This AP story is a bit old but it's incredibly significant so I'm going to go ahead and get in a tizzy about it.
It's about efforts by the city of Stamford, Conn. (among other places) to establish a micro grid district. What's that, you ask?
Within these special zones, sometimes referred to as "energy independence districts," businesses, government buildings and office buildings can design and create their own power source, such as a fuel cell or natural gas generator, using the electric grid only as a backup. They might also tap into underground aquifers and use that water for heating and cooling purposes, or even install solar panels to capture more energy.
The entities in the district would essentially plan an electrical system that uses the energy efficiently, based on their needs. For example, a hotel and office building might team up, with the hotel needing electricity more at night and the office building needing it more during the day.
Stamford's immediate motivation is escaping reliance on a shaky electricity grid that's causing more and more blackouts, to the city's great detriment. After all, corporations don't want to locate in your town if they can't rely on the power.
However, I suspect once these things start spreading, other benefits will manifest -- at both the town and state level -- and soon the demand for a smarter, more flexible grid will become universal.
Do we need nuclear and coal plants for baseload power?
Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)
Obama launches climate push with December goal
Comments
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GreenEngineer Posted 4:02 am
04 May 2007
Better opportunities for cogeneration, with less regulatory red tape.
Better opportunities to use locally available resources, and tailor supply to local demand
Better security and stability, versus both sabotage or accidents.
The ability to implement innovative measures, like demand response systems, on a small scale. This makes the task manageable, and it also confines the damage that can be done by the inevitable mistakes that will be made along with way.
Yeah, I'd say a high tizzy factor is definitely warranted.
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David Roberts Posted 4:12 am
04 May 2007
grist.org
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JMG Posted 4:49 am
04 May 2007
And I found a new one at the library the other day, so I can't vouch for it except to note that Lovins has a positive blurb on the back cover: It's called "The Grid: a journey through the heart of our electrified world" by Phillip F. Schewe. Skimming it, it looks like one of the many books in the great new genre where a writer will look at how a common material (salt, coffee, ...) or tool (tv, computers, the telegraph) creates a huge wave of social change. I'm really looking forward to it.
"An optimist is someone who thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist is someone who is afraid that the optimist is right."
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