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The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World
The Industrial Revolution, powered by oil and other fossil fuels, is spiraling into a dangerous endgame. The price of gas and food are climbing, unemployment remains high, the housing market has tanked, consumer and government debt is soaring, and the recovery is slowing. Facing the prospect of a second collapse of the global economy, humanity is desperate for a sustainable economic game plan to take us into the future.
Here, Jeremy Rifkin explores how Internet technology and renewable energy are merging to create a powerful “Third Industrial Revolution.” He asks us to imagine hundreds of millions of people producing their own green energy in their homes, offices, and factories, and sharing it with each other in an “energy internet,” just like we now create and share information online.
Rifkin describes how the five-pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution will create thousands of businesses, millions of jobs, and usher in a fundamental reordering of human relationships, from hierarchical to lateral power, that will impact the way we conduct commerce, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.
Rifkin’s vision is already gaining traction in the international community. The European Union Parliament has issued a formal declaration calling for its implementation, and other nations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, are quickly preparing their own initiatives for transitioning into the new economic paradigm.
The Third Industrial Revolution is an insider’s account of the next great economic era, including a look into the personalities and players — heads of state, global CEOs, social entrepreneurs, and NGOs — who are pioneering its implementation around the world.
Here, Jeremy Rifkin explores how Internet technology and renewable energy are merging to create a powerful “Third Industrial Revolution.” He asks us to imagine hundreds of millions of people producing their own green energy in their homes, offices, and factories, and sharing it with each other in an “energy internet,” just like we now create and share information online.
Rifkin describes how the five-pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution will create thousands of businesses, millions of jobs, and usher in a fundamental reordering of human relationships, from hierarchical to lateral power, that will impact the way we conduct commerce, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.
Rifkin’s vision is already gaining traction in the international community. The European Union Parliament has issued a formal declaration calling for its implementation, and other nations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, are quickly preparing their own initiatives for transitioning into the new economic paradigm.
The Third Industrial Revolution is an insider’s account of the next great economic era, including a look into the personalities and players — heads of state, global CEOs, social entrepreneurs, and NGOs — who are pioneering its implementation around the world.
304 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2011
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About the author
Jeremy Rifkin
111 books532 followersAmerican economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
March 22, 2012
Interesting premise, but good LORD what a boring book. All about the meetings the author had with European heads of state to get funding for new energy tech. Listen to an interview with Rifkin, and skip the book.
January 21, 2013
Rifkin's primary thesis is that the previous industrial revolutions occurred when new energy and information technology emerged simultaneously. The 3rd revolution, whose early stages we're in the midst of, is occurring due to the internet and renewable energy, which is lateral, democratic, collaborative, and distributed in nature. The 5 pillars of this revolution are shifting to (1) renewable energy, (2) buildings that act as micro power plants, (3) hydrogen and other energy storage technologies that work in tandem with intermittent renewables, (4) smart grid technology made possibly by the Internet, and (5) electric plug in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity.
While the book does not necessarily address these 5 pillars in as much detail as I would like, it's easy to understand where Rifkin is headed and the general principles and strategies for getting there. The middle of the book stalls a bit, as we learn about the details of meetings Rifkin had with important people, but picks up steam again at the end by connecting the 3rd Industrial Revolution to education, the importance of civil society, and the need for a biosphere consciousness.
Below are some excerpts that attempt to capture the spirit of this book:
"Communication technology is the nervous system that oversees, coordinates, and manages the economic organism, and energy is the blood that circulates through the body politic, providing the nourishment to convert nature's endowment into goods and services to keep the economy alive and growing." (p.35)
"The 1st Industrial Revolution favored dense vertical cities that rose upward into the sky. The 2nd Industrial Revolution, by contrast, favored more decentralized suburban developments that stretched outward, in a linear fashion, to the horizon. The 3rd Industrial Revolution brings with it a completely different configuration... We envision thousands of biosphere regions, each node connected by 3rd Industrial Revolution energy, communications, and transport systems, in a network that spans continents." (p.79)
"The real question to be asked is, 'Where does industry and government want to be 20 years from now: locked into the sunset energies, technologies, and infrastructures of a failing 2nd Industrial Revolution, or moving toward the sunrise energies, technologies, and infrastructure of an emerging 3rd Industrial Revolution?'" (p.127)
"... sharing is to ownership what the iPod is to the eight track, what the solar panel is to the coal mine. Sharing is clean, crisp, urbane, postmodern: owning is dull, selfish, timid, backward." (from NYT, p. 219)
"Whether it's rethinking GDP and how to measure the economic well-being of society, revising our ideas about productivity, understanding the notion of debt and how best to balance our production and consumption budgets with nature's own, reexamining our notions about property relations, reevaluating the importance of finance capital versus social capital, reassessing the economic value of markets versus networks, changing our conception of space and time, or reconsidering how the Earth's biosphere functions, standard economic theory comes up woefully short." (p.227)
"In the new globally connected 3rd Industrial Revolution era, the primary mission of education is to prepare students to think and act as part of a shared biosphere." (p.235)
"In just the short period between 1997 and 2003, there was a 50% drop in the proportion of children 9-12 who spent time outdoors engaged in hiking, walking, gardening, and beach play. Less than 8% of young people now spend time in these traditional outdoors activities." (p.249)
"I find it interesting that one of the most often used words among American youth is awesome... Is it possible that its overuse might be a projection of a vast deficit brought on by growing up in a world devoid of the wonders of nature and where reality is technologically simulated...?" (p.251)
While the book does not necessarily address these 5 pillars in as much detail as I would like, it's easy to understand where Rifkin is headed and the general principles and strategies for getting there. The middle of the book stalls a bit, as we learn about the details of meetings Rifkin had with important people, but picks up steam again at the end by connecting the 3rd Industrial Revolution to education, the importance of civil society, and the need for a biosphere consciousness.
Below are some excerpts that attempt to capture the spirit of this book:
"Communication technology is the nervous system that oversees, coordinates, and manages the economic organism, and energy is the blood that circulates through the body politic, providing the nourishment to convert nature's endowment into goods and services to keep the economy alive and growing." (p.35)
"The 1st Industrial Revolution favored dense vertical cities that rose upward into the sky. The 2nd Industrial Revolution, by contrast, favored more decentralized suburban developments that stretched outward, in a linear fashion, to the horizon. The 3rd Industrial Revolution brings with it a completely different configuration... We envision thousands of biosphere regions, each node connected by 3rd Industrial Revolution energy, communications, and transport systems, in a network that spans continents." (p.79)
"The real question to be asked is, 'Where does industry and government want to be 20 years from now: locked into the sunset energies, technologies, and infrastructures of a failing 2nd Industrial Revolution, or moving toward the sunrise energies, technologies, and infrastructure of an emerging 3rd Industrial Revolution?'" (p.127)
"... sharing is to ownership what the iPod is to the eight track, what the solar panel is to the coal mine. Sharing is clean, crisp, urbane, postmodern: owning is dull, selfish, timid, backward." (from NYT, p. 219)
"Whether it's rethinking GDP and how to measure the economic well-being of society, revising our ideas about productivity, understanding the notion of debt and how best to balance our production and consumption budgets with nature's own, reexamining our notions about property relations, reevaluating the importance of finance capital versus social capital, reassessing the economic value of markets versus networks, changing our conception of space and time, or reconsidering how the Earth's biosphere functions, standard economic theory comes up woefully short." (p.227)
"In the new globally connected 3rd Industrial Revolution era, the primary mission of education is to prepare students to think and act as part of a shared biosphere." (p.235)
"In just the short period between 1997 and 2003, there was a 50% drop in the proportion of children 9-12 who spent time outdoors engaged in hiking, walking, gardening, and beach play. Less than 8% of young people now spend time in these traditional outdoors activities." (p.249)
"I find it interesting that one of the most often used words among American youth is awesome... Is it possible that its overuse might be a projection of a vast deficit brought on by growing up in a world devoid of the wonders of nature and where reality is technologically simulated...?" (p.251)
May 22, 2021
I’m reviewing this 2011 book a decade later because, well, I just read it, but especially because it seems more relevant to a mainstream reader like me today, than it may have when first published.
I’ve admired Jeremy Rifkin’s rare style of deep thinking, big picture, social criticism over the years, but never read any of his books until just reading his 2019 “Green New Deal”. That book relied so heavily on this earlier work, that I felt the need to give it a go. Yes, it‘s pretty dull, though I have a pretty good tolerance of this sort of thing. I also chose to listen to the audiobook, which made it more tolerable. But yeah, it’s not a page turner. Still...
There are other great reviews of the Third Industrial Revolution, so I’ll just say that what Rifkin wrote then is largely coming to pass. The global economy is in the midst of a transformation — the “TIR” (many, many annoying abbreviations throughout this book) — a major shift away from the second industrial revolution of the late 19th/early 20th century. That was a fossil fueled, gasoline automobile-centric, telephone/broadcast radio/TV communications, centrally-controlled infrastructure. Obviously, that brought more problems in the long run, not the least of which is the existential climate crisis. So like it or not, we MUST move on to the Third Industrial Revolution.
The TIR will be powered by clean, renewable solar and wind, rely on all-electric power, transport, and heating and cooling; and that power will be distributed, but connected by the Internet of Things; communications and transactions will be increasingly internet-based (really already a thing, right?)
Europe and China were way ahead of this curve when Rifkin published the TIR in 2011, and that’s still true today. The United States was behind the curve then, and we’re even further behind today. It’s no secret that even our Second Industrial Revolution infrastructure is in horrific disrepair. And we still need much of that too, especially the electrical grid, many bridges and roads. (Yikes.) Historically, the U.S. has rarely been good at choosing a course, planning it out, and executing it, however, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too alarmed? If “the Green New Deal” term has any consistent meaning for all, it is its reference to the massive, nearly-spontaneous, government-funded infrastructure-building, job creation program of 1933-1941 for which it is named: The New Deal. But back to the TIR!
While the European Union and China adopted TIR back in the 2010s (in direct consultation with Rifkin — impressive!), the U.S. adoption of TIR is likely to take the form of a New Deal-type infrastructure program. And of course, Biden’s April 2021, $2 trillion infrastructure program has many Green New Dealish elements, though the new Administration has carefully avoided the GND label. So perhaps we’re finally on our way? We’ll see.
Two major learnings I didn’t anticipate: First, Rifkin believes that TIR is just a stepping stone to a new society. Once constructed by TIR, this new economy, much like the previous industrial revolution, will dramatically undermine the need for employment. However, Rifkin believes this new collaborative economy, guided by values of collaboration and ecological consciousness, will provide the long-promised possibility of greater leisure for all. Guaranteed income, anyone?
Second — and I was pleasantly surprised by Rifkin’s sociological wisdom here — TIR won’t come about in the U.S. without new stories that clearly project what the good society could be. Scientific reasoning is valuable, but that won’t sway hearts or minds. (And don’t we well know this?) We need to tell stories that embody the values and wisdom of this path, that capture the interest and attention of our neighbors, relatives, and friends.
I would add that since 2011, I have seen this happening here in my home state of New York, thanks to many, many community-based nonprofits working tirelessly to push state governments to legislate and fund their own TIR policies, build that TIR infrastructure piece by piece, and tell those new stories of what’s possible through a collaborative economy, with a more distributed, internet-connected power grid, fueled by clean, renewable solar and wind energy. While New York is certainly a leader among the states’ “laboratories of sustainability”, it is not alone.
Rifkin’s TIR and Green New Deal visions are provocative and prescient. As we begin to overcome the pandemic and its related economic disruption in 2021, Rifkin’s vision looks a lot more plausible and realistic. Long-building grassroots support for the values underlying a GND are finding some agency in Biden’s nascent Administration. Whether the federal government can embrace and move the nation along this course is anyone’s guess, but there doesn’t seem to be an alternative vision out there. And those community-based movers and shakers are not going away.
I’ve admired Jeremy Rifkin’s rare style of deep thinking, big picture, social criticism over the years, but never read any of his books until just reading his 2019 “Green New Deal”. That book relied so heavily on this earlier work, that I felt the need to give it a go. Yes, it‘s pretty dull, though I have a pretty good tolerance of this sort of thing. I also chose to listen to the audiobook, which made it more tolerable. But yeah, it’s not a page turner. Still...
There are other great reviews of the Third Industrial Revolution, so I’ll just say that what Rifkin wrote then is largely coming to pass. The global economy is in the midst of a transformation — the “TIR” (many, many annoying abbreviations throughout this book) — a major shift away from the second industrial revolution of the late 19th/early 20th century. That was a fossil fueled, gasoline automobile-centric, telephone/broadcast radio/TV communications, centrally-controlled infrastructure. Obviously, that brought more problems in the long run, not the least of which is the existential climate crisis. So like it or not, we MUST move on to the Third Industrial Revolution.
The TIR will be powered by clean, renewable solar and wind, rely on all-electric power, transport, and heating and cooling; and that power will be distributed, but connected by the Internet of Things; communications and transactions will be increasingly internet-based (really already a thing, right?)
Europe and China were way ahead of this curve when Rifkin published the TIR in 2011, and that’s still true today. The United States was behind the curve then, and we’re even further behind today. It’s no secret that even our Second Industrial Revolution infrastructure is in horrific disrepair. And we still need much of that too, especially the electrical grid, many bridges and roads. (Yikes.) Historically, the U.S. has rarely been good at choosing a course, planning it out, and executing it, however, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too alarmed? If “the Green New Deal” term has any consistent meaning for all, it is its reference to the massive, nearly-spontaneous, government-funded infrastructure-building, job creation program of 1933-1941 for which it is named: The New Deal. But back to the TIR!
While the European Union and China adopted TIR back in the 2010s (in direct consultation with Rifkin — impressive!), the U.S. adoption of TIR is likely to take the form of a New Deal-type infrastructure program. And of course, Biden’s April 2021, $2 trillion infrastructure program has many Green New Dealish elements, though the new Administration has carefully avoided the GND label. So perhaps we’re finally on our way? We’ll see.
Two major learnings I didn’t anticipate: First, Rifkin believes that TIR is just a stepping stone to a new society. Once constructed by TIR, this new economy, much like the previous industrial revolution, will dramatically undermine the need for employment. However, Rifkin believes this new collaborative economy, guided by values of collaboration and ecological consciousness, will provide the long-promised possibility of greater leisure for all. Guaranteed income, anyone?
Second — and I was pleasantly surprised by Rifkin’s sociological wisdom here — TIR won’t come about in the U.S. without new stories that clearly project what the good society could be. Scientific reasoning is valuable, but that won’t sway hearts or minds. (And don’t we well know this?) We need to tell stories that embody the values and wisdom of this path, that capture the interest and attention of our neighbors, relatives, and friends.
I would add that since 2011, I have seen this happening here in my home state of New York, thanks to many, many community-based nonprofits working tirelessly to push state governments to legislate and fund their own TIR policies, build that TIR infrastructure piece by piece, and tell those new stories of what’s possible through a collaborative economy, with a more distributed, internet-connected power grid, fueled by clean, renewable solar and wind energy. While New York is certainly a leader among the states’ “laboratories of sustainability”, it is not alone.
Rifkin’s TIR and Green New Deal visions are provocative and prescient. As we begin to overcome the pandemic and its related economic disruption in 2021, Rifkin’s vision looks a lot more plausible and realistic. Long-building grassroots support for the values underlying a GND are finding some agency in Biden’s nascent Administration. Whether the federal government can embrace and move the nation along this course is anyone’s guess, but there doesn’t seem to be an alternative vision out there. And those community-based movers and shakers are not going away.
March 17, 2013
يمثل الكتاب رؤية واقعية عقلانية للنظام العالمي القادم ، القائم على توليد الطاقة المُتجددة (الطاقة الشمسية-طاقة الرياح-الطاقة الحرارية من الأرض-الطاقة الكهرومائية-توليد الطاق
من الفضلات) من البيوت ومشاركة فائضها عبر شبكة ذكية عالمية ، مما يساهم في إعادة رسم المجتمعات والحضارات واقتصاداتها بصورة أكثر تعاونية وتشاركية بالتأثير على نظم التعليم الواعي بالبيئة والمحيط الحيوي. كما يساهم في إعادة صياغة علاقات البشر ببعضهم وبالطبيعة لتصبح أكثر تراحمية. واستبدال الوعي البشري القائم على المنفعة الشخصية التي يرسيها اقتصاد السوق بوعي أكثر نضجًا وأرحب أفقًا ، وقابلية أكبر على التسامح واحترام الخصوصيات الحضارية رغم ذلك ، مُدللًا على بداية ظهور ذلك النوع من الوعي في الواقع من خلال ظهور شبكات التشارك الاجتماعية وفضاء الانترنت.
ويشير المُفكر إلى أن تلك الرؤية المُسماه بالثورة الثالثة ذات الأسس الخمسة ، هي ضرورة قصوى في المرحلة التالية من تاريخ البشرية ؛ نظرًا لخطورة ما يمر به المناخ العالمي والتدمير الممنهج لبيئة الأرض ، مما سيؤثر بالضرورة على بقاء الحياة. فتصبح الأضرار الاقتصادية القادمة مُجرد ترف حقيقي أمام الخطر القادم.
يسرد المُفكر كيف قد بدأت كثيرٌ من الدول -خاصة الاتحاد الأوروبي وأمريكا اللاتينية- في إرساء أسس الثورة الثالثة ، بينما تظل الولايات المُتحدة متراجعة في الركب ، مُثقلةً بضغوط لوبي الطاقة والنفط الآخذ في الخفوت. بل إن المُفكر المعروف يُشير إلى بداية تبني الدول الآسيوية وبعض الدول الإفريقية تلك الرؤية في محاولة للحاق بالركب العالمي القادم لا محالة. مُشيرًا ومستفيضًا في الخطوات التي سلكتها بعض المحافظات والمقاطعات في أنحاء العالم تجاه تبني الطاقة المتجددة من خلال إعادة صياغة التخطيط المُدُني مثل موناكو وسان أنطونيو بتكساس وروما وغيرها.
من أهم الكتب التي قرأتها على الإطلاق ، ليس فقط لأنه يضع رؤى جديدة لعصر ما بعد الكربون بل لأن المُفكر يقوم من خلال سطوره بتحليل آليات ظهور الثورات التقنية سواء الزراعية منها قديمًا والصناعية في القرنين التاسع عشر والعشرين. كما يقوم بشرح مُختصر بكل ما يمر بالقارئ من مصطلحات مثل كيفية نشوء اقتصاد السوق القائم على قوانين نيوتن والديناميكا الحرارية. كما يشرح مفهوم نظرية الانتروبي ، ومعنى المحيط الحيوي وأهمية استيعابه ، وغيرها.
وكعادة الشروع في التبشير برؤى جديدة ، فإن الكتاب يحمل تفاؤلًا واضحًا رغم الحذر البادي في عبارات المُفكر من عدم تبني تلك الرؤية الجديدة. تلك الرؤية رغم حتميتها (فلا بديل حقيقي سواها) ، إلا أنني لا يمكنني أن أخفي توجسي من تحول تلك الأحلام الوردية عن انتهاء ثقافة الهيمنة الهرمية وبداية عهد التشاركية واحترام ثقافة الاختلاف إلى نوع جديد من الهيمنة الكامنة في النوازع البشرية ، والتي ربما تمر عبر ثغرات في ذلك النظام المُجتمعي (كما هو مُفترض) بالدرجة الأولى ، فيتحول حُلم الإنسان الجديد إلى كابوس من نوع آخر.
أظن أن قراءة واحدة للكتاب لا تكفي .. فهو لابد أن يُدرَّس للرؤساء قبل الشعوب.
من الفضلات) من البيوت ومشاركة فائضها عبر شبكة ذكية عالمية ، مما يساهم في إعادة رسم المجتمعات والحضارات واقتصاداتها بصورة أكثر تعاونية وتشاركية بالتأثير على نظم التعليم الواعي بالبيئة والمحيط الحيوي. كما يساهم في إعادة صياغة علاقات البشر ببعضهم وبالطبيعة لتصبح أكثر تراحمية. واستبدال الوعي البشري القائم على المنفعة الشخصية التي يرسيها اقتصاد السوق بوعي أكثر نضجًا وأرحب أفقًا ، وقابلية أكبر على التسامح واحترام الخصوصيات الحضارية رغم ذلك ، مُدللًا على بداية ظهور ذلك النوع من الوعي في الواقع من خلال ظهور شبكات التشارك الاجتماعية وفضاء الانترنت.
ويشير المُفكر إلى أن تلك الرؤية المُسماه بالثورة الثالثة ذات الأسس الخمسة ، هي ضرورة قصوى في المرحلة التالية من تاريخ البشرية ؛ نظرًا لخطورة ما يمر به المناخ العالمي والتدمير الممنهج لبيئة الأرض ، مما سيؤثر بالضرورة على بقاء الحياة. فتصبح الأضرار الاقتصادية القادمة مُجرد ترف حقيقي أمام الخطر القادم.
يسرد المُفكر كيف قد بدأت كثيرٌ من الدول -خاصة الاتحاد الأوروبي وأمريكا اللاتينية- في إرساء أسس الثورة الثالثة ، بينما تظل الولايات المُتحدة متراجعة في الركب ، مُثقلةً بضغوط لوبي الطاقة والنفط الآخذ في الخفوت. بل إن المُفكر المعروف يُشير إلى بداية تبني الدول الآسيوية وبعض الدول الإفريقية تلك الرؤية في محاولة للحاق بالركب العالمي القادم لا محالة. مُشيرًا ومستفيضًا في الخطوات التي سلكتها بعض المحافظات والمقاطعات في أنحاء العالم تجاه تبني الطاقة المتجددة من خلال إعادة صياغة التخطيط المُدُني مثل موناكو وسان أنطونيو بتكساس وروما وغيرها.
من أهم الكتب التي قرأتها على الإطلاق ، ليس فقط لأنه يضع رؤى جديدة لعصر ما بعد الكربون بل لأن المُفكر يقوم من خلال سطوره بتحليل آليات ظهور الثورات التقنية سواء الزراعية منها قديمًا والصناعية في القرنين التاسع عشر والعشرين. كما يقوم بشرح مُختصر بكل ما يمر بالقارئ من مصطلحات مثل كيفية نشوء اقتصاد السوق القائم على قوانين نيوتن والديناميكا الحرارية. كما يشرح مفهوم نظرية الانتروبي ، ومعنى المحيط الحيوي وأهمية استيعابه ، وغيرها.
وكعادة الشروع في التبشير برؤى جديدة ، فإن الكتاب يحمل تفاؤلًا واضحًا رغم الحذر البادي في عبارات المُفكر من عدم تبني تلك الرؤية الجديدة. تلك الرؤية رغم حتميتها (فلا بديل حقيقي سواها) ، إلا أنني لا يمكنني أن أخفي توجسي من تحول تلك الأحلام الوردية عن انتهاء ثقافة الهيمنة الهرمية وبداية عهد التشاركية واحترام ثقافة الاختلاف إلى نوع جديد من الهيمنة الكامنة في النوازع البشرية ، والتي ربما تمر عبر ثغرات في ذلك النظام المُجتمعي (كما هو مُفترض) بالدرجة الأولى ، فيتحول حُلم الإنسان الجديد إلى كابوس من نوع آخر.
أظن أن قراءة واحدة للكتاب لا تكفي .. فهو لابد أن يُدرَّس للرؤساء قبل الشعوب.
July 23, 2013
Terrible. This book is riddled with factual errors, misleading statements and incoherent thinking. The structure is as follows: buzzword, blaah blaah blaah, name dropping/rubbing shoulders with important people, blaah blaah, factual mistake, more name dropping, blaah blaah, new buzz word. Rifkin writes a lot of energy production and internet, but has no particular training on either as far as I know. Apparently he sees himself as an "ideas guy" and then actual expertise doesn't somehow matter. OK, you can write about things you don't have training for, but then I expect you to reference your writing with serious references. Rifkins references tend to be newspaper articles or material from industries he happens to like. He talks of smart grids for electricity as if they are just like internet. This seems quite absurd and Rifkin doesn't actually justify any of this with reasonable arguments. Maybe the main point for him is to be able to use hype around internet as a marketing tool elsewhere?
Rifkin has a training in economics, but curiously he seems quite clueless about that as well. He doesn't (seriously!) understand why we would, for example, wish to install solar power in sunny locations since there is light also elsewhere. This stupidity is on the other hand needed since his narrative is about having "micro generators" in all buildings. Acknowledging that there might be reasons for doing things in certain way, would mess up his narrative so it is safer to go with ignorance.(Why not nano generators btw? Isn't that even more hot, distributed and smaller scale?). He claims energy sources such as wind and solar are perfectly adequate and "proves" this by telling how much energy there is in sunlight or wind. I am not aware of anyone claiming that the amount of energy would be insufficient, but still this is the strawman advocates constantly choose to attack. He also tells how there are more jobs in building solar and wind power, but fails to discuss what this implies...namely that the productivity of labor is then lower as are the standards of living. For him "job" is important, not what the work actually accomplishes. (Also, he tells proudly how some scheme could create so many jobs...with subsidies almost 60000$/job. I can promise to create a job for myself watching TV, for example, with 60000$.)
In general the book is very light on substance and heavy on marketing. It is a kind of book you expect from some cheerleading consultant. For Rifkin rational arguments and factual accuracy seem unimportant. What is important is whether or not some buzzword he uses enters the "lexicon" of CEO:s or politicians. In a way he reminds a left wing version of Thomas Friedman.
Rifkin has a training in economics, but curiously he seems quite clueless about that as well. He doesn't (seriously!) understand why we would, for example, wish to install solar power in sunny locations since there is light also elsewhere. This stupidity is on the other hand needed since his narrative is about having "micro generators" in all buildings. Acknowledging that there might be reasons for doing things in certain way, would mess up his narrative so it is safer to go with ignorance.(Why not nano generators btw? Isn't that even more hot, distributed and smaller scale?). He claims energy sources such as wind and solar are perfectly adequate and "proves" this by telling how much energy there is in sunlight or wind. I am not aware of anyone claiming that the amount of energy would be insufficient, but still this is the strawman advocates constantly choose to attack. He also tells how there are more jobs in building solar and wind power, but fails to discuss what this implies...namely that the productivity of labor is then lower as are the standards of living. For him "job" is important, not what the work actually accomplishes. (Also, he tells proudly how some scheme could create so many jobs...with subsidies almost 60000$/job. I can promise to create a job for myself watching TV, for example, with 60000$.)
In general the book is very light on substance and heavy on marketing. It is a kind of book you expect from some cheerleading consultant. For Rifkin rational arguments and factual accuracy seem unimportant. What is important is whether or not some buzzword he uses enters the "lexicon" of CEO:s or politicians. In a way he reminds a left wing version of Thomas Friedman.
April 18, 2017
A book of such magnitude; covering the human condition from all aspects to paint the vision of the coming future: the next leap in mankind's evolution bringing it closer to its inherent design, long lost in the hustle of the myths of materialism.
The author beautifully puts together what constitutes the essential 5 pillars to leapfrog to the already evolving 3rd phase of our evolution; the third industrial revolution. This is one giant leap bringing with it more freedoms long pursued. The 2nd industrial revolution is in no doubt aging and must be replaced before its negative impacts harm the globe at large let alone the human condition.
The many examples highlighted are proof of the coming future. Lucky are the nations that have accepted this reality and have committed to the change at the highest level.
A highly recommended book.
The author beautifully puts together what constitutes the essential 5 pillars to leapfrog to the already evolving 3rd phase of our evolution; the third industrial revolution. This is one giant leap bringing with it more freedoms long pursued. The 2nd industrial revolution is in no doubt aging and must be replaced before its negative impacts harm the globe at large let alone the human condition.
The many examples highlighted are proof of the coming future. Lucky are the nations that have accepted this reality and have committed to the change at the highest level.
A highly recommended book.
October 30, 2012
Distributed generation is a fine idea. Almost entirely misses the concept of how big data servers work with his analogy to the internet, uses a lot of poorly-informed math to make his point, and name drops his meetings with EU officials ad nauseaum. The material would have been better suited for pamphlet, but probably was not worthy of a book.
May 25, 2020
Ļoti lēni un grūti lasījās... bet bija interesanti!
April 4, 2018
I picked the book up because I caught the speech he gave on the same topic. The speech was inspiring, the book is disappointingly much less so.
It felt long, tedious and was simply filled with name dropping. I was waiting for him to describe his vision for the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) in greater detail, but that never happened. The closest it got to that was when he alluded to the fact that the TIR will enable this or the TIR will change that without saying how.
Watch the Vice speech for the overarching themes, but skip this book.
It felt long, tedious and was simply filled with name dropping. I was waiting for him to describe his vision for the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) in greater detail, but that never happened. The closest it got to that was when he alluded to the fact that the TIR will enable this or the TIR will change that without saying how.
Watch the Vice speech for the overarching themes, but skip this book.
May 6, 2013
Good topics but the book repeats, it repeats, it repeats, it repeats itself a lot. That and the book repeats itself. And just in case, yeah the book repeats itself. It also repeats itself.
February 16, 2018
Self praise all over but still inspirational enough to change one's lifepath
November 10, 2021
« Quand un nouveau régime énergétique converge avec une révolution des communications, la conscience humaine se transforme. »
March 2, 2023
Neoliberalizmi eleştirmeden enerjiyi, ekonomiyi ve ekolojiyi iyileştiremezsiniz. Kapitalizme karşı çıkmadan yeni bir dünya kuramazsınız.
Kitabı elime alıp biraz okuduktan sonra işe yaramaz olduğunu düşündüm. Ardından kenara attım. Bir gün sosyal medyada Jeremy Rifkin'in Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu'nun danışmanı olduğunu öğrenince başımıza gelecekleri okumak için yeniden okudum. Yazar piyasa ekonomisi içerisinde gerçek bir sürdürülebilirliği inşa edebileceğimize bizi ikna etmeye çalışıyor. Saçmalık.
Kitabı elime alıp biraz okuduktan sonra işe yaramaz olduğunu düşündüm. Ardından kenara attım. Bir gün sosyal medyada Jeremy Rifkin'in Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu'nun danışmanı olduğunu öğrenince başımıza gelecekleri okumak için yeniden okudum. Yazar piyasa ekonomisi içerisinde gerçek bir sürdürülebilirliği inşa edebileceğimize bizi ikna etmeye çalışıyor. Saçmalık.
March 31, 2020
يتناول الكاتب مستقبل الطاقة المتجددة والنظيفة ودورها في حماية البيئة. يقدم معلومات دقيقة عن حقب زمنية مختلفة من خلال علاقاته الشخصية وتجاربه في أوروبا. مادة الموضوع تشبه مجموعة مقالات أو رؤى متعددة للكاتب صدرت في كتاب
August 24, 2023
Auch wenn das Buch schon 13 Jahre alt ist sehr lesenswert und inspirierend.
July 12, 2016
Một cuốn sách khá được về tương lai nhân loại, không phải một tương lai viễn tưởng xa rời như nhiều cuốn sách khác mà là một tương lai đã bắt đầu khởi động và thành hình.
Hai cuộc cách mạng trước đây của con người phụ thuộc vào những nguồn nhiên liệu hóa thạch có hạn như than đá và dầu mỏ. Việc khai thác và sử dụng những nguồn này, một mặt đã khiến loài người tiến bộ với tốc độ chưa từng có và sống một cuộc sống chưa bao giờ tốt đẹp hơn, nhưng cũng mang lại nhiều vấn đề quá lớn như chiến tranh, ô nhiễm và mất mát môi trường, biến đổi khí hậu... Và các nguồn đó rồi cũng sớm cạn kiệt.
Giải pháp cho một tương lai bền vững hơn là sử dụng các nguồn năng lượng không hóa thạch và sẵn có như gió, thủy triều, địa nhiệt, và quan trọng nhất là năng lượng mặt trời. Năng lượng hạt nhân tuy không phát thải CO2 nhưng không phải là nguồn hấp dẫn do tốn kém và không mang lại nhiều lợi ích.
Theo tác giả, để hiện thực hóa được cuộc Cách mạng công nghiệp lần III, cuộc cách mạng năng lượng sạch và bền vững, cần phải thực hiện các trụ cột sau đồng thời (1) sự chuyển dịch sang năng lượng tái tạo; (2) chuyển hóa các công trình xây dựng ở mọi lục địa thành các nhà máy điện mini để thu gom năng lượng tái tạo tại chỗ; (3) áp dụng công nghệ hydro và các công nghệ lưu trữ khác trong mọi công trình và xuyên suốt cơ sở hạ tầng để lưu trữ năng lượng gián đoạn; (4) sử dụng công nghệ Internet để chuyển đổi lưới điện của tất cả các lục địa thành một liên mạng lưới chia sẻ năng lượng hoạt động giống như Internet (khi hàng triệu tòa nhà tạo ra những lượng nhỏ năng lượng tại chỗ, chúng có thể bán phần thặng dư trở lại lưới điện và chia sẻ điện với các láng giềng cùng châu lục), và (5) chuyển các phương tiện vận tải sang các phương tiện chạy điện và pin nhiên liệu có thể mua và bán điện thông qua một lưới điện thông minh ở cấp châu lục.
Năm cột trụ đó bao hàm mọi bước, từ sản xuất, lưu trữ, phân phối và sử dụng năng lượng tái tạo.
Sau khi đưa ra luận điểm chính trên, tác giả đưa ra các ví dụ về các quốc gia (chủ yếu ở châu Âu) và các thành phố đang tích cực thúc đẩy cuộc cách mạng có tiềm năng thay đổi cuộc sống con người này.
Tác giả cũng có giành một phần cuốn sách nói về quan hệ của con người hiện đại với tự nhiên (sinh quyển) và nền giáo dục hiện đại cần phải thay đổi như thế nào để phù hợp hơn với cuộc cách mạng đang xảy ra.
Cuộc cách mạng lần III này không phải là một điều xa vời, mà nó đã thực sự bắt đầu. Vài năm trước thủ tướng Đức đã tuyên bố nước Đức sẽ chấm dứt sử dụng năng lượng hạt nhân vào năm 2020. Cũng vài năm gần đây, có những ngày nước Đức sản xuất năng lượng sạch (gió và mặt trời) vượt quá nhu cầu sử dụng. Có thể nói Đức và các nước châu Âu khác hiện đang tiến tới rất gần tới việc biến năng lượng sạch thành nguồn nhiên liệu chính, và dần thay thế các nguồn truyền thống.
Tương lai có vẻ sáng sủa với các nước công nghiệp (không có gì ngạc nhiên), nhưng mình ngờ rằng loài người vẫn sẽ sử dụng tới cạn kiệt nguồn năng lượng hóa thạch mới chịu dừng lại (hoặc cho tới khi chi phí khai thác trở nên quá cao). Lý do có thể nằm ở chi phí triển khai hệ thống năng lượng mới, thói quen, hoặc tình hình riêng của mỗi quốc gia.
Hai cuộc cách mạng trước đây của con người phụ thuộc vào những nguồn nhiên liệu hóa thạch có hạn như than đá và dầu mỏ. Việc khai thác và sử dụng những nguồn này, một mặt đã khiến loài người tiến bộ với tốc độ chưa từng có và sống một cuộc sống chưa bao giờ tốt đẹp hơn, nhưng cũng mang lại nhiều vấn đề quá lớn như chiến tranh, ô nhiễm và mất mát môi trường, biến đổi khí hậu... Và các nguồn đó rồi cũng sớm cạn kiệt.
Giải pháp cho một tương lai bền vững hơn là sử dụng các nguồn năng lượng không hóa thạch và sẵn có như gió, thủy triều, địa nhiệt, và quan trọng nhất là năng lượng mặt trời. Năng lượng hạt nhân tuy không phát thải CO2 nhưng không phải là nguồn hấp dẫn do tốn kém và không mang lại nhiều lợi ích.
Theo tác giả, để hiện thực hóa được cuộc Cách mạng công nghiệp lần III, cuộc cách mạng năng lượng sạch và bền vững, cần phải thực hiện các trụ cột sau đồng thời (1) sự chuyển dịch sang năng lượng tái tạo; (2) chuyển hóa các công trình xây dựng ở mọi lục địa thành các nhà máy điện mini để thu gom năng lượng tái tạo tại chỗ; (3) áp dụng công nghệ hydro và các công nghệ lưu trữ khác trong mọi công trình và xuyên suốt cơ sở hạ tầng để lưu trữ năng lượng gián đoạn; (4) sử dụng công nghệ Internet để chuyển đổi lưới điện của tất cả các lục địa thành một liên mạng lưới chia sẻ năng lượng hoạt động giống như Internet (khi hàng triệu tòa nhà tạo ra những lượng nhỏ năng lượng tại chỗ, chúng có thể bán phần thặng dư trở lại lưới điện và chia sẻ điện với các láng giềng cùng châu lục), và (5) chuyển các phương tiện vận tải sang các phương tiện chạy điện và pin nhiên liệu có thể mua và bán điện thông qua một lưới điện thông minh ở cấp châu lục.
Năm cột trụ đó bao hàm mọi bước, từ sản xuất, lưu trữ, phân phối và sử dụng năng lượng tái tạo.
Sau khi đưa ra luận điểm chính trên, tác giả đưa ra các ví dụ về các quốc gia (chủ yếu ở châu Âu) và các thành phố đang tích cực thúc đẩy cuộc cách mạng có tiềm năng thay đổi cuộc sống con người này.
Tác giả cũng có giành một phần cuốn sách nói về quan hệ của con người hiện đại với tự nhiên (sinh quyển) và nền giáo dục hiện đại cần phải thay đổi như thế nào để phù hợp hơn với cuộc cách mạng đang xảy ra.
Cuộc cách mạng lần III này không phải là một điều xa vời, mà nó đã thực sự bắt đầu. Vài năm trước thủ tướng Đức đã tuyên bố nước Đức sẽ chấm dứt sử dụng năng lượng hạt nhân vào năm 2020. Cũng vài năm gần đây, có những ngày nước Đức sản xuất năng lượng sạch (gió và mặt trời) vượt quá nhu cầu sử dụng. Có thể nói Đức và các nước châu Âu khác hiện đang tiến tới rất gần tới việc biến năng lượng sạch thành nguồn nhiên liệu chính, và dần thay thế các nguồn truyền thống.
Tương lai có vẻ sáng sủa với các nước công nghiệp (không có gì ngạc nhiên), nhưng mình ngờ rằng loài người vẫn sẽ sử dụng tới cạn kiệt nguồn năng lượng hóa thạch mới chịu dừng lại (hoặc cho tới khi chi phí khai thác trở nên quá cao). Lý do có thể nằm ở chi phí triển khai hệ thống năng lượng mới, thói quen, hoặc tình hình riêng của mỗi quốc gia.
September 18, 2019
Truly eye-opening book that changes one`s perspective on how to view the world through the prism of upcoming industrial revolution
March 11, 2018
Mr. Rifkin is an influential futurist. He has the ability to meet national leaders worldwide. He is a consultant in EU bureaucrats as well. Therefore, EU becomes a good paradigm for the demonstration of his ideas. Honestly, I expect highly on this book, but it turns out a bit disappointing. The whole book is better described as marketing booklet, not an inspiring title. Indeed, he shows us great ideas, but the structure is just not coherent. He seems to write whatever occurred to him.
He talks about his personal projects with prominent people. He applauded himself throughout the book. Giving miscellaneous data to support the arguments works okay. My biggest complain is the book doesn't entice you to read. It's fairly dry. You can skim through the whole book quickly and still get his points.
He emphasizes the upcoming trend of distributed capitalism. A nice example is the smart grid. Traditionally, the energy or power is managed centrally. It is not very efficient. In the future, he advocates the distribution of power management to households. Households become the basic unit to generate electricity. The smart gird will connect everyone. By some careful coordination, it's said the efficiency will enhance greatly and improve the living quality.
He centers on the energy mostly throughout the book. In addition, he talks about some mega trends that are actually making the world more connected. I like his grand ideas in fact. If you want to learn about how energy will reshape our future world, you will find the book inspiring. Others may find the arguments a bit vague, not knowing their meaning to us. Overall, it's an informative book, but less interesting.
He talks about his personal projects with prominent people. He applauded himself throughout the book. Giving miscellaneous data to support the arguments works okay. My biggest complain is the book doesn't entice you to read. It's fairly dry. You can skim through the whole book quickly and still get his points.
He emphasizes the upcoming trend of distributed capitalism. A nice example is the smart grid. Traditionally, the energy or power is managed centrally. It is not very efficient. In the future, he advocates the distribution of power management to households. Households become the basic unit to generate electricity. The smart gird will connect everyone. By some careful coordination, it's said the efficiency will enhance greatly and improve the living quality.
He centers on the energy mostly throughout the book. In addition, he talks about some mega trends that are actually making the world more connected. I like his grand ideas in fact. If you want to learn about how energy will reshape our future world, you will find the book inspiring. Others may find the arguments a bit vague, not knowing their meaning to us. Overall, it's an informative book, but less interesting.
March 15, 2018
I respect what Rifkin has done in persuading world leaders to begin to work toward a renewable future. He has helped several government entities (including the EU) to make plans toward implementing an increase in renewable energy sources, creating continent wide smart grids, transitioning transportation to plug-in or fuel cell technologies, and using hydrogen as a source of power storage. These are praiseworthy accomplishments. However, this book suffers from too much philosophical meandering and insufficient concrete solutions. As a consequence, it sounds too much like wishful thinking. Rifkin mentions dire future issues such as diminishing food production, the eminent end of petrochemical manufacturing (plastics, medicines, and so forth), and the dismal state of our environment; yet, he mentions them only in a cursory manner. He does not address solutions to these beyond his hope that lateral power will somehow produce the miracle of abundance. While I am fully supportive of the energy solutions that he offers, his meanderings about "the economy and the world" are more philosophy than solutions. I agree fully with his philosophy, but I was hoping for something more concrete from a man who is at the forefront of government planning.
May 5, 2012
Other people in the club liked it more than I did. I liked the first third (but even in that part I thought he could have explained the Third Industrial Revolution more. The middle seemed too much boasting about himself and who he met and who he convinced to adopt the TIR. The last section seemed to be random ideas with little to no connection to the TIR. Yes, Green Schools is a good idea but not sure it's really *industrial.*
December 15, 2017
Oh man is this book boring! Just watch the TED Talk. Summary: we need to create a grid system like the internet that can help us wean off of oil and use solar/electric energy. Each chapter talks about how he talked to big shots in europe to do it and how he helped certain american cities do it, etc. Seriously, skip this book, but definitely let's get this guy to help us all spark the third industrial revolution.
April 28, 2012
Highly aspiration book with some intriguing ideas -- and clear warnings -- about our ecological, economical and social predicament(s).
Some of this stuff clicks for me, and some of the things I was studying and thinking about several years ago.
I need to talk to others about some ideas that I find crucial and imperative and some that I find flawed. Takers?
Some of this stuff clicks for me, and some of the things I was studying and thinking about several years ago.
I need to talk to others about some ideas that I find crucial and imperative and some that I find flawed. Takers?
January 23, 2012
Had some salient points. However, he was very grandiose in his thoughts on how the new energy market would change the world, and he didn't offer many details as to the current difficulties. Worth the read for someone new to the subject.
April 17, 2012
Pop economics. Nuff said. Clearly written but the ideas are way too grandiose. Also, i still find myself skeptical of anyone whose job title is "social thinker."
June 20, 2015
un livre très instructif sur la troisième révolution industrielle. Je le recommande fortement.
July 26, 2021
Nothing has been more influential on the history of human beings on this planet than the Industrial revolution of the 19th century. Besides birthing the profession of “Industrial Designer” the Industrial Revolution remains today, an unparalleled and monumental example of human capability and innovation. From Henry Ford’s ground breaking method of assembly line manufacturing to the chemistry which produced the title wave of bright and cheery plastic everything that washed over the planet during the 1950’s. These key events in human history undeniably shifted the way in which we live on the planet and are very much still in play today.
These revolutions redefined how almost everything on the planet is made and motivated a flood of new cultural ideologies around personal ownership, property, comfort, class and caste. It changed how we eat, how we move, and how we power our lives. Since its inception, the coal and gas powered industrial revolutions fueled new heights of luxury and and ease of living that got literally everyone onboard.
In this book, Jeremy Rifkin brings us to the sobering and mildly terrifying consequences of these unfortunately unchecked actions. Despite the enormity and existentially detrimental nature of his subject matter, Rifkin’s delivery is calm and direct without the forcefulness or aggressive tone of most environmental activists. As an economic theorist and political advisor to some of the world’s highest ranking politicians Rifkin highlights a number countries around the globe who are taking action. He’s keen to what’s hot with the youth and accurately forecasts something many of us over 40 have missed, a laterally distributed internet of things based sharing economy which define the Third Industrial Revolution. Based around 5 pillars of revolution, Rifkin lays out a “guardedly optimistic” roadmap for how to latch onto this up and coming disruptive phenomenon and move society into the future.
As an industrial designer, I feel very much tied to the negative effects of the industrial revolution. The relationship between design, manufacturing, and fossil fuel is undeniable. What I like best about this book is its ability to refocus our attention towards future technologies that allow for real world wide impact. I also enjoy how the tactics for moving forward are never presented in too daunting of a way that it feels impossible but instead Rifkin is optimistic showing how change is already underway, all we need to do it get onboard.
I think that one of the most unique characteristics of industrial designers is our drive to solve problems and make the world a better place. We use innovation and empathy to achieve this and these traits are needed now more than ever. Rifkin’s ideas shine a light on the path towards undoing the missteps of our past and building a better future for everyone living on the planet but the also the planet itself, something every designer around the world would agree is a goal we share.
These revolutions redefined how almost everything on the planet is made and motivated a flood of new cultural ideologies around personal ownership, property, comfort, class and caste. It changed how we eat, how we move, and how we power our lives. Since its inception, the coal and gas powered industrial revolutions fueled new heights of luxury and and ease of living that got literally everyone onboard.
In this book, Jeremy Rifkin brings us to the sobering and mildly terrifying consequences of these unfortunately unchecked actions. Despite the enormity and existentially detrimental nature of his subject matter, Rifkin’s delivery is calm and direct without the forcefulness or aggressive tone of most environmental activists. As an economic theorist and political advisor to some of the world’s highest ranking politicians Rifkin highlights a number countries around the globe who are taking action. He’s keen to what’s hot with the youth and accurately forecasts something many of us over 40 have missed, a laterally distributed internet of things based sharing economy which define the Third Industrial Revolution. Based around 5 pillars of revolution, Rifkin lays out a “guardedly optimistic” roadmap for how to latch onto this up and coming disruptive phenomenon and move society into the future.
As an industrial designer, I feel very much tied to the negative effects of the industrial revolution. The relationship between design, manufacturing, and fossil fuel is undeniable. What I like best about this book is its ability to refocus our attention towards future technologies that allow for real world wide impact. I also enjoy how the tactics for moving forward are never presented in too daunting of a way that it feels impossible but instead Rifkin is optimistic showing how change is already underway, all we need to do it get onboard.
I think that one of the most unique characteristics of industrial designers is our drive to solve problems and make the world a better place. We use innovation and empathy to achieve this and these traits are needed now more than ever. Rifkin’s ideas shine a light on the path towards undoing the missteps of our past and building a better future for everyone living on the planet but the also the planet itself, something every designer around the world would agree is a goal we share.
August 8, 2024
The Agricultural Revolution was followed by the (First) Industrial Revolution of ~1760, which led the human economy towards more widespread, efficient, and stable manufacturing processes, by replacing manual production methods with machines and mechanized factory systems. As a result, the textile industry, the first to use modern production methods, became the dominant industry in terms of employment, value of output, and capital invested.
Beginning in the late 19th century, powered by oil and other fossil fuels, the Second Industrial Revolution, aka the Technological Revolution, created a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardization, mass production and industrialization. The Second Industrial Revolution is coming to its end, as oil prices, and, as a result, other prices, skyrocket.
Like all other numbered or ranked ideas or events, there is disagreement about the next item on the list. Some consider the emergence of the Internet and the explosive growth of worldwide communication as constituting the next phase. Rifkin views widespread use of renewable energy and its global sharing, much like the sharing of data enabled by the Internet, as constituting the Third Industrial Revolution. Imagine an "energy Internet" that allows green energy to be produced in a distributed fashion and shared over a network by hundreds of millions of people in their homes, offices, and factories, just as information is being produced and shared today.
This new economic paradigm, that is, a fundamental reordering of human relationships from hierarchical to lateral power, has already been embraced by the European Union and other nations worldwide. It will create countless businesses and new jobs, and it will impact the way we conduct commerce, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.
According to Rifkin, the five pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution are:
- Shifting to renewable energy
- Turning world's buildings into micro power-plants that collect renewable energies
- Deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies to store intermittent energies
- Using Internet technology to combine power grids into an energy-sharing intergrid
- Using electric plug-in cars and fuel-cell-powered transport, linked to the intergrid
At the beginning of Chapter 5, Rifkin brings to our attention a major shift among young people, that is, the disappearance of ideological beliefs. "Young people aren't much interested in debating the fine points of capitalist or socialist ideology or the nuances of geopolitical theory. … Their politics are less about right versus left and more about centralized and authoritarian versus distributed and collaborative. This makes sense. The two generations whose sociability has been formed, in large part, by Internet communications are far more likely to divide the world into people and institutions that use top-down, enclosed, and proprietary thinking, and those that use lateral, transparent, and open thinking."
In other words, it's time that we retire Adam Smith, who enthusiastically borrowed metaphors from Newton to fashion classical economic theory. Economic activity is less similar to Newton's laws of motion than to laws of thermodynamics. Paying attention to the law of conservation of energy and entropy, which says fossil fuels once consumed cannot be reused, we have no choice but to turn to the nearly-infinite energy from the Sun and other renewable sources. It is thus alarming that very few economists have studies thermodynamics, so central to understanding energy and thus the modern world.
Here's how Rifkin ends this fascinating book: "A transformation of this scale will require a concomitant leap to biosphere consciousness. Only when we begin to think as an extended global family, that not only includes our own species but all of our fellow travelers in evolutionary sojourn on Earth, will we be able to save our common biosphere community and renew the planet for future generations."
Beginning in the late 19th century, powered by oil and other fossil fuels, the Second Industrial Revolution, aka the Technological Revolution, created a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardization, mass production and industrialization. The Second Industrial Revolution is coming to its end, as oil prices, and, as a result, other prices, skyrocket.
Like all other numbered or ranked ideas or events, there is disagreement about the next item on the list. Some consider the emergence of the Internet and the explosive growth of worldwide communication as constituting the next phase. Rifkin views widespread use of renewable energy and its global sharing, much like the sharing of data enabled by the Internet, as constituting the Third Industrial Revolution. Imagine an "energy Internet" that allows green energy to be produced in a distributed fashion and shared over a network by hundreds of millions of people in their homes, offices, and factories, just as information is being produced and shared today.
This new economic paradigm, that is, a fundamental reordering of human relationships from hierarchical to lateral power, has already been embraced by the European Union and other nations worldwide. It will create countless businesses and new jobs, and it will impact the way we conduct commerce, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.
According to Rifkin, the five pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution are:
- Shifting to renewable energy
- Turning world's buildings into micro power-plants that collect renewable energies
- Deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies to store intermittent energies
- Using Internet technology to combine power grids into an energy-sharing intergrid
- Using electric plug-in cars and fuel-cell-powered transport, linked to the intergrid
At the beginning of Chapter 5, Rifkin brings to our attention a major shift among young people, that is, the disappearance of ideological beliefs. "Young people aren't much interested in debating the fine points of capitalist or socialist ideology or the nuances of geopolitical theory. … Their politics are less about right versus left and more about centralized and authoritarian versus distributed and collaborative. This makes sense. The two generations whose sociability has been formed, in large part, by Internet communications are far more likely to divide the world into people and institutions that use top-down, enclosed, and proprietary thinking, and those that use lateral, transparent, and open thinking."
In other words, it's time that we retire Adam Smith, who enthusiastically borrowed metaphors from Newton to fashion classical economic theory. Economic activity is less similar to Newton's laws of motion than to laws of thermodynamics. Paying attention to the law of conservation of energy and entropy, which says fossil fuels once consumed cannot be reused, we have no choice but to turn to the nearly-infinite energy from the Sun and other renewable sources. It is thus alarming that very few economists have studies thermodynamics, so central to understanding energy and thus the modern world.
Here's how Rifkin ends this fascinating book: "A transformation of this scale will require a concomitant leap to biosphere consciousness. Only when we begin to think as an extended global family, that not only includes our own species but all of our fellow travelers in evolutionary sojourn on Earth, will we be able to save our common biosphere community and renew the planet for future generations."
September 13, 2018
Fantastic book, I will be reading more of his books and watching more of his video's. Great insight into how we can transform society. Rather than complaining about how things are, he lays out a clear and comprehensive plan about how to move forward. His plan is to help us move to a distributive and collaborative society.
He suggests, and I agree, this can be the next evolutionary economic model. He builds this distributive and collaborative world on 5 Pillars. 1. A Shift to Renewable Energy; 2. Buildings with micro power plants that Produce Energy, not just use it; 3. Hydrogen deployment and storage and other intermittent energies; 4. Intelligent Grid to collect and sell and therefore share clean energy; 5. Transition to plug in Fuel Cell Vehicles.
He suggests, this Third Industrial Revolution TIR, will, like the last, take time to transition into. Also like the last 2, it will be a transformation. He suspects it will be slightly more than ½ of the 50 years it took in the first and second industrial revolution transitions.
Throughout the book and his many presentations available on YouTube, he helps us change our relationship with earth. He encourages us to view nature from an engagement, replenishment, integration and holism perspective, rattan than from a detachment, expropriation, dissection and reductionist way.He helps us understand why the relationship is a partnership. He helps the reader understand that nature is not objects to use and discard.
He also helps us understand why we must move from power and autonomy over nature to a partnership and participation with nature. It is really what all relationships should and can be.
This book helped clarify for me how to practice paneugenesis and what we must do to develop pervasive, reciprocal selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. For that to happen, we must understand that everyone and everything is connected so for our benefit and more, we should develop better interdependent relationships with everyone and everything.
He ends with this thoughtful quote, "Only when we begin to think as an extended global family that not only includes our species but all our fellow travelers, in the evolutionary sojourn or Earth, will we be able to save our biosphere community and RENEW the planet for future generations."
He suggests, and I agree, this can be the next evolutionary economic model. He builds this distributive and collaborative world on 5 Pillars. 1. A Shift to Renewable Energy; 2. Buildings with micro power plants that Produce Energy, not just use it; 3. Hydrogen deployment and storage and other intermittent energies; 4. Intelligent Grid to collect and sell and therefore share clean energy; 5. Transition to plug in Fuel Cell Vehicles.
He suggests, this Third Industrial Revolution TIR, will, like the last, take time to transition into. Also like the last 2, it will be a transformation. He suspects it will be slightly more than ½ of the 50 years it took in the first and second industrial revolution transitions.
Throughout the book and his many presentations available on YouTube, he helps us change our relationship with earth. He encourages us to view nature from an engagement, replenishment, integration and holism perspective, rattan than from a detachment, expropriation, dissection and reductionist way.He helps us understand why the relationship is a partnership. He helps the reader understand that nature is not objects to use and discard.
He also helps us understand why we must move from power and autonomy over nature to a partnership and participation with nature. It is really what all relationships should and can be.
This book helped clarify for me how to practice paneugenesis and what we must do to develop pervasive, reciprocal selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits. For that to happen, we must understand that everyone and everything is connected so for our benefit and more, we should develop better interdependent relationships with everyone and everything.
He ends with this thoughtful quote, "Only when we begin to think as an extended global family that not only includes our species but all our fellow travelers, in the evolutionary sojourn or Earth, will we be able to save our biosphere community and RENEW the planet for future generations."
January 31, 2021
Have I read it in 2011 when The Third Industrial Revolution was first published, I would have probably thought that Jeremy Rifkin is a dreamer. Perhaps things weren't really clear during that period but in the start of 2021, I do feel like they are coming true. Perhaps one could even say that nothing really changed cause EU remains more environmentally friendly than other regions of the world and it just becomes more apparent.
Jeremy Rifkin didn't just look into the future but also explained how the past is affecting the present. He also shared stories of several current projects and tried to explain the faults of economic thinkers of the past, simply put, we can't extract the limited resources forever and without harming the ecosystems.
There should also be changes in our education system to bring us closer to nature, foster empathy. There is an exemplary approach that we may follow, such as the one in Finland.
I was wondering what other people are saying about the book. It is indeed repetitive. There are chapters where Jeremy Rifkin talks about his meetings with heads of European states but it is not taking the whole book and is all a part of making his point. We need to move into the third industrial revolution and we need governments to support the movement like they did during the first two industrial revolutions, or else it is not going to work. The author is worried about the US, his country, because of its oil ties with Mexico and Canada. As someone who comes from a developing country with said large oil reserves I am afraid mine will remain reluctant in this economic transformation for a longer period... as long as oil production is profitable despite the rather seeming willingness to shift to modern methods.
Jeremy Rifkin didn't just look into the future but also explained how the past is affecting the present. He also shared stories of several current projects and tried to explain the faults of economic thinkers of the past, simply put, we can't extract the limited resources forever and without harming the ecosystems.
There should also be changes in our education system to bring us closer to nature, foster empathy. There is an exemplary approach that we may follow, such as the one in Finland.
I was wondering what other people are saying about the book. It is indeed repetitive. There are chapters where Jeremy Rifkin talks about his meetings with heads of European states but it is not taking the whole book and is all a part of making his point. We need to move into the third industrial revolution and we need governments to support the movement like they did during the first two industrial revolutions, or else it is not going to work. The author is worried about the US, his country, because of its oil ties with Mexico and Canada. As someone who comes from a developing country with said large oil reserves I am afraid mine will remain reluctant in this economic transformation for a longer period... as long as oil production is profitable despite the rather seeming willingness to shift to modern methods.
March 14, 2021
I'll give him some credit for some of his ideas on what a fossil fuel free energy economy might someday come to be. That green energy will never be "free" as he states in the book. There are always costs for manufacturing the equipment to make that happen, costs to mine things like iron, aluminum, silver, and other natural resources required to make things like wind turbines and solar panels. Which by the way kill the birds that happen to go in their path. So much for being nature friendly. Women's menstrual cycles do not care about the phases of the moon to happen. Otherwise all of us would be exactly the same time of the month. Give me a break. He also said that slavery was ended thanks to Industrialization. That is false.. Here in the United States legal slavery was ended through war. Legal slavery is still allowed in some countries. Illegal slavery is found through out the world, including the United States. Many working in the sea trade are in fact slaves, being forced to perform sex acts. For the most part this just seemed to be name dropping of all the big deal political leaders he's had meetings with to discuss his green energy, socialist/communist, future utopia ideas. Where no one earns a living for themselves or does any work. We all just sit around and discover the meaning of life. Give me a break!!!
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