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No matter what new energy proposal someone makes, it’s bound to attract an outcry of NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard). (My recent post about the U.S. generating all the energy it needed via a 100-mile-by-100-mile solar installation in the Mojave Desert, for example, evoked some protest.)
So I thought it might help to pose the future-of-our-energy question in another way: What do I WIMBY? (As in, Want In My Backyard?)
OK, here we go: Following are photos illustrating several clean and/or renewable energy options that could help us curb greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Which ones would you be willing to view from your backyard as a tradeoff for a cleaner, brighter future? Be honest now: I’m asking literally if you would say OK if one of these was what you saw when looking out of the window of your home.
The iconoclastic owner of the San Jose tract home featured in this article takes exception to the notion that green is expensive. Green, to him, is rooted in conservation of all resources, not the least of them being money.
Frank Schiavo’s compact, tract-built, three-bedroom ranch-style home in a modest San Jose neighborhood demonstrates that remodeling to create a cutting-edge green home is neither difficult nor expensive. Heated with sunlight and cooled by night air, his home is comfortable, quiet and tasteful, filled with light and local art. With only modest investments in a sun room, extra insulation, new windows, a very small array of rooftop photovoltaic and solar hot water panels, his electricity bill for the coldest, cloudiest months of the year averages a few dollars a month. His gas bill is even more modest.
What’s most impressive about Schiavo’s house isn’t that it’s so comfortable and practical for him to own, it’s that it demonstrates that lofty resource conservation goals can be achieved on a modest remodeling budget.
Off the Grid Homes combines beautiful images with technical information for sustainable homes.
The book by architect Lori Ryker is less of a manual for systems to be used in off the grid homes (though it does include good information about the systems and strategies that are used in sustainable off the grid living) and more of a showcase of state of the art homes at the intersection of appealing architecture and high sustainability.
For many, the phrase “off the grid home” brings associations of a rudimentary, hand-built, rustic cabin. It usually suggests a rough hewn character and images of anything other than refinement and elegance. But that image is far from the case in examples presented in this book.
If the U.S. moved aggressively to start harnessing the solar power it receives daily, it could generate enough clean energy to meet the country’s needs many times over, according to a new report from Environment Florida.
The report, “On the Rise; Solar Thermal Power and the Fight Against Global Warming,” touts the multiple benefits of solar thermal power that the U.S. has barely begun to tap. One, it’s a clean source of energy that could replace other power sources that generate greenhouse gases and worsen climate change. Two, by storing thermal energy, it can generate electricity even when the sun isn’t shining. And ,three, it’s wildly abundant in the U.S., offering way more clean energy than we currently use on a daily basis.
By Mark Seall •
April 24, 2008
Britain is not known for good weather. In fact, to be honest, the weather is lousy, and at certain times of the year only the most foolish Englishman ventures out without an umbrella.
For this reason, solar power has long been discounted in favour of wind on this blustery island where one’s neighbours are likely to raise a few eyebrows should one be so eccentric as to cover the roof in solar panels.
This was certainly on the mind of Ashley Seager when he laid out the princely sum of £8,500 ($16,900) in 2007 for the installation of a 3 kilowatt solar power generation system for his South London home. However, one year later and despite a year of weather that has been poor even by British standards, Ashley’s investment is beginning to pay dividends having generated 92% of the Seager household’s annual electricity requirement.
Orlando, Florida, recently became one of 12 cities across the U.S. chosen as a federal Department of Energy (DOE) “Solar America City.”
Each of the dozen cities will receive $200,000 to advance the use of solar technologies in their communities. All the cities were selected for “their commitment and comprehensive approach to the deployment of solar technologies and the development of sustainable solar infrastructures,” according to the DOE.
In January, Scientific American writers unleashed an ambitious plan to halt global warming, eliminate our dependence on petroleum and the substantial trade deficit, boost the economy and create 3 million jobs, and brighten the dismal forecasts for the mid twenty-first century.
The plan is conceptually simple but would be substantial to implement:
- Construct a 30,000 square mile array of solar panels in the Southwest,
- along with concentrated solar power arrays and,
- a massive direct-current power transmission backbone to distribute electricity throughout the country.
- Excess power produced by the photovoltaic arrays would be distributed and stored as compressed air in below-ground caverns.
Development of such a system could provide almost three-quarters of the nation’s electricity by 2050.
In Argentina, there are a lot of rural schools without electricity. Now, the provincial minister of education, from Corrientes, has invested 2 million dollars in a program to bring solar power to those schools. This program is part of a national attempt to eradicate the absence of electricity in the remote areas of Argentina.
During the next months, engineers will install the solar cells provided by a Spanish firm in each school. In time, the school’s directors will have to take responsibility for the solar system.
Saudi Arabia makes more than 10 million barrels of oil a day, but it may be turning an eye on a cleaner, brighter prospect: solar power.
Oil minister Ali al-Nuaimi told French media that the oil-rich nation is researching how it can become a center for solar energy research and eventually become a “major megawatt” exporter in the next 30-50 years. He also said that Saudi Arabia is ready to invest in carbon […]
By Maria Surma Manka •
February 27, 2008
Every time I turn around, it seems like a new state or new nation is building the world’s largest solar power plant! So here’s the latest one: Australia will break ground next year on a 154-megawatt solar plant in Victoria. That’s nearly twice the size of the largest solar plant in the U.S.
Once it’s up and running in 2013, the it could generate enough power for about 45,000 homes. It’s a very small percentage […]
By Maria Surma Manka •
February 25, 2008
Renewable energy generates clean power, and the fuel is often free: There’s no cost to make the wind blow or the sun shine. But just as many people advocate for considering the full cost of fossil fuels in the price of electricity (the cost of the pollution, mining, etc), so too must the full cost and impact of renewable energy be accounted for.
A new life-cycle assessment study from the Brookhaven National […]
