As an author I spend a good deal of the time drifting off and day dreaming about what is to come. Many writers have transported their readers to a future where power is unlimited and free. As reality starts approaching fiction, the picture becomes easy for me to see. There are individuals who already live completely off the power grid and make their own power. I would imagine readers back in the day would have dismissed ideas like solar power, geothermal, and perpetual energy machines as too far out to ever be true. Now all these things are real, and yet they still seem like science fiction to most of us.
So how come everyone does not have free energy yet? Unfortunately, the answer keeps coming back to the same place, government. Over the years, roadblock after hurdle after red tape have all been hurled at the consumer preventing them from accessing cheap or free power. Large energy companies use the power of government to strike down any competition. Just look around; every time some great invention comes out, the military or bureaucracy will keep it for their own private use.
Not all is grim and dark; a movement is quietly and quickly building on the net that you might not know about yet. Instead of waiting for some giant corporation to eventually mass-produce some half-ass energy product, folks are just building their own. A person can simply and cheaply build their own solar panels, generators, batteries, and even energy machines. A revolution of crowd-sourcing energy solutions is exploding all over the net. Everyone from engineers to hobbyist children are experimenting and building their own energy devices in their basements. They ignore copyright laws, patents and regulations, and just focus on making their own personal devices. The community is not worried about mass-producing it, nor are they worried about selling some device to get rich. Instead they just want a way for themselves and their families to just make their own energy.
The establishment has no idea how to handle this kind of threat to them. Much like file sharing completely changed the way music is sold, people making their own electricity is completely changing the power companies. Having hundreds of thousands of people just going down to the local hardware store and making their own power is really angering the establishment. They do not have a large company that they can sue and shut down, nor do they have a way to stop people from building their own devices. Once cheap design plans get passed around the electronic world, folks will just start eliminating the middleman and creating their own.
This utopian view is not some sci-fi story, it is happening today. In a matter of hours you can find inexpensive ways to start making electricity. The immediate future of power will mirror the rise of file-sharing. The Internet has changed everything and the genii are forcing its way out of the bottle. Although the government and corporations will not go quietly and will snap back hard on those who get too large, ultimately, there will be too much momentum to stop it.
Tarrin P. Lupo is best known for being the author the historical fiction novel “Pirates of Savannah” and his children’s book “Catch that Collie”. Tarrin is also a full time liberty activist
Feature Article • More about 
