Living la vida loca(l) – why the real world is about to be decentralized.
Living la vida loca(l) – why the real world is about to be decentralized.
⏩ The Future Normal: Fast Forward #32
If there’s a common theme behind this week’s glimpses of The Future Normal, it’s that the physical world is about to get a whole lot more decentralized, especially energy (both at the supply level and batteries enabling greater flexibility), food that is grown (in shipping containers and giant cultivation tanks), and more diverse and flexible transportation (from e-scooters to flying cars).
Anyone who wants to dive down the rabbit hole into some deeper thinking around this topic will want to check out two incredible (and detailed!) long-read articles that are well worth your time – The Decentralization of Atoms is Underrated, and Atoms are Local, which asks "What if we could grow what we wanted locally? What if our supply chain was just biology?”
Those are big, exciting questions. Once your head has stopped spinning, scroll down to see how close we are to that future with a number of innovations that are here, today.
What if … e-bikes were everywhere? If we all cycled like the Dutch, the world would be a radically better place. E-bikes are the killer technology that will help us get there, by making cycling long distances and up hills less challenging. They will also transform the promise of the 15-minute city by massively expanding the distance people can cover in that all-important radius of convenience. Encouragingly sales of e-bikes continue to grow strongly, unlike many other pandemic-related fads.
What if … you never needed a cable to charge your e-scooter? Meredot’s fast charging pads can be embedded in the pavement to wirelessly charge scooters, removing the pain point of finding a charger. Next up: making it compatible with e-bikes. In the cities of the future, power will be everywhere.
What if … you could commute in a flying taxi? It feels like every week there’s a new announcement in the eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) space. Last week’s was from Archer, who unveiled its Midnight aircraft, due for launch in 2025. And for those concerned with noise – it will be 100x quieter than a helicopter, meaning that its planned < 20-mile cross-town trips are less disruptive.
What if … your home appliances were battery-powered? More on how we will power our lives….it’s an obsession :) You might not think a battery-powered induction hob is a big deal. But the battery in Impulse’s hob means that it can deliver the high power from a standard socket. Which means that older homes can move to cleaner electric appliances without needing to (expensively) rewire the entire house. Even better? Like electric cars, the battery offers faster heating, while induction hobs also reduce indoor air pollution – the future is better products that also happen to be better for the climate.
What if … your next salad was grown in a parking lot? A pilot project in Harlem will see a shipping container-based hydroponic farm installed in an unused parking lot. Managed by a local non-profit, with local seniors and young people helping, this will reduce food miles & emissions, and increase people’s connection to the food they eat.
What if … your next burger was grown in a lab? Last week the FDA announced that Upside Food’s cultivated chicken had received its ‘Generally Recognized as Safe’ status, an important step towards it being sold in the US. Plant-based meat might be struggling, but cultivated meat will offer people the ability to eat ‘real’ meat, just without any of the environmental and ethical guilt. From leafy greens to burgers…eating fresh, local food will look very different in the future.
What if … your next takeout order didn’t come with a side of eco-guilt? CLUBZERØ partnered with Just Eat to offer business customers its reusable takeout packaging. Getting people to move away from single-use is hard, but targeting the B2B space makes a lot of sense – companies have sustainability targets to hit, employees will be more likely to tolerate the extra friction when in a group setting (at home no one sees if you are lazy 😬), while for CLUBZERØ the logistics around collection from city center offices are easier than single suburban homes.
Planning for 2023?
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If you can see it, you can be it. The Future Normal explores how we will live, work and thrive in the coming decade by highlighting the breakthroughs and pioneers building our future, today.
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