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technocracy, carbon currency and smart grids

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