[CAnet - news] A novel approach from Australia to fund national broadband and renewable energy infrastructure
"Bill St. Arnaud" <[email protected]> Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:55:27 -0400
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.publications.news |
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| Organization | CANARIE Inc |
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This is a multipart message in MIME format. --===============0039262922== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_012C_01C9BEAB.C2F91A80" Content-Language: en-us This is a multipart message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_012C_01C9BEAB.C2F91A80 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit For more information on this item please visit my blog at http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/ or http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------- [Kevin Cox, a professor at the University of Canberra has come up with a very novel scheme of special use of the national money supply, he calls "Rewards" that is quite a novel and unique approach on how to fund national broadband and renewable energy infrastructure. It is a much more generalized scheme of "gCommerce" that I have advocated of using ICT, in particular broadband, to reward consumes for reducing their carbon footprint rather than penalizing them through carbon taxes and the like. It also similar to some ideas on carbon credits developed by Ron Dembo at ZeroFootprint on this subject. I am sure economists and business experts would find many flaws in these various approaches. But whether these ideas turn out to be the right solution is not the issue. What is more important is that we need to promote more of this new kind of economic thinking and business models if we are going to have any hope of addressing the biggest challenge facing this planet - climate change. Countries and/or business that develop economic and business solutions to profit from a future zero carbon economy will be the big winners in our future global society. Some excerpts from Kevin Cox's blog -BSA] Presentation to the Australian ACT legislature The submission proposes using Rewards money to finance the infrastructure required to reduce green house gas emissions by the ACT to zero by 2020. It funds the infrastructure through increasing the money supply via Rewards. http://stableproductivemoney.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/presentation-to-the-ac t-legislative-assembly/ "Money is the primary signaling mechanism in economic systems. Interest-bearing, fractional-reserve money underlies several major economic and social dysfunctions. Alternatives exist, but only at the fringe. This site seeks to promote the use of more benign and constructive monetary systems, and to debate, test, refine and elaborate them. We do know that markets are an excellent way of allocating resources because well designed markets allow innovation to flourish. We need to include other criteria in our markets that reflect the amount of green house gas reductions per dollar spent. We can build a market to achieve these dual goals. We set up the market by inviting suppliers of ghg reducing infrastructure to sell their goods and services in the market place. We give individuals and businesses Rewards to be spent in the market place in inverse proportion to the amount of Energy they consume. We require Rewards to be spent in the market place and we do not pay interest on Rewards. When we remove the restrictions on Rewards money (or some people like to call them vouchers) we can give more Rewards to investments that achieve the greatest reduction in ghg concentrations for the least cost. The remaining issue is where to get the funds to finance Rewards. We could get the funds from the sale of permits, a carbon tax, borrowing money from overseas or banks or we could put a surcharge on Energy returned to purchasers. However there is a simpler way and that is to get the funds from the future investment returns on our Rewards expenditure. That is the money we invest through Rewards will be returned to the community from the income generated from the investments. The simplest way to fund Rewards is for the Reserve Bank to issue restricted Rewards money (or vouchers) with zero interest and where Rewards must be spent in the infrastructure market place to reduce ghg concentrations. When Rewards are invested appropriately the suppliers of infrastructure apply to have the restrictions on Rewards money removed. If it is proved that the investment reduces ghg concentrations the restrictions are removed and this increases the unrestricted money supply. Ron Dembo of ZeroFootPrint has written a great paper on the concept of carbon credits which was recently covered in the Globe and Mail: http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080908.RREGULY08/TPStory /Business/ To read the entire paper please see http://www.zerofootprint.net/pdf/zerofootprint-green-credits.pdf The ZeroFootPrint web site also has excellent articles explaining the intricacies of carbon offsets and developing a detailed carbon accounting plan in line with ISO 14064 and related standards -www.zerofootprint.net ------------------------------------- To subscribe or unsubscribe send e-mail to [email protected] These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the CANARIE board or management. ------ [email protected] [email protected] http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/ ------=_NextPart_000_012C_01C9BEAB.C2F91A80 Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html xmlns:v=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" = xmlns:o=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" = xmlns:w=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" = xmlns:m=3D"http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" = xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Dus-ascii"> <meta name=3DGenerator content=3D"Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:Consolas; panose-1:2 11 6 9 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText {mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-link:"Plain Text Char"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:10.5pt; font-family:Consolas;} pre {mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-link:"HTML Preformatted Char"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Courier New";} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-compose; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; color:windowtext;} span.HTMLPreformattedChar {mso-style-name:"HTML Preformatted Char"; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-link:"HTML Preformatted"; font-family:"Courier New";} span.PlainTextChar {mso-style-name:"Plain Text Char"; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-link:"Plain Text"; font-family:Consolas;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext=3D"edit" spidmax=3D"1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext=3D"edit"> <o:idmap v:ext=3D"edit" data=3D"1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> </head> <body lang=3DEN-US link=3Dblue vlink=3Dpurple> <div class=3DSection1> <p class=3DMsoPlainText>For more information on this item please visit = my blog at <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><a = href=3D"http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/">http://green-broadband.blog= spot.com/</a> or <a = href=3D"http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com">http://billstarnaud.blogspot.co= m</a><o:p></o:p></p> <p = class=3DMsoPlainText>-------------------------------------------<o:p></o:= p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal> [Kevin Cox, a professor at the University of = Canberra has come up with a very novel scheme of special use of the national = money supply, he calls “Rewards” that is quite a novel and unique approach on how to fund national broadband and renewable energy = infrastructure. It is a much more generalized scheme of “gCommerce” that I = have advocated of using ICT, in particular broadband, to reward consumes for reducing their carbon footprint rather than penalizing them through = carbon taxes and the like. It also similar to some ideas on carbon credits = developed by Ron Dembo at ZeroFootprint on this subject. I am sure economists and business experts would find many flaws in these various = approaches. But whether these ideas turn out to be the right solution is not the = issue. What is more important is that we need to promote more of this new kind = of economic thinking and business models if we are going to have any hope = of addressing the biggest challenge facing this planet – climate = change. Countries and/or business that develop economic and business solutions to profit = from a future zero carbon economy will be the big winners in our future global = society. Some excerpts from Kevin Cox’s blog –BSA]<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>Presentation to the Australian ACT = legislature<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>The submission proposes using Rewards money to = finance the infrastructure required to reduce green house gas emissions by the ACT = to zero by 2020. It funds the infrastructure through increasing the money supply = via Rewards.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><a href=3D"http://stableproductivemoney.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/presentatio= n-to-the-act-legislative-assembly/">http://stableproductivemoney.wordpres= s.com/2009/04/10/presentation-to-the-act-legislative-assembly/</a><o:p></= o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>“<strong><span = style=3D'font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Money is the primary signaling mechanism in economic systems. = Interest-bearing, fractional-reserve money underlies several major economic and social dysfunctions. Alternatives exist, but only at the fringe. This site = seeks to promote the use of more benign and constructive monetary systems, and to debate, test, refine and elaborate them.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><strong><span = style=3D'font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></st= rong></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'>We do know that markets are an excellent way of allocating resources = because well designed markets allow innovation to flourish. We need to include other criteria in our markets that reflect the amount of green house gas = reductions per dollar spent. We can build a market to achieve these dual goals. We = set up the market by inviting suppliers of ghg reducing infrastructure to sell = their goods and services in the market place. We give individuals and = businesses Rewards to be spent in the market place in inverse proportion to the = amount of Energy they consume. We require Rewards to be spent in the market place = and we do not pay interest on Rewards. When we remove the restrictions on = Rewards money (or some people like to call them vouchers) we can give more = Rewards to investments that achieve the greatest reduction in ghg concentrations = for the least cost.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'>The remaining issue is where to get the funds to finance Rewards. We could = get the funds from the sale of permits, a carbon tax, borrowing money from = overseas or banks or we could put a surcharge on Energy returned to purchasers. = However there is a simpler way and that is to get the funds from the future = investment returns on our Rewards expenditure. That is the money we invest through = Rewards will be returned to the community from the income generated from the investments.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'>The simplest way to fund Rewards is for the Reserve Bank to issue restricted Rewards money (or vouchers) with zero interest and where Rewards must be = spent in the infrastructure market place to reduce ghg concentrations. When = Rewards are invested appropriately the suppliers of infrastructure apply to have = the restrictions on Rewards money removed. If it is proved that the = investment reduces ghg concentrations the restrictions are removed and this = increases the unrestricted money supply.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <pre>Ron Dembo of ZeroFootPrint has written a great paper on the concept = of carbon credits which was recently covered in the Globe and = Mail:<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre> = <o:p></o:p></pre><pre><a href=3D"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080908.RREGUL= Y08/TPStory">http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080908.R= REGULY08/TPStory</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre>/Business/<o:p></o:p></pre><pre= ><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre> = <o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>To read the entire = paper please see<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><a href=3D"http://www.zerofootprint.net/pdf/zerofootprint-green-credits.pdf"= >http://www.zerofootprint.net/pdf/zerofootprint-green-credits.pdf</a><o:p= ></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre> = <o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>The ZeroFootPrint web = site also has excellent articles explaining the intricacies of carbon = offsets and developing a detailed carbon = accounting<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>plan in line with ISO 14064 and related = standards = -www.zerofootprint.net<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>= <pre><o:p> </o:p></pre> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p> <p = class=3DMsoPlainText>-------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></p>= <p class=3DMsoPlainText>To subscribe or unsubscribe send e-mail to <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><o= :p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText>These news items and comments are mine alone and = do not necessarily reflect those of the CANARIE board or = management.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times = New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>------<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>[email protected]<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>[email protected]<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal>http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> </body> </html> ------=_NextPart_000_012C_01C9BEAB.C2F91A80-- --===============0039262922== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline _______________________________________________ news mailing list [email protected] http://lists.canarie.ca/mailman/listinfo/news --===============0039262922==--