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Residential Wind Installations on the Rise, Some Barriers Remain
July 11, 2008

I recently discussed the fact that renewable energy projects are becoming increasingly large and centralized, a trend that has led some to fear that the “residential revolution” of small-scale wind and solar in every home would never come to pass.  But now, thanks to “reductions in their size and cost, along with improvements in efficiency,” sales of small wind turbines “have been growing steadily since 1990.” 7,000 small turbines (classified as producing no more than 100 kilowatts) were sold last year, a number that is expected to reach 10,000 this year. These turbines are typically rated at between 2 and 10 kilowatts, are from 33 to 100 feet in hight, and range in cost from $12,000 to $55,000.  (For comparison, large wind turbines are rated at up to 3 megawatts, or 3,000 kilowatts, and stand up to 300 feet tall).

Several Factors Behind the Trend

Several factors are driving the increase in sales.  Concern about climate change and energy costs are certainly important, especially considering that “a 10-kilowatt turbine in an area with an average wind speed of 12 miles per hour can lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to removing 1.3 cars from the road.” But perhaps the most compelling reason to “go wind” has to do with the economics. 23 states in the U.S. offer net metering, which means that if your wind turbine generates more power than you use, then your meter will actually spin backward as you sell that power back into the grid.  Additionally, Congress is considering a measure that “would offer a 30 percent federal tax credit on turbine purchases” capped at $4,000.  That same federal tax credit is already being offered to residential solar installations.  Lastly, various state incentives can further sweeten the deal.

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environment  / News  / Renewable Energy

Small Is Beautiful. . .Right?
July 11, 2008

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Large scale solar collectors such as this 100,000 square foot array are becoming Increasingly commonplace in the desert

In 1973, a collection of essays titled Small is Beautiful: Economics As if People Mattered, was published by the British economist E.F. Schumacher.  In it, Schumacher argued that our economies had become “too big and too centralized,” defined by dehumanization, mechanization and unsustainable growth.  Instead, Schumacher proposed what he called “Buddhist Economics,” which stressed the importance of decentralization for creating dignified, just and meaningful interactions between people and their work, environment, and the larger world.

Renewable Energy=Global Village?

I bring up Small in Beautiful because one of the most enticing features of renewable energy is its potential for realizing Schumacher’s vision of a global economy that functions at the level of the village. Because new forms of energy production-wind, solar, methane capture-are productive rather than extractive, and local rather than global, they can sustainably support economies that function on a human scale.  When combined with new methods of communication and collaboration (namely, information technology and the open source revolution), a new era can be ushered in, an era defined by the concept of a ‘Global Village:’ powered by the sun, globally interconnected yet culturally, politically and geographically unique.  A global village is self-sufficient (to the extent possible), empowers individuals, and is free from the hegemony of large corporations and institutions. 

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environment  / philosophy  / Renewable Energy

How Renewable Energy Can Resolve the Iranian Nuclear Issue
July 6, 2008

Note: Every Sunday I write an op-ed article for the Huffington Post.  You can see this article in its original context here

Fuel Oil and Food Aid Were Key in North Korea

16 months ago North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear program in exchange for aid and the lifting of sanctions. President Bush recently removed North Korea’s designation as part of the ‘Axis of Evil’, and “the energy -starved state is already receiving the equivalent of one million tonnes of heavy fuel oil.” This has been one of the Bush Administration’s few diplomatic victories, yet even as it works to ensure that North Korea lives up to its end of the bargain, a new, equally ominous threat, has been grabbing headlines: Iran’s nuclear ambitions. While the promise of aid in the form of fuel oil and food was instrumental in dealing with North Korea, the Iranian nuclear issue can be resolved with renewable energy. Here’s how.

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If Iran Wants Electricity, Give It Renewable Power

Iran claims that “its nuclear [program] is solely aimed at generating electricity so that it can sell more of its oil and gas.” If that’s the case, then all Iran really needs is a means of generating electricity that doesn’t involve oil, gas or nuclear power, since the international community is staunchly opposed to a nuclear Iran. Well, that only leaves one form of energy production: renewable energy (nuclear power is not renewable, as uranium and plutonium are finite resources.) Imagine if the six countries involved in the negotiations–the U.S., China, Russia, Germany, Britain and France–went to Iran and made the following offer: “in exchange for shutting down your nuclear program, we will give you aid in the form of renewable energy equivalent to the amount of power that would have been produced from two of your planned nuclear reactors. In addition, we will provide strong incentives and subsidies in the future as you expand your wind, solar photovoltaic, solar concentrating and biomass programs, and we will also lift all economic sanctions.”

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environment  / Huffington Post  / Renewable Energy  / TreeHugger Job

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