{"id":4128,"date":"2009-02-04T09:17:20","date_gmt":"2009-02-04T15:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=4128"},"modified":"2009-02-04T09:17:20","modified_gmt":"2009-02-04T15:17:20","slug":"try-some-fresh-clean-and-green-electrons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/try-some-fresh-clean-and-green-electrons\/","title":{"rendered":"Try Some Fresh, Clean and Green Electrons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fresh<\/a>With current political emphasis on kicking fossil fuel habits and modernizing the electrical grid, many are dreaming of Thomas Friedman\u2019s Utopian world of clean, reliable and cheap electrons.<\/h3>\n

First, if you haven\u2019t read Friedman\u2019s latest book<\/a> yet, start today. Second, if you\u2019d like to see how some are preparing for this brave new world, read on.<\/h3>\n

While our electrical power still comes mainly from burning dirty fossil fuels and our electrical transmission grid lies in dire need of modernization, the future of electrical power is a bright spot in our otherwise gloomy energy paradigm.<\/p>\n

For while fossil fuels will always be a dirty power source to some extent, there are viable, cleaner ways to generate and deliver electrons.<\/p>\n

Locally and renewable-generated power is\u00a0a promising solution to the inefficiency and\u00a0pollution of our current system. Individuals interested in sustainability know those bananas flown in from Costa Rica may be a delicious and great source of potassium, but recognize also all the wasted energy spent to transport them.<\/p>\n

The same theory holds for the delivery of our energy. Convenient though it may seem to site a coal power plant in someone else\u2019s backyard far, far away, much of that energy is lost when electricity is forced to travel such distances.<\/p>\n

\"660Think of it like a neighborhood farm<\/a>. The produce grown there isn\u2019t shipped halfway around the world to arrive at your plate, is therefore fresher, and can potentially be sold much cheaper. The merits<\/a> of this will become more apparent as the price of fuel inevitably skyrockets once again. Let\u2019s not forget that local workers are also employed at that community farm to tend and deliver its crops.<\/p>\n

Now imagine a wind farm instead of a vegetable farm, one where clean (might we say organic?) electrons are harvested instead of asparagus. Those electrons are readily available for consumption close to where they’re cultivated, and therefore little energy has \u201cspoiled,\u201d been lost on its way to homes and businesses.<\/p>\n

Shirking responsibility for the power we all use is a luxury\u00a0that’s waning. While opponents of clean renewable power are becoming fewer and ever more distant between, that populism can vanish when wind turbines are proposed within view.<\/p>\n

Here in Massachusetts, the Cape Wind<\/a> project recently received a favorable environmental report<\/a>, and is moving forward. Yet progress of the proposed 130 turbine wind farm has been slowed for years by powerful opposition groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The steady trickle of positive reports Cape Wind has received over the years lends credence to the charge that opposition groups are driven primarily by the NIMBY philosophy \u2013 Not In My Back Yard.<\/p>\n

NIMBY\u2019s bigger brother BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing, Anywhere Near Anyone) is even more adamant and exclusive, seeking to forever banish power generation to the unseen and unconsidered realm of Somewhere Else<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A bit north of the Cape, however, a welcome mat has been thrown out for locally generated renewable power.<\/p>\n

Citizens in communities like Hull have said loud and clear \u2013 Yes, we have no bananas!<\/p>\n

Taking the lead and pride in doing for themselves, Hull and likeminded towns and cities have brought clean power literally into their backyards.\u00a0 Ironic and fitting that those communities and individuals who make such so-called sacrifices, who do the hard work now,\u00a0will very likely\u00a0reap the fruits of their labor in the very near future.<\/p>\n

Hull is a little peninsula of a town on Massachusetts\u2019 south shore and driving over its connection to the mainland takes one past the town\u2019s larger wind turbine, visible from Nantasket Beach. Made by Vestas<\/a>, the 1.8 megawatt turbine stands at about 250 feet above ground at its nacelle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Old has given way to new, the roller coaster and bumper cars ridden during summers of yesteryear exist now only in memory and photographs. That amusement park has been replaced with high-rise dwellings which of course consume considerable energy.<\/p>\n

A few miles further north leads to Hull\u2019s tip, the spot the community chose for its first and smaller wind turbine site. It\u2019s over 160 feet tall and rated at 660 kilowatts. The turbine\u2019s tower, interesting to note, is literally with a stone\u2019s throw of Hull\u2019s high school. Standing directly below its three spinning blades, a soft and intermittent swoosh is all that filters down below.<\/p>\n

Hull resident Helen Waldorf owns a home near the peninsula\u2019s northern tip, sandwiched between the turbines at peninsula\u2019s ends. An advocate of the present and planned wind turbines in Hull, Waldorf has refitted her home to make use of the existing and anticipated renewable energy from wind.<\/p>\n

\"HullYet Waldorf is not just waiting for the day when clean electrons arrive, she and others in Hull<\/a> are working for and living that future now.\u00a0The town’s two turbines currently provide up to 20 percent of Hull’s electrical needs, and the four additional and larger ones planned will bring that capacity to over 100 percent.<\/p>\n

Waldorf and her partner Jude Hutchinson are anticipating that clean energy,\u00a0thoroughly researched the available technology, and opted for electrically-powered hot water and home heating systems. An on-demand system<\/a> now provides for the couple\u2019s hot water.<\/p>\n

The new unit is bolted to the wall in Waldorf\u2019s cellar and is about the size of a briefcase. Using electricity to heat the water only as needed, the system uses no energy absent the demand for hot water. Compare this to conventional hot water heaters, most of which burn fossil fuels 24\/7 to keep a supply of hot water within a tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really didn\u2019t want to do fossil fuels,\u201d said Waldorf.<\/p>\n

Their home is heated via electricity also, using an advanced\u00a0system<\/a> which warms bricks within an insulated closure. The bricks act as a heat sink, holding the high temperatures until a smart thermostat tells the system to begin transferring heat from bricks to the house.<\/p>\n

An attachment that Waldorf plans to add will up the intelligence of the heating system, drawing electrical power from the grid during off-peak times to spread the demand on the grid more evenly.<\/p>\n

The clean and reliable heat is quite welcome, as the region had just been blanketed and chilled\u00a0with yet another layer of snow from a series of recent storms. About a foot of the stuff covered Waldorf\u2019s driveway, waiting to be shoveled.<\/p>\n

Because the new system stores energy within the heat sink, the smart system can choose to pull the electricity powering it during off-peak hours, say at 3 o\u2019clock in the morning. Because demand is so low at such times, it\u2019s probable that 100 percent of that electricity has been harvested locally via Hull\u2019s turbines, fresh produce from local farms.<\/p>\n

Recall that the distance the electricity must travel from generation site to the user is a handicap; much of that energy is lost through inefficiency. For every unit of electrical power sent from power plants, as much as two-thirds can be lost in transmission.<\/p>\n

Yet because Hull\u2019s turbines are literally right next door, far less energy is lost delivering that power to the community. This is the renewable and far more efficient energy source that Waldorf is tapping into with the couple\u2019s new heating systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve me, this is the best game in town,\u201d she said with a smug grin.\u00a0 \u201cI never have to worry about the price of oil going up. I never have to worry about a gas shortage.\u201d
\nHull Peninsula http:\/\/flickr.com\/search\/?l=commderiv&w=all&q=hull+windmills&m=text<\/a>
\nTurbne at Sunset http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/nantaskart\/72995747\/<\/a>
\nAsparagus http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/bensonkua\/2552865406\/<\/a>
\nWhite Turbines http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/mdpettitt\/2982347674\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With current political emphasis on kicking fossil fuel habits and modernizing the electrical grid, many are dreaming of Thomas Friedman\u2019s Utopian world of clean, reliable and cheap electrons. 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