they were steady and sustainable income. But they are actually once - and -
only capital. It is like selling the family silver and going on a binge.
Schumacher ’ s message, once ignored or derided by the majority, is increasingly
seen as mainstream. For the good of Planet Earth and future generations
we have started to distinguish between capital and income, and to
invest heavily in renewable technologies – including solar, wind and wave
power – that produce electrical energy free of carbon emissions. In recent
years the message has been powerfully reinforced by former US Vice
President Al Gore, whose inspirational lecture tours and video presentation
An Inconvenient Truth 2 have been watched by many millions of people
around the world.
Whereas the fossil fuels laid down by solar energy over hundreds of millions
of years must surely be regarded as capital, the Sun ’ s radiation
beamed at us day by day, year by year, and century by century, is effectively
free income to be used or ignored as we wish. This income is expected to
fl ow for billions of years. Nothing is ‘ wasted ’ or exhausted if we don ’ t use
it because it is there anyway. The challenge for the future is to harness such
renewable energy effectively, designing and creating effi cient and hopefully
inspiring machines to serve humankind without disabling the planet.