Solarpunk

I mean, if people voted for the far right in the European parliament, obviously the EU is gonna shift more toward the right.

I do believe that the EU has a good future with Solarpunk.

Alliance and supranational collaboration for things like peace, environment and humanitarian aid is amazing.

And when all country will understand that we just live all on the same boat, maybe things are gonna go a bit better.

I need to do more of the cultivating.

But what I was getting at is there's a cool genre that's emerged, I think, over the last 15, 20 years called solar punk culture.

And it's like it's the opposite of cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk is like this cold future where everything is machines and metal and, you know, like Blade Runner.

And solar punk is envisions a future where we find renewable energy.

Cities and plant life become less separated and more intertwined.

And it's a much more hopeful vision of the future.

I've watched the first few episodes, but it's very

It is perhaps no surprise then that many people know Sim not from their writing, but from their activism, including raising more than a quarter of a million dollars for trans-supporting organizations and more than half a million dollars in direct aid for families in Gaza.

Today we're talking about Sim's forthcoming solar punk short story collection, Real Sugar Is Hard to Find, first published in 2022 and reissued in October of this year through Interlink Press.

Sim Kern, welcome to Story Behind the Story.

Thanks for having me.

...

I love those little details.

Um, I got to choose, I commissioned the cover art from a friend of mine who's in the Gulf Coast and, um, does kind of solar punk Gulf Coast art that I think is very similar to the kinds of stories I've written in this collection.

So, yeah, I just, I'm, I'm so happy that it's coming out with Interlink, that sales of this book will be supporting Palestinian publishing, and that it's, like, in its final form now.

Exactly.

Solarpunk intentionally flips that entire script.

How so?

Well, it envisions futures that are actually built on a renewable energy, community, mutual aid, ecological harmony.

These smart systems are based on AI, so I'm not sure of the trade-off, but that 30-50% could be crucial and take us closer to our goals.

I actually really recommend the article because it was a really nice read and provides a bit more detail and facts if you were curious about Solarpunk medicine from our Solarpunk Presents episode.

The highlights of the article are in the written version of this update, available to all members on our Patreon, including free.

And then, of course, our vehicles.

2026 state, synthetic fuels obtained from renewable sources like hydrogen, methanol, and fissure drops processes, whatever those are, provide a carbon-neutral substitute for fossil fuels, utilizing existing fueling infrastructure with little alteration.

That said, green hydrogen and other synthetic fuels are still being workshopped.

So several seasons ago on Solarpunk Presents, Christina did a deep dive into hydrogen as a sustainable fuel, actually.

And the conclusion is that, yeah, it needs more research.

Tariffs, swipe of the pen, they are easy.

So here's the Solarpunk truth.

You don't need to work for BYD to benefit from BYD existing.

Their gravity creates opportunities across the ecosystem.

BPP operators, $130,000 a year.

Grid software engineers, $180,000 a year.

Solarpunk opportunities.

You're going to have local EV service businesses popping up, workforce training programs, community solar and charging pairing, municipal electrification consulting.

Yeah.

I mean, I think it does tie in because when you look at Solarpunk, it's cyberpunk without the dystopia, right?

Yeah, I'm fascinated with Solarpunk.

We talked in the, the pre-brief before the show about some work I've done in that, but agree, like s- uh, cyberpunk without the dystopia, and also, like, this idea of, the thing that I'm fascinated about, about the distinction between those two particularly is where you feel your agency lies, um, or if you have agency at all, right?

Right.

Right.

Whether it's like, "Ah, it's just gonna happen, and who, you know, I'm a little peon, and I..." Whatever.

And I'm, and I get it, like, there's eight billion people, so we're, you know, our individual contribution can be small, but, um, that, that part, like, really worries me in terms of, like, how do we regain a sense of agency in the future that we wanna have? So Solarpunk is, like, I think it d- directly attacks that, right?

Very bleak.

Solarpunk is the philosophical counter movement.

It focuses on sustainable, optimistic futures.

It envisions worlds where humanity has actually solved the climate crisis, where we have learned to live in ecological harmony with nature, powered by renewable energy, hence the solar, and driven by decentralized community care rather than hyper capitalism.