Here’s a question to get you thinking about something other than the return of terrorism.
It’s similar to a question that I’ve asked before.
Is your community an energy exporter?
Seems ludicrous, doesn’t it? It isn’t. It’s a very serious question.
Your community should be exporting energy. The technology and the economics are now favorable for it.
So, if your community isn’t, it’s time to change that.
Here’s an example of one way to do it.
Lancaster
There’s a small city in California called Lancaster. They’ve got a dynamic mayor that’s geared up to do something to reverse his community’s slide into economic oblivion (a trend across the US and Europe).
To do that, he’s turning Lancaster into an energy exporter. They are installing inexpensive solar panel systems all over the city. Further, every new home built must produce at least a kW of solar power.
They didn’t do this overnight. The effort started three years ago with some pilot projects — city hall, churches, and local businesses — that yielded experience and good results.
The most recent project was the installation of over 32,000 panels on the city’s 25 schools. Together they generate 7.5 megawatts of power. Here’s a picture of a Lancaster school with solar panel carports (they found that these were much easier to install inexpensively than rooftop systems on old construction).
To drive down costs, the city created a municipal power company called the Lancaster Power Authority. A municipal utility allows the city to negotiate aggressively with solar equipment vendors and service providers.
The utility also serves as a new business incubator to help entrepreneurs with innovative ways to generate solar power get the support and help they need to prototype it.
The way things are going right now, Lancaster will soon be sell more electricity to neighbors than it uses. Also, given the scale involved, I suspect Lancaster will be able to extract premium pricing as a power producer long term (solar power can sell at a premium price many times what it retails for when it coincides with peak usage periods).
This is just one approach, but I hope it gives you some ideas for how to build a community that can power itself forward.
Yours,
JOHN ROBB
PS: If you like thinking at the global level, here’s something to think about: There are 2 ways to save the world. A) reduce/cut back or B) produce more locally. One works, the other doesn’t. One creates a vibrant and dynamic future that will be widely adopted, the other doesn’t/won’t.
Hint: People that produce more locally tend to use less of everything they produce. Why? They appreciate it more.
