3 Questions from the Alternative Lifestyle Radio Show (8/6/2018)

Today was an especially early start thanks to **@pennsif** for inviting me to his speak at **[The Alternative Lifestyle Show](https://steemit.com/mspwaves/@pennsif/the-alternative-lifestyle-show-starting-in-1-hour-with-a-live-update-from-nicaragua-from-cecicastor-and-chrisabdey-also-alexa)** on **[MSP Waves Radio](http://mspwaves.com/)**. This is the second radio show within a week I have been invited to talk about **[EMPOWER](https://steemit.com/teammalaysia/@buzz.lightyear/introducing-empower)** - the blockchain that aims **to make renewable energy our main source of electricity**. I am truly honored and grateful for all the attention, ethusiasm and interest the Steemit community has shown to support this project. This is my first time going onto a UK-based radio show, so I was initially worried whether my 'Malaysian' English would be understood over there. But I think it turned out alright. About 20 people were listening in and they asked many questions during the session. Here are some of them: ### 1. How do you plan to get more people to want renewable energy? --- There are 3 steps. First, you need to **give people the option** to choose renewable energy. Demand can only grow by putting a new choice onto the table. Only then can people decide whether they want it or not. It is exciting because **this has never been done before.**  Secondly, you need to **make it easy** for people to make that choice... at a click of a button. Imagine receiving your electricity bill for the month. This time, however, you have the **option** to buy your electricity in the form of these tokens - which are units of electricity that have been verified on the blockchain to be from a renewable source. Lastly and **most importantly**, **we reward them** for making that choice using cryptocurrency rewards. You will gain cryptocurrency rewards for every unit of electricity you buy. The premise of **EMPOWER** is very simple. If you are producing electricity from renewable resources, you should be rewarded. If you are consuming electricity from renewable resources, you should ALSO be rewarded.
### 2. Can EMPOWER be used globally or only in Malaysia? --- I am from Malaysia and I am familiar with the energy markets here. So, it makes sense for me to run my trials, tests and proof of concepts in Malaysia first. **However, I am building EMPOWER with the world in mind.** > *Technically speaking, it should work on other planets as well... but let's solve one planet at a time.* The vision is to **make renewable energy our main source of electricity**. Hence, once the platform is ready, it must be usable anywhere in the world.
### 3. Would political groups interfere with your plans? - @pennsif --- With no sarcasm intended whatsoever... it would definitely be easier if I owned a country. Unfortunately, I don't own a country. So... most certainly yes. What is needed basically is for the regulators to grant us the opportunity to run a live trial and demonstrate that this is **workable in our daily lives**. We don't actually need to install new solar panels to run this trial. There are already **10,000** homes in Malaysia with solar on their rooftops and feeding into the grid. We just need to tokenize the electricity and linked them to consumers who **consciously** want them and reward them **BOTH**. Malaysia recently had a change in government. The general mood in the country is quite jovial and hopeful now. Part of the new government's **[manifesto](http://pakatanharapan.com.my/diymanifesto)** is to drive renewable energy adoption too. I can only hope and try.
### Final Thoughts --- It has been a real pleasure to be on your show @pennsif. I also want to thank @makinstuff for pointing out the fact that there **must** be mechanisms set in place to address and remove bad actors on the platform. This is an engineering feat which will be the first of its kind ever attempted. Thus, what is needed immediately right now is to pull together some seed funding, assemble a team and develop a proof-of-concept so that it be presented to the regulators to seek for a grant and trial. Thank you very much everyone. It has been an amazing week given that **EMPOWER** is only one week old*!*
Buzz
--- *Hi, my name is Jason aka [@buzz.lightyear](https://steemit.com/@buzz.lightyear). I envision a future where **renewable energy is our main source of electricity** in this lifetime; reducing the largest contributor of carbon emissions by 90% and bringing our global temperatures back to its natural balance.* *I believe that this is no easy task but it is **achievable** with your support.* *I am developing an open blockchain that **incentivises both producers and consumers of renewable energy** and am looking to collaborate with brilliant minds who share this vision so that we can create a future where **it just makes sense to go 100%** renewable, visit your local store, buy some latest tech and generate energy for your own use and for others.*