The City Came To Me: Stories from 2030

Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth (fourth from left) amongst other speakers at the London launch of “Stories from 2030”

'Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.' - Joel Arthur Barker

Fast on the heels of COP26 in Glasgow, Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth attended the London launch of Visions_2100 'Stories from 2030', reading alongside others of the 82 featured contributors on their perspectives of the disruption, acceleration and transformation which will occur in the next decade. Invited to write a story as a future retrospective, Simon shares his view of the hope and opportunity this decade can hold in renewable energy:

It’s 9pm here in my village, close to the border between Kenya and Uganda. At first sight, the landscape has not changed much – the houses look the same, the animals and the compounds have a familiar ring. Back in 2020, we didn’t have the grid, so when the sun went down we would eat by candle light and go to bed. Only people in the big city could expect to have power.

Today, we still don’t have the grid but I don’t care – the place is buzzing. Every home has its own solar panel which supplies not just lights but also TV and wireless broadband. The fan keeps us cool and the fridge means we don’t have to go to the market each day for food.

The Internet has been a game changer. Blockchain banking means I can send money for free, we have crop insurance for the farm and I can speak to a doctor over video conferencing whenever I need. My daughter has learned to program at home and will soon be going to university to become an AI data analyst (whatever that is). And my unique wild honey is being bought all around the world. The buildings may be the same but that is just about all that is.
The big city has come to me.

Read more about the Visions_2100 project and submit your own story here: https://www.visions2100.com/