Monday 7th November

Fly through this amazing city in 2062. See the amazing climate solutions.

This is the META_TMHOLO_TMGLYUIDE_TM introductory virtual tour of the city and its history. (if you are having trouble with the HOLOglasses_TM, please press the help button on the side and a real person will be along straight away to help you.)

I am your guide, known to most of you as Miss Chan. I have lived and worked in the city since it was first built, 40 years ago. I will show just a few of the many highlights of the city and also explain a few housekeeping tips which will make your trip much more enjoyable.

We are now hovering above the north dyke, facing the Malacca Strait. The water is 2 metres higher than it was when the project began in 2025 and I started my first job as a junior engineer on the Bazalgette pumping station.

If we turn and face south, we can see the new city of Fairhaven laid out beneath our feet, a beautiful poly-cultural mixture of 18 districts from all around the world, the Arab Quarter, Little India, NewNew Orleans, New Venice, China Town, Russland, NewNew York, Heart of Africa, New Amsterdam and more that you will explore. It is home to 10 million people.

Let’s swoop down into NewNew Orleans, through the French Quarter. You can see the beautiful wide boulevards filled with trees, pedestrians and bikes. There is a San Francisco style trolley car and numerous stops on the LRT which will whisk you anywhere in town. This popular ‘Bourbon Street’ stop has dozens of cafes, 4m below sea level, links to the river bus which travels the canals to many other parts of town. These re-created quarters are a bittersweet reminder of the many beautiful places that have already been lost to sea level rise.

We’ll have a seat in this Mamak stall for a moment – there are loads around the city. I am, of course, biased, but Malaysia makes some of the best food in the world: Nonya, Malay, Indian, Chinese and every blend in between. Be bold, you’ll find something you love.

Housekeeping point 1. Water.

You will see that water is provided in jugs. The tap water is totally safe to drink all around the city and the region, so there is no bottled water. There are also no single use plastics – all containers are melamine or Tupperware which are returned to the ‘ReUse’ slot at the municipal garbage collection points. You can pick up or refill a water bottle at any food outlet for free – it is pretty hot here, so please make sure you stay hydrated.

In your hotels, B&Bs, hotels and homestays, you are welcome to take long showers, and even baths – a rare treat for many visitors. Unlike most cities in the world, Penang Fairhaven has no water restrictions because of the large reservoirs and the drain separation. Rainwater joins the canals and onto the reservoirs, sewage is collected in a dedicated high solids system and ‘grey’ water from showers, washing machines and domestic use is collected separately. This grey water is treated and then pumped inland to provide irrigation for the crucial rice fields north and south. We are constantly diverting fresh reservoir water into this system, so you may as well enjoy the thrill of an unrestricted shower first!.    

Let’s continue. Gaining height, we now head along the great North Dyke which prevents flooding of the low-lying lands of Kedah & northwards, protecting the crucial rice fields – all the more important after the flooding of so much of Vietnam, Bangladesh and parts of China. The new biochar-based farming techniques have boosted yields three-fold.

You can see the fleets of Snow Geese Zeppelins which are recharging from the reservoir floating solar arrays. This is their first stop of 12 on their long journey from the famous Equatorial Zeppelin yards around Singapore to Siberia and the Arctic.

The Snow Geese Zeppelins spend the endless summer days putting out peat fires and the frozen darkness of winter helping to refreeze the Arctic ice. Thousands of these nearly autonomous craft are working on the top of the world and hundreds of new zeppelins join them every year, expanding the fleet and replacing the losses. They form one of the biggest climate and albedo restoration projects attempted so far.

Further inland you can see the Regional Fast Rail Network that many of you travelled on. Most of it travels on land that is at least 20m above sea level and is secure for generations to come.

Beyond that, you can see some of the palm oil plantations. These have also become major carbon sinks after switching practices and putting millions of tonnes of biochar into their soil. An impressive transformation.

Let’s fly out over the Malacca Straits. Below us are many ships, travelling more slowly that they did in previous decades. Interestingly, there are still many oil and LNG tankers and they are all running on heavy fuel oil. The fossil fuel industry is smaller, but is still important. You will be pleased to learn that despite this, the ships are carbon negative, as they are used as satellite-guided ocean-nutrification platforms – fertilising carefully monitored sectors of the ocean to maximise primary productivity, managing algal blooms and delivering an additional beneficial role with an existing resource. You will see that some are also towing a high zeppelin as a water spray platform from which to make reflective clouds – one of our many ongoing climate solution trials.

Heading back to Penang, you will see the fast Wigetworks https://www.wigetworks.com/copy-of-take-off-1 ferries which connect the coastal towns of Malaysia, Sumatra and across the region. They are a lot of fun – the closest most people will ever get to flying in a real plane these days. They are all electrically powered, fast, and remarkably safe.

We are now crossing the first OceanOrchardssite in the world. It was my third real job, installing the seabed structures from the supply boats and then working with the fishing communities that learned to work with the OceanOrchards and then care for them. This a great day out, either in the nearly-a-submarine or actually diving amongst the submerged structures of the OceanOrchards themselves. You will be amazed at the abundance of fish, corals and other sea life. The more practical amongst you will be impressed by the carefully controlled fishing techniques that allow ongoing substantial fish catches while ensuring fish populations which are 20 times that seen in open waters.

There are now thousands of these sites around the world and as well as producing a large proportion of the fish consumed, they are truly sustainable and are massive carbon sinks.

Just in land from the OceanOrchardsand seagrass meadows, you will see the inundated west coast of Penang. Although controversial it was decided that the land protected by the necessary seawall was too small to justify the construction. Instead, the area has been turned over to mangroves. The northern section is fully natural, and a carefully preserved gene pool of truly wild mangroves. The southern section is the new mono-clonal TurboMangroves which grow 5 times faster and are coppiced for biochar. The wildlife living there seems indifferent to this, and is thriving. We are running a trial to see if these new mangroves can form the central reinforcement for new dykes that could be literally grown in place and then backfilled – watch this space.

Housekeeping point 2. Freedom To and Freedom From

Fairhaven is still very much a Malaysian city, but with 18 distinctly different districts, Fairhaven is also one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. This diversity is the reason many of you have come here. However, this massive diversity does bring some complications. We want everyone to be free to do more or less whatever they want and to be free from criticism or restriction Following the simple principle of: Freedom To and Freedom From.

This means that while you can do pretty much whatever you like within the guidance of the law, you can’t do it everywhere at all times. This separation in time and space (A classic Triz solution) allows us to all live alongside one another with joy rather than friction.

For example, in the North America district, there are numerous distinct neighbourhoods. The NewNewOrleans area is very free and easy and particularly popular amongst visitors. The Amish Community is also fascinating and well worth a visit, just not in the same attire or the same mindset. We residents have come to terms with this, but we realise it is a challenge for visitors.

Naturally, there is an app for that, which is downloading on your phones and AI assistants. If you have a Bluetooth tooth, it will automatically update so you can get hints and tips by sound bone-conduction directly into your head. The system guides you through what you can and can’t wear, do, or say in the various districts.

While this may seem restrictive, it is also powerfully liberating. The short shorts and spray on attire popular with tourists this season are welcome in some areas, but deeply offensive in others – which may only be one street away. This allows visitors to avoid making embarrassing faux pa’s and allows people to live in their own areas without too many glaring clashes.

Moving on: We are now at the southern dyke and hovering over the old international airport with its 4 massive runways. They are still in occasional use, but the area is now the largest aircraft museum in the world. I know the old-tech geeks amongst you will love this place (I know because I am one too). Looking north, you can see the two large freshwater reservoirs which still give Penang an island feel – there are loads of lovely lakeside resorts you can enjoy, without the inconvenience of the jellyfish protective suit that is needed to swim in the sea.

Ocean State Plaza.

We now head into the city and to Ocean State Plaza. I know this will be a highlight for many of you, especially those who consider themselves foremost citizens of The Ocean after it handled their climate refugee relocation and treated them respectfully throughout. The 19^th anniversary of the formation of ‘The Ocean as an Independent State’ is next week, and you will be able to join the celebrations. All are welcome – we are all citizens, after all.

It still amuses me that ‘The Ocean’ became an independent state as a result of a short story published in a climate almanac that was written ahead of COP27, as KSR’s Ministry of the Future had been in COP26. It was picked up and cherished by some delegates and then became a memorable episode in the Netflix ‘Climate Mirror’ series which looked at both positive and apocalyptic visions of the near climate future. This was followed by the largest global social media movement seen and a huge popular push to get the land governments of the world to accept the proposal. The revenue that The Ocean receives for present and past services rendered has provided the funds for enormous ocean and coastal restoration projects.

I was one of the first members of The Ocean team, before independence was agreed, and it is the proudest part of my life. Fairhaven is one of 5 Ocean capitals around the world, and I know that many of you hope to visit them all in time. The Ocean as an Independent State is an astonishing collective achievement, and allowed so many ocean, climate, and refugee-related shared calamities to be addressed from a bigger perspective.

The Ocean coordinates the Ocean Orchardsand the other Ocean CDR work as well as handling 150 million climate refuges so far. A number which is rising every year. The largest carbon drawdown has been through The Ocean, as reforestation and CCS has struggled. The Ocean is also coordinating the refreezing work in the Arctic – we hope to achieve the maximum summer ice extent in 10,000 years very soon. Another team is coordinating the even bolder plan to stabilise the ice sheets in Antarctica – following a plan very similar to the one outlined in Kim Stanley Robinson’s classic book, The Ministry for the Future.

I will leave you here and let you explore the city virtually and in person at your leisure. All the things we have seen today and many more have links and their own META_TMHOLO_TMGLYUIDE_TM tours. I am the guide on dozens of them, so will see you again soon!  

THE OCEAN – AN INDEPENDENT STATE  In 2031 The Ocean declared independence from The Land and was accepted into the UNThe Ocean sought independence in order to resolve its own problems. It recognised that the neighbouring countries could never truly put the interests of The Ocean on a par with their own.At independence, the Ocean started to charge for services that have traditionally been provided/taken for free. Levies of 1% on fishing revenues. 1.0% on shipping. $1 per tonne for CO2 sequestration. $10 per tonne for effluent. $100 per tonne for plastics. Managed carefully to avoid advantage being taken of these low charges. The services provided by The Ocean are valued at trillions of dollars were being taken for free. The Ocean makes extensive use of global fishing watch tracker and satellites and uses this revenue to fund MPAs and other critical restoration activities. The Ocean assumes full authority of the open Ocean. 50/50 of EEZs. 25% of coastal waters. People of all nations can become citizens of The Ocean. The bill for each land-country is calculated and posted regardless of whether they are paying or not. Four numbers, from the date of the first UN conference on the Oceans, total from the start of the industrial revolution, annual total and per capita. This highly controversial approach raises the profile of the issues The Ocean faces and help focus the discussion on how much the actual amounts are, rather than whether or not it is reasonable to charge for the services.

Appendix 1 – The Ocean 

This was another idea picked off the cutting room floor. It began many years ago with a light-hearted conversation over lunch with the head of sustainability for a major US bank. He pointed out that America only became great after it declared Independence from the colonial power. By extension, The Ocean can only resolve its problems and become sustainable by declaring independence from the surrounding countries which currently use/take its resources for free.

I was amazed at how quickly this turned from an idea in a fictional TV show about the near future to a whirlwind ‘Our Ocean’ social media campaign and then into a reality. The story originated from a Cli-Fi – climate fiction – competition at COP27 and was one of three that went on to become Netflix programmes, a climate version of Black Mirror. I love the map, which is the flag you all now know.

Penang is one of 5 Ocean Capitals, along with four other cities in Madagascar, Iceland, Panama and Hawaii.

Charging for the services that were previously used/taken for free gave The Ocean the revenue that had never been available before to sort out its own problems and those of the coastal countries. A bright light in a bleak time. There was a lot of resistance initially, but the massive public support through social media for such an out of the box idea quickly won over a small, pivotal group of countries that was just big enough to get the idea off the ground. Switzerland, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan were keen founder members.

Many people identified with The Ocean as the ultimate underdog, the largest occupied, unrepresented territory in the world. Journalists were particularly supportive – in a time where fake news continued to be a problem, it was thrilling that a fictional story could go on to have such influence.

Appendix 2 Penang Fairhaven

Before the Fairhaven project was conceived, Penang already suffered from flooding.

In 2025, the decision was made to build early, assertive protection for Penang & the surrounding areas. Otherwise, this low-lying area would be inundated and reduced to low lying salt marshes. If nothing was done, a large proportion of the state would be lost. An unattractive situation. How was this grim fate be avoided? How had others dealt with this in the past?

Over the last few hundred years, the Dutch have built a huge network of dykes and Polders to recover land from below sea level. They pumped water out with windmills before the days of electricity.  This was a well-established technology.

Penang Bay was an ideal location for a similar project. Two large dykes were built across the north and south of Penang Bay, enclosing an area of 250km2 – an area nearly as large as the island itself, and adding another 25% to the area of the original Penang state. Penang’s geography is uniquely suited for this approach, with a large area of very shallow mudflats enclosed on both sides by dry land.

This new polder area was pumped out to create a large area of land for development with two large fresh-water lakes. 18 new development areas were created, joined by a network of broad canals for transport, drainage and recreation. The lakes became the new waterfront of the island, with resorts, hotels and recreational facilities in clean fresh water, Penang has an island feel. Penang is well connected to the regional rail network as growing ‘flight shame’ increases demand for low carbon travel options.

The Penang Fairhaven land provided a clean sheet on which to build a super new sustainable city for a rapidly changing world – an architect’s and town planner’s dream – and an opportunity to address all 17 SDGs at a massive scale. This new city was laid out with cycle ways, pedestrian zones, solar panel covered walkways based on lessons learned in other countries. Each self-contained district is designed to have distinct feel, like little India & the Arab quarter, but on a global theme – travel the world without ever leaving Penang. The impending catastrophe of sea level rise was boldly embraced and used to build a new Penang, a new Pearl of the Orient.

Appendix 3 Penang Fairhaven Maps

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In New South Wales, underneath Burning Mountain, an eternal flame smoulders. For six thousand years it has been alight, one hundred feet below the sandstone ground. The flame symbolises no religion nor commemorates anything of any cultural significance. All day and all night, it burns. If we do not do something about it, it will outlive us all.

In Arlene’s Bar, the mood had been glum even before Mick and Clive shambled in and brought it down a notch or two further.

‘You better not be thinking of driving that pickup home,’ said Arlene as the boys ordered their third beers, the first two having been dealt with in no more than a few swift gulps. Arlene was a welcoming hostess and a loyal confidante, but she could adopt the tone of a fearsome headmistress at will. A sign above the kitchen door read, ‘Complaints must be submitted in triplicate, countersigned by the last two Popes and their wives…’

‘Nah,’ said Mick. ‘The old lady said, “Go get Clive, and don’t come back ‘til you’ve had a skinful. Me and the dog’ll pick you up in the ute come closing time.”’

‘Your old ute? Is that thing still on the road?’

‘Just about. I’m not sure it should be, but we’re in the middle of nowhere, what can you do?

‘And your Mother’s had her cataract op?’

‘Nah,’ said Mick. ‘I reckon the dog does most of the seeing for the two of them. It growls if she gets too close to the edge and barks if there’s a ‘roo in the road. But they get about just fine.’’

The blood abandoned Clive’s face at the thought of a hair-raising lift home. However, the more he considered it, the more it seemed like a risk worth taking.

‘Well after this week,’ he said mournfully, ‘I’m past caring anyway.’

‘You drilled your last gas gathering well?’ said Mick.

‘Yup.’

‘Not paid off the loan on the rig?’

‘Not even close.’

‘No better here, either. Our well services company ships out next week.’

‘Back on the scrap heap again?’

‘Looks like it.’

The sonorous clunk of the Swiss cow bell above the door shook them from their doleful rumination.

‘Thank God for that,’ said Arlene. ‘What a misery fest! Let’s hope it’s somebody with good news to share.’

But the newcomer was not somebody with good news to share. It was Donna, Arlene’s niece, whose usually cheerful countenance had been replaced with a face like thunder. She had just returned from Sydney, where an interview for a carbon credit company had ended in sheer frustration.

‘Seems they had a preferred candidate all along,’ she grumbled, her fingers stretched around the body of a cocktail glass, inside which was her tipple of choice, a red-and-blue Firecracker. ‘So why even bother asking me to interview?’

‘Tell me about these carbon credits,’ said Mick. ‘I’ve always been curious about them. What are the biggest opportunities?’

‘Long term, high-permanence carbon credits,’ said Donna. ‘There’s a terrible shortage and they trade for ridiculous prices.’

‘What counts as a good carbon credit?’

‘Biochar. Mineralisation. Not much else. They both store carbon in the ground for hundreds of years – and improve the soil at the same time, pretty cool.’

Clive raised his head from its position side-down on the bar.

‘So, Donna, here’s a thought. Could we get carbon credits if we were able to shut down a long-term source of CO2?’ Mick asked.

‘Maybe. Things like that depend on protocols being in place. But there are loads of new ones being written all the time.’

‘So could we put out coal seam fires? Like the one that’s been burning for thousands of years down the road at Wingen there, at Burning Mountain?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe, I guess.’

‘So,’ said Mick, ‘spinning off the top of my head…how’s this for a plan? We’re going drilling. Drilling for carbon credits.’

‘What the hell are you talking about?” asked Clive. ‘Maybe it’s time to call your old mother to pick us up. You’ve drunk too much already.’

‘Hear me out,’ said Mick, warming to his theme. ‘We drill, right? We’re born to drill. So we’re going to do some drilling that helps stop unnecessary emissions and helps slow down the climate crisis. It’s a crazy job and it seems no one is doing it. But we can.’

Mick moved over to the games area, grabbed some chalk, wiped the darts scoreboard clean and began to doodle illustrations of the plan he was forming. ‘We can get hold of some of the unused fracking rigs and go to these sites with thousands of tonnes of water. I reckon if the Macondo well can be blocked – the one on that Deepwater Horizon incident – we can put out coal seam fires. They’re much shallower.’

A small crowd began to form, alerted by the fervour of Mick’s performance. Spurred on by his audience, he hoisted a leg and pulled himself up on to the pool table.

‘It’s a perfect job for us.’ He raised a pool cue triumphantly aloft. ‘It’s a directional driller’s dream!’

‘Hey!’ yelled Arlene. ‘Get the hell down off the table or you’ll pay for a new one.’

‘Sorry,’ said Mick, climbing down. ‘Got a little carried away there.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ said Clive. ‘It all sounds very lovely and everything, but no one’s been putting out these fires for ever. Why now?’

‘Because world-wide they release 400 million tonnes of CO2 every year. For no good reason. There’s no gain, no economic benefit. They just burn because it’s not worth anyone’s while to put them out. So we’ll drill these wells from the side into the bottom of the seams, store up a load of water – truck it in if necessary – and then big fracking pumps will push in masses of water to flood the bottom of the seam. They’ll make a load of steam which will gradually cool down the coal, push out the air and help it go out. For the tough wells, we’ll add a load of liquid nitrogen or CO2 if necessary.’

Clive remained sceptical. ‘And who’s gonna pay for all this?’

‘Right… We get one of these smart climate consultancy crews to write us a set of fancy carbon credit protocols. Is that feasible, Donna?’

‘Sure. The really good credits earn $100 per tonne or more, but even a cheap one might be $5 or $10. There’s a global shortage of decent long term permanent carbon credits. So many companies have committed to net zero with no idea of how it’s going to be achieved.’

‘For our purposes,’ continued Mick, ‘some of the larger sites are doing hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year for decades. Pointless, massive, endless fires releasing CO2 and methane releases for absolutely no positive purposes – crazy.
At $10 per tonne for ten years of avoided emissions, each site might be worth tens of millions of bucks. That’s more than we earn on a conventional fracking job. We get paid for putting out coal seam fires and preventing unnecessary emissions. Avoided emissions like that are surely almost as good as sequestering CO2 captured from the air? We’ll start with the smaller jobs to learn the necessary skills and extend to progressively larger jobs. We’ll use satellites to find the sites and assess the emissions and small local seismic to assess the ground.’

He could tell that Clive was coming round to the idea, his friend’s face beginning to contort itself into a vision of intrigue and contemplation.

‘We can do this,’ said Clive, banging his fist onto the bar for emphasis. ‘We can get all the down hole temperature tools and other fancy oil field gear. And here’s an interesting trick we can try – we can dissolve CO2 in the water at high pressure. Although it flashes in the seam, the inert CO2 will really help snuff out the fire. We can totally do this!’

Bruce grabbed a beer mat and asked Arlene for a pen.

‘Here’s a thought. When I was younger, I was part of a start-up company. We followed a book called ‘The Beermat Entrepreneur.’

So what’s say we do the same thing this time. We’ve got the four core founders: Arlene, bar owner – you can be our CFO. Me – sales and commercial. Clive – drilling and technical. Donna – carbon credits.’

He scribbled his thoughts down onto the beer mat and laid in on the bar for the other three key players to see.

‘We can give ourselves six months to find a backer to fund the operation,’ said Clive. ‘It doesn’t have to happen overnight.’

‘As you know, I don’t give credit,’ said Arlene, ‘but as we’re now partners, I’ll let you run a food tab at the bar.’

‘We can aim to work eight hours a day,’ said Clive, ‘whenever suits, but with some core hours when we’re together to encourage us to actually do some work rather than mess about all day.’

‘Great idea! You boys can come here to the bar, 10 til 12, have lunch here. Only from the healthier option menu, though – you could both stand to lose a few pounds. You can have the big table in the window facing the road. No one usually sits there in the day anyway.’

“So now we’ve got an office, lunch and working hours, almost like a regular job.’

‘Just need a school bus,’ said Clive.

‘No worries,’ said Mick. ‘There’s a pile of old bikes in our barn we can use. We don’t even have to buy gas.’

More drinks were poured as they began to thrash out the details. Arlene slid newly refilled glasses across the bar in quick succession, Firecrackers for Donna, beers for Mick and Clive.

‘When I was in college,’ said Donna, ‘we ran a team through Climate Launchpad. They had a great boot camp programme which took us through all the basic stages and questions for starting a company and bringing on a climate solution. This ticks a lot of the boxes.’

‘Is it still going?’ asked Clive. ‘And isn’t it just for students?’

‘Not at all,’ said Donna. ‘There were some ancient teams on the programme.’ She looked at Mick and Clive and hurriedly added, ‘No offence. And yes – not only is it still going, but submissions for the next round close in six weeks!’

‘So I guess the key question is how big will the climate impact be?’ wondered Donna. ‘In the cold light of day, most of the solutions submitted to these things are next to pointless. Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, but it’s true.’

‘We could reach the gigatonne scale,’ said Clive, his excitement increasing by the second. ‘I’m convinced of it. If there really is 400 million tonnes of CO2 released from coal seam fires, we could aim to do a steadily growing percentage of that amount. It might not be easy to hit a gigatonne a year, but I can certainly imagine a cumulative gigatonne, no problem at all.’

‘So what do we need to cover in our application, Donna?” asked Mick.

‘Beachheads, customer discovery, ‘The Deal’, what’s the process, financials, potential size of the market, job and social impact, technology potential and the quality of the pitch.’

‘Not much then!’ said Arlene. ‘Maybe I should pour some more drinks.’

‘We can do it,’ said Clive. ‘I know we can do it. The beachhead would be coal seam fires here in Oz, then fires in Indonesia which isn’t so far, and then the rest of the world using partner teams.’

‘The Deal is always a tricky one,’ said Donna. ‘But for this it might be ‘stopping pointless CO2 emissions for high quality carbon credits.’

‘So all we need is a name,’ said Mick.

Donna’s eureka moment came as she took a sip of her Firecracker. She cried out ‘Fire Frackers!’

And that was where it all began.

A few more rounds were drunk in celebration. Nobody could remember a time when Arlene’s Bar had been so lively and buoyant. Arlene astonished everyone by announcing that drinks were on the house. Eventually, though, even Mick and Clive reached their limit.

‘Look at the time,’ said Mick. ‘Shall I call my old mother to pick us up?’

‘You know,’ said Clive, ‘I was completely downhearted when I came in, and now I feel on top of the world. I just can’t wait until tomorrow so we can get started.’

He downed the last of his remaining drink.

‘So I think, all things considered, it might be better if we ordered a taxi.’

If we can extinguish an eternal flame, we can achieve anything.

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