Build Power Locally
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
When we hear about how thinking globally and acting locally, power is often not at the forefront of our minds. But perhaps it should be. The environmental impact of transporting electricity is easily as taxing on the world climate as transporting hard consumer goods can be. Transporting power creates a direct waste of that power, creating a larger carbon footprint.
One argument that immediately springs to mind is that all power is produced locally. Californians aren’t getting their power from New York. However, this is largely out of necessity. Making power a local endeavor can be taken much further.
For a moment, consider the factors at play in producing power. First, one has to consider the source of the power (i.e. coal, solar, wind, etc.), then where it’s made (in a plant, in your backyard, etc.), then how far it has to travel (NY to CA or from the source to your breaker box). Something we often don’t realize is that electricity degrades as it travels. While our technologies for creating power have advanced rapidly, our technologies for transporting and storing power have not. Some new developments, such as hydrogen fuel cells, have promise, but the kinks are not all worked out yet.
To truly create green power, that power needs to be created close to home. There is a set of factors at play: 1. This will rely on a local resource (i.e. creating solar power in Phoenix rather than Seattle); 2. This will require little transport, and therefore less degradation of the power; 3. Ultimately, less power will have to be created for the same outcome.
Today it is easier than ever to build green power at your own home. Systems have been created that can be deployed in any number of environments, urban, rural, or suburban. You don’t even need much land today to make some of your power from natural sources, and there are numerous guides to assist you in the process. Thus, thinking globally and acting locally is a tenet that we should absolutely be applying to our power systems. Even a polluting plant in your own backyard would end up requiring you to use less energy than the same polluting plant 100 miles away- and you could sell extra power to the utility company. Thus, building your own green power is a goal that you can take as an environmental goal, a conservation goal, and even an economic goal. I would strongly encourage everyone to at least consider the possibilty of building green power in your own home.
Damon Westchester is the editor of www.build-green-power.com.
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