Losing everything is the perfect opportunity | Arash Aazami | TEDxLancasterU

00:17:09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qkfKo4m-6A

摘要

TLDRIn this inspirational talk, the speaker recounts a journey from humble beginnings in Niger, West Africa, to a successful career in the Netherlands where he founded an innovative energy company. After facing personal setbacks, he decided to focus on meaningful work, eventually reforming an energy company by prioritizing renewable resources. Through his endeavors, he challenges the concept that fossil fuels are necessary and showcases the potential of renewable energies like solar and wind. His humanitarian efforts in Niger include supplying solar-powered lights to children to foster education. The speaker advocates for considering energy a basic right and encourages companies to serve all stakeholders, thereby making a positive societal impact. He urges action and innovation for sustainable development, emphasizing that these efforts could redefine business models globally.

心得

  • 🌍 Energy should be treated as a basic human right.
  • 🔄 Transitioning to renewable resources is crucial.
  • 💡 Educational empowerment through renewable energy aids development.
  • 🚫 Saying no to non-meaningful work can lead to fulfilling opportunities.
  • 👨‍👦‍👦 Personal setbacks can be catalysts for change.
  • 🌱 Innovative business models can support sustainability and growth.
  • 📉 An energy company can profit by helping customers use less energy.
  • 🇳🇪 The speaker's work in Niger highlights local innovation.
  • 💡 Solar lights can transform education in energy-poor areas.
  • 🌞 Renewable resources should not be viewed as alternatives.
  • 🔜 Future growth relies on the human-centric energy models.
  • 🏅 It's critical for every company to impart positive societal impacts.

时间轴

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker shares a personal journey beginning with their childhood in Niger, West Africa, emphasizing the scarcity of resources like electricity. Despite early successes in life, including founding a consulting business and studying electric guitar, the speaker faced significant personal setbacks, losing their job, money, and home. This led to a life reset where they chose to pursue meaningful work over merely profitable opportunities. Eventually, the speaker took a role with an energy company in crisis, leveraging their experience in dealing with crisis situations, and began questioning and redefining the fundamentals of energy consumption and sustainability.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    In their quest for understanding energy, the speaker uncovers a disconnect between perception and reality, such as unsustainable practices posed as 'green'. They challenge traditional sales views and emphasize a paradigm shift towards decreasing fossil fuel usage and embracing renewable sources, critiquing the illusion of endless consumption. The speaker then embarks on a mission to redefine energy companies' roles. Inspired by Richard Buckminster Fuller's idea of building new models over fighting old ones, they develop a unique business model for an energy company that profits when clients consume less energy, integrating ecological and societal benefits into its core operations to address energy poverty.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:17:09

    Returning to Niger, the speaker distributes solar-powered lights and phone chargers to empower students, insisting on a pay-it-forward system where children plant trees in return. This visit illustrates their commitment to long-term change and the viability of renewable energy in resource-scarce areas. They highlight Niger's solar-powered mobile network and street lighting as examples of innovation. The talk concludes with the aspiration that access to clean energy should become a universal human right, urging businesses and individuals to innovate towards a sustainable future with tangible actions rather than intentions.

思维导图

Mind Map

常见问题

  • Where did the speaker grow up?

    The speaker grew up in Niger, West Africa.

  • What significant life changes did the speaker experience?

    The speaker lost his job, relationship, money, and house, prompting a personal reset.

  • What is the speaker's key message regarding energy?

    Energy should be a basic human right, and sustainable energy resources like solar power should be prioritized.

  • What does the speaker believe about renewable resources?

    Renewable resources such as sun, wind, and water should be primary energy sources since fossil fuels are depleting.

  • How did the speaker's energy company innovate?

    The company aimed to make money by encouraging customers to use less energy, promoting sustainability.

  • What humanitarian efforts did the speaker pursue in Niger?

    The speaker distributed solar-powered lights to students, encouraging community service in exchange.

  • What long-term goal does the speaker advocate for in terms of energy?

    Incorporating clean energy as a universal human right.

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    thank
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    you so wonderful to be here
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    um if all the work in the world were
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    voluntary
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    work what would you
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    do I've had to ask myself that question
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    a number of times anyways let me start
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    with this picture this picture here was
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    taken by my mother in the early 80s in a
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    country called ner in West
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    Africa and the boy in the middle is
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    me CU that's where I grew up and I'm
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    sitting next to my brother and our
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    neighbor and as you can see we're
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    watching
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    TV now watching TV in ner is a big thing
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    CU in our town there were two
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    TVs right now in newer 90% of all the
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    people have no access to
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    electricity so you could say that we
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    were
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    blessed now I took that blessing of
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    electricity very very seriously cuz
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    after a number of years we returned to
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    the Netherlands and I enrolled in
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    Conservatory to study electric
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    guitar here's the proof
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    and then a few years went ahead passed
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    by and uh I founded this little
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    Consulting business and life was going
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    well and I became father of two amazing
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    little
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    boys and a little while later things
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    went
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    South what happened was I lost my
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    work I lost my
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    relationship I lost my money lost my
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    house lost a whole number of
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    things it was time for a big
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    reset and I was sitting in this tiny
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    little room wondering about what to do
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    next and at that moment I
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    realized that I had a lot of power cuz
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    i' lost everything so I could win
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    anything and um what I decided to do
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    there was use this word a lot I would
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    get all these job opportunities for
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    instance and I'd say no to them why
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    because I decided that I would do work
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    that I deemed useful in some sense so I
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    turned down all these work opportunities
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    where I I would do work just for the
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    sake of earning
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    money now we're going to fast forward a
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    little bit and I stole a little logo
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    here a
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    little um a number of years later and
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    this is a little while
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    ago I was looking at my life and I was
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    the owner of an energy
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    company and I was doing all these media
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    things and I was meeting with uh
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    Greenpeace CEOs
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    and TV appearances and growing a beard
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    in the meantime and winning prizes at
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    MIT and um what happened there was
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    really
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    interesting CU I wanted to know how did
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    I get
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    here going from
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    music to this whole
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    situation well let's rewind a little bit
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    again
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    in 2006 I apparently had said no enough
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    times to say yes to the right
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    opportunity and the right opportunity
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    being answering the question would you
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    lead an energy
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    company what yes so that's what I
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    started to do it was an energy company
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    in very very bad
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    shape sales were bad people were not
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    motivated and they needed a change so
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    they asked somebody who had some
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    experiences with
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    crisis to do something about it and I
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    was a complete newcomer to the business
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    I didn't know anything about energy
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    itself I knew something about people
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    though so I would ask all these people
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    around me these energy professionals
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    questions such as what is
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    energy now the answers I got to these
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    questions to this one started sounded a
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    bit like this some other people would
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    answer me
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    I would get answers like these I was in
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    Barcelona they gave me this
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    answer apparently something really
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    really interesting was going on
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    here we had lost connection to the
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    product we were
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    selling I went on and ask about
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    sustainability and I found this one
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    particular example of a school in
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    Japan where they wanted to do something
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    about their sustainability
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    image so what they do they bought
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    windmills makes sense
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    right now apparently in that area the
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    wind wasn't too good so these windmills
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    would not turn by
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    themselves so what did they do for the
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    sake of upholding this sustainable image
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    they connected them to the power grid
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    and made made them
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    turn so that was
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    sustainability good I went on and ask
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    even more questions about consumption
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    for instance or sales if you
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    will and of course sales people would
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    show me charts like this
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    one you all know these
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    charts sales are going to go up why well
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    because people all around the world are
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    going to consume more and more and more
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    and more energy and I thought to myself
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    wait a
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    minute if we are selling a fossil
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    resource and we're basically depleting
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    the
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    resource how can we sell more and more
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    and more and
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    more isn't it the case that the church
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    should look like
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    this in fact scientists that I spoke to
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    have proved that we are
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    here we're on the verge of the big
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    turnaround we're going to consume less
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    and less and less and less fossil
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    fuels this particular picture taught me
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    so
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    much for one I found
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    out that what whatever we call
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    alternative energy is not
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    alternative Sun
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    wind water have been energy resources
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    that we've been using for thousands of
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    years oil coal gas are the actual
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    alternative energy
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    resources CU we've only been using them
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    for aund and some years and in a little
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    while they'll be
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    gone now this big turnaround is a very
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    interesting thing and they call a
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    transition and um there are only three
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    reasons why we are going to get back to
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    this situation where we're going to rely
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    on renewable resources
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    first is that we run out of fossil
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    fuels second is that we run out of
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    people who are not there anymore I don't
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    like that
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    option third is we find something
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    better and I like the third option in
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    fact the Stone Age did not end because
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    we ran out of stones
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    right but then what were we going to do
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    because in the meantime three and a half
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    billion people in the
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    world still suffer from what we call
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    Energy
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    poverty and I believe that all humans
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    are
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    equal why not give them access to
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    energy learning about all these numbers
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    made me really sad it made me angry I
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    wanted to do something about it and I
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    didn't know what and I learned this
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    quote by Richard Buckminster Fuller who
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    said you don't change things by fighting
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    the existing realities if you want to
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    change something build a new model that
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    makes the old model
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    obsolete now I wanted to know what is
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    this new
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    model and I figured energy companies
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    make money as they sell
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    energy the more they sell the more they
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    earn but in doing that they only serve
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    one stakeholder being themselves
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    couldn't we find a
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    way to design energy companies in such a
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    way that they serve every stakeholder in
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    a positive
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    way including the environment including
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    Society including human beings such as
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    you and
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    me and I thought of this Energy company
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    that would actually earn more money when
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    it would sell less
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    energy sounds impossible right I like
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    impossible so I started to think about
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    this model and somehow it happened to
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    work
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    out without going into all kinds of
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    details it finances your energy
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    transition and you become completely
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    independent of other people's Fuel and
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    in the meantime your energy bill is
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    going to turn all the way to zero this
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    is very good for
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    us nobody believed it but I decided did
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    I believed enough to quit my job found
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    this
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    company start it up get it going a few
  • 00:10:38
    years
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    later the path to zero as I called it
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    became
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    successful got a lot of attention and
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    this was the view from my
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    office so apparently this very very
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    crazy plan worked and as I was looking
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    over the city of
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    rdam and think of all these thousands of
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    buildings that were engaging on their
  • 00:11:01
    path to energy
  • 00:11:04
    Independence I decided to quit my
  • 00:11:09
    job again it was time for a big
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    reset
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    why what just
  • 00:11:22
    happened I believe that a company is a
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    means to an
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    end it's never an end in itself
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    and um I wanted to serve the end but I
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    needed to find out what the end was the
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    higher
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    purpose now in order to get there I
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    decided to go back to ner
  • 00:11:49
    first for the first time in 26 years I
  • 00:11:52
    was there exactly there where I grew up
  • 00:11:54
    this is my old
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    school and this is my brother and I in
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    front of our
  • 00:12:02
    classroom and this is my brother and I
  • 00:12:04
    in front of our
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    classroom and I went inside the
  • 00:12:11
    classroom and I saw that despite the
  • 00:12:13
    fact that they have no
  • 00:12:16
    electricity they do have Excel vintage
  • 00:12:20
    Excel which is really really
  • 00:12:26
    cool I found my old teacher M toodo
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    great great guy remembered all my grades
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    even the bad
  • 00:12:35
    ones and as you can see was holding a
  • 00:12:38
    mobile phone now in ner most of the
  • 00:12:40
    people in the streets are playing around
  • 00:12:43
    with their mobile
  • 00:12:45
    phones how would you do that in a
  • 00:12:47
    country where 90% of the people have no
  • 00:12:49
    access to
  • 00:12:51
    electricity well wherever you go you
  • 00:12:55
    find shops like these where somebody
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    connects a diesel generator to number of
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    AC Outlets that's where you charge your
  • 00:13:01
    phone smart isn't
  • 00:13:07
    it I went there not
  • 00:13:11
    empty-handed I brought a suitcase filled
  • 00:13:14
    with lights solar powered
  • 00:13:17
    lights and some phone chargers also and
  • 00:13:20
    I wanted to distribute them among
  • 00:13:22
    children and students why children and
  • 00:13:24
    students because I believe that the
  • 00:13:25
    Nobel Prize winner of the future needs
  • 00:13:27
    light now the fact is that these kids go
  • 00:13:31
    to school during the day then they come
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    home they have to help out their parents
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    on the
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    land then the sun
  • 00:13:40
    sets and they can do no
  • 00:13:43
    homework so by giving them light from a
  • 00:13:47
    renewable
  • 00:13:49
    resource you give them the power to
  • 00:13:51
    educate themselves and build a
  • 00:13:55
    future I brought these lights to a
  • 00:13:57
    number of villages such as this one
  • 00:14:01
    Koo and in this particular Village I
  • 00:14:03
    gave away 25 lights but I didn't give
  • 00:14:05
    them away for
  • 00:14:07
    free I wanted them to be worth something
  • 00:14:10
    so I wanted something in exchange not
  • 00:14:12
    money I didn't want to have a payback I
  • 00:14:15
    wanted to have a pay forward I wanted
  • 00:14:18
    these kids to do something that their
  • 00:14:20
    Community would benefit from so for
  • 00:14:23
    every kid that received a light that kid
  • 00:14:26
    would commit to plant a tree and
  • 00:14:29
    maintain
  • 00:14:31
    it so that in turn the positive yield
  • 00:14:34
    would be
  • 00:14:36
    larger that said and done one of the
  • 00:14:38
    villagers thought that wasn't
  • 00:14:41
    enough so that afternoon he came to me
  • 00:14:44
    and he gave me his
  • 00:14:46
    sheep I named her
  • 00:14:49
    Shawn and I decided not to eat
  • 00:14:54
    her Shawn is doing very well in fact cuz
  • 00:14:57
    a few days ago I received a message M
  • 00:14:59
    that Shawn had given birth to
  • 00:15:02
    Timmy I have two sheep
  • 00:15:06
    now which means I've got to go
  • 00:15:11
    back and
  • 00:15:14
    um as I was in theer I saw these stories
  • 00:15:17
    of
  • 00:15:19
    positivity amazing positivity that whole
  • 00:15:22
    big change that we need that whole
  • 00:15:24
    transition is already
  • 00:15:27
    happening I found found out for instance
  • 00:15:29
    that the whole mobile network in N is
  • 00:15:32
    powered by sunlight and as you can see
  • 00:15:36
    sometimes one or two of these panels are
  • 00:15:38
    borrowed for other
  • 00:15:40
    purposes the very first street Lighting
  • 00:15:43
    in the town that I grew up in is powered
  • 00:15:46
    by the
  • 00:15:49
    Sun so yes we found something
  • 00:15:54
    better we are on that third option the
  • 00:15:56
    one that I liked good
  • 00:16:01
    so to end this talk energy I believe is
  • 00:16:05
    a basic
  • 00:16:07
    need nobody can go without therefore it
  • 00:16:11
    should be a basic
  • 00:16:13
    right my
  • 00:16:15
    wish is to see if we can get clean
  • 00:16:20
    energy included in the Universal
  • 00:16:22
    Declaration of Human
  • 00:16:26
    Rights and I know for a fact that every
  • 00:16:29
    company every Energy company but even
  • 00:16:31
    every individual can reshape their
  • 00:16:34
    business model in such a way that it
  • 00:16:37
    positively affects every
  • 00:16:40
    stakeholder not only themselves not only
  • 00:16:43
    themselves and customers but themselves
  • 00:16:45
    as shareholders customers employees
  • 00:16:48
    employees families suppliers society and
  • 00:16:51
    the
  • 00:16:53
    environment and in the end it's not our
  • 00:16:56
    intentions that make the difference it's
  • 00:16:58
    not our ideas that make the difference
  • 00:17:01
    yes our
  • 00:17:02
    actions thanks a
  • 00:17:07
    lot
标签
  • sustainability
  • renewable energy
  • human rights
  • personal development
  • Niger
  • business model
  • solar power
  • transformation
  • innovation
  • community service