Comments on: For many in Puerto Rico, ‘energy dominance’ is just a new name for US colonialism https://energytransition.org/2017/11/for-many-in-puerto-rico-energy-dominance-is-just-a-new-name-for-us-colonialism/ The Global Energiewende Mon, 04 Mar 2019 11:49:08 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 By: Joan https://energytransition.org/2017/11/for-many-in-puerto-rico-energy-dominance-is-just-a-new-name-for-us-colonialism/#comment-6099 Mon, 20 Nov 2017 23:06:00 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=16024#comment-6099 @James
If you can get a grip on a technology/design that is enforceable world wide you can dominate. Companies usually try to achieve this via patents, trademarks and other legal stuff that sounds good on paper, but has only one aim – monopolization (or vendor lock in).
Bangladesh can’t do that with the products of sewing, that’s why there is no danger there for it dominate that market.

]]> By: James Wimberley https://energytransition.org/2017/11/for-many-in-puerto-rico-energy-dominance-is-just-a-new-name-for-us-colonialism/#comment-6066 Sun, 05 Nov 2017 12:12:18 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=16024#comment-6066 The Trump Administration’s term “dominance” makes the latent racism and chauvinism of American policy explicit. Just at the time when cheap renewables are making a world without an energy dominator possible and indeed probable. The abundance and wide geographical dispersion of wind and sun mean that most countries can become self-sufficient in energy if they want. The exceptions include microstates like Monaco and the Vatican that are dependent on their neighbours in many other ways, from water supply to security.

Trade in electricity will still occur when it makes sense economically, as with Danish use of Norwegian hydro for balancing its wind-led domestic supply. The generating gear will be traded, and is today “dominated” if you will by a few countries. But this does not give the exporters of wind turbines and solar panels, and in future batteries, any long-term political leverage over their customers. Bangladesh makes a lot of the clothes sold in the shops of rich countries, but I haven’t noticed any power plays from this “dominance”.

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