Renewable City Generation

Word.

I started this by looking up the definition of the word "city."

1 - A large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts.
2 - An incorporated administrative district established by state charter.
3 - People living in a large densely populated municipality.

Reacuring words here would seem to be; large, densely populated, and administrated or delibarate.
To answer your questions, I wish I could. Cities, like a lot of other intentional structures, are/were built with an established infrastructure which, in and of itself does not lend itself to retrofitting new infrastructure in very cost effective ways.
Next would the word large. the phrase "a small city" might be considered an oxymoron, like "jumbo shrimp" or "pretty ugly" so this in and of itself would dictate large systems for whatever purpose.
 Logic would dictate that the intention begin with a renewable and sustainable infrastructure. So with that in mind, I would say that yes, there is a future for cities built with RE in mind. One that comes to mind is methane production from human waste, both sewage and garbage, that in turn fuels microturbine electric generators, that also provide heat for many uses.
And then there is the homo sapiens, commonly referred to as people. We all know the rest of the story from here. After all, an Ape is not going to be reading this with any comprehension. Maybe Ape descendants.   

John,
Thank you for responding.  I have 2kw of solar panels on the roof but I have run out of space.  I didn't know that inverters were so specifically made for the solar function.  Can you give me any ideas as to how I can put together the wind and hydro with such low voltage?  Thanks William

This is my first post here.
My mind can't stop thinking about Alt_E.

So I hope my efforts are in the right place.

I think of energy on many levels.

stand-by
grid
off-grid
ups
transportation
experimental
extra terrestrial

urban 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN2Fkf8LNVs&feature=related

rural
hand held
renewable
industrial
govermental
residential
personal

Please help me condense this.

with so much emphasis on green house gas times must change.

so since this thread is about future "city energy" I'll say this.

we should find a model that all city properties have, or the biggest denominator with a city.

Which in my opinion is a home property.

schools, prisons, and gov agencies im not worried about.

business need thier own dependable power so they will be to slow to change.

so it comes back to homes.


joe shmoe from kokomo�  is my guy.

If he knew his total expense for five years of his home energy .�  � something like�  $8,000�  he may start�  trying to
curb his needs.If he knew he drop it $1,000 and put $7,000 towards the principal on his mortgage.It might make him say"�  HMMMM�  THAT WOULD SAVE ME 40,000 IN PRICIPAL +15,000 OF INTREST� HMMMMM"

Im not talking about new homes -
Im talking about the old ones that are huddeld 8feet apart two stories high.

There are not very many resources available.
some wind�  some solar.

If the average old house WAS RETO-FITTED�  with a solar energy panel it would be easier and cheaper to just move leaving the old problem in its place.

I remember back a few months ago that two scientist discovered a way to apply a dim solar agent to a special paint.
that way it was just swabbed on outside walls and surfaces without the need of expensive manufactures.�  making any flat surface a solar panel.but it was a weak system. but still more than nothing. especially cause here is a new
holograghic lens that can increas that by�  10x

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/25/2050253

I keep�  waiting to hear about those guys. because it made my head spin. if we use it in a sealant that could swab over existing roofs.it would be a cost effective to start ALT_E changes in the cities.�  we spend at least $5,000 every ten years on roofs. Why not KILL two birds with one stone.

I do believe the technology exists right now today to further this idea to a reasonable implementation.� 

so combine Mr. Shmoe's house with wind and gray solar and lets see what wattage he can get on a 40x100 lot. In america gray water could be harvested from the same roofs and sold to countries that are desparate for water.The profit from that roof water could essentially help offset the homes enerngy maintenance costs.�  That way the pipelines would still be pumping something usefuel.

HECK if it meant charging up a golf cart size commute vehicle with a 50 mile daily range. I would remake my yard to swab a green solar paint grid in stead of grass.

I think its important for the whole world to understand that all people need free transportaion to and from work. In order for a world wide economy to be stable,but if it pullutes hen its not the right choice either.

I also think home lighting costs will continue to go down as smater devices will make our homes regulate themselves as we walk through them. so thats not something to aim for because its already happening.

I also saw on INVENTION NATION away of using poop�  � thats right poop as a small catalyst�  , but its posionous . But i do think alot of future resources will be a matter of dealing with wastes.�  wether its from farms or cities there is a lot of poop out there, and some guys actually found away to extract electricity from it.� I also think that lab is aiming too high they want to make it work on a huge grid scale , so i hope someonne goes and makes a home and business version.
So im thinking its not too far off and we'll see a rethink of septic systems. if add this to MR SHMOES home's resources then he would have 30 barrels of water/trash/wind/solar/poop.of which he pays for now rather than recieves benifit from.
businesses have already started utilizing waste for profit by recycling cardboard and metals. It wont be long befor schools and prisons see poop as low energy resource too?


I hope with our vehicles we dont wind up with a monopolized resource agian ie oil. I hope that future developers see the need for standardized fuel pack.
I mean wehter it has gasoline/battery/hydrogen fuel cell/or whatever comes next that gas stations wont have to be re desinged�  just the way we refill . so that we as a city can choose global or local recources.

Lets say something the size of a two litter bottle with an easy to use handle wieghing less than twenty pounds that we load manually. I mean its super easy to just pump gas, but now were stuck with gas stations that must use only liquid fuel. Liquid fuels mean greenhouse gas no matter what type is burned. I'm not sayin shut it all down I just saying if there were a standardized way to insert fuel to a car it may level the playing field at he refueling stations and competion would help keep price gouging in check with competion. Also if MR. SHMOE can recharge his own fuel cartriges at home and at work then the zero emission transportaion of the future wont be far off.� 
 THINK about it ?
If a person makes a big salary them driving a big suv is�  cool .I dont have a problem with that .

Many of us are poor so geting to work is a cost to our hourly wage. I work a half mile from home so i spend $10 a week, which 1/40th of my pay but some of my co-workers live 30 miles away and they spend $50 a week to do the same job which is 1/8th of his pay.
 So my thought was not to get rid of SUVs or gasoline . just to rethink our commute vehicles . As small as a golf cart hybrid travels 40mph and can be recharged from MR SHMOE's wind/solar/poop home to cut his need to stop at a refueling station along his commute to work. Once business's start to utilize the idea that its a benifit for thier employies�  revamp their parking lots to maximize solar collection. they will help employies with like me� save $520 extra per year or MR SHMOE who saves $2600 just on his commutes. did i mention the green house gases to boot.

I just cant see liquid fuel�  being the main fuel for the near future without creating environmental travisties. so a standardized fuel capsule should keep any one resuce from dominating everything and buying up competitive markets, inventions, and innovations.


further when it comes to cities�  � we need to know things like old or growing and climate. Its funny that have a need for city workers like police and fire but not an official charged with the resposibity to maximize a cities resources.
hydro/wind/solar/trash power.

were seeing off grid communities in the deserts and in the mountians�  with wind grid communities also growing.


So to me the hardest part of getting�  city residents to change thier resource for power will be up front cost
and the rate which it is returned.

funny how were getting a cash tax rebate when what we should be getting is an up front energy refit allowance!

I wrote this and im still going to disney intead of upgrading my house.


I dont see these ideas as radical. Just making use of what already exists.

So what im thinking is a whittling away of the total energy needed making for smaller grids�  more accessible instead of being dependant on single monoploized for profit power infra structure. let me restate that. If the largest grid has to accomodate everything�  then were stuck.

if we lower electrical needs from homes/vehicles/ then the larger grids can be reduced to lowerer usages - opening up to other localized power generating resources. Like local hydro/wind/solar/poop/fossil.





If you read all that and your still with me.
heres a small story i hope challenges you.


There was a butterfly sitting on a tree. I asked the butterfly do you know that your on a living tree ?
he butterfly said "no that cant be i've lived here my whole life and it has never moved or even made a sound. Of which i repiled it is alive it rows from a seed into a tall oak and it uses the sun to cleanse the air for many years provides homes for many critters such as butterflies and squirels, and when the time is right after ive collected its many seeds to more trees . I'll cut it down and make a house from it. Still the butterfly just couldn think of the tree like that.
I think we all see how cities are like trees that grow,mature, and then die. If we just sit in them thinking it has always been here its never moved or did anything to make us think thier alive or effecting the sorrounding envirnment. It's a mistake. the people that live in cities are alive if we keep them healthy then a cities life may go on for infamy as a home for all things. Its the livelyhood,standard of living,and harmony with nature that is at stake.

"Do you think that in the future there might be ways devised to use low power production with a grid tied system for us city folks?"

"I have 2kw of solar panels on the roof but I have run out of space."

Is this a trick question? You have two thousand watts of photovoltaic modules producing on average around six kilowatthours each cool, sunny day and you want to know if in the future there might be a way to wire this into the grid?
You do know about grid intertie inverters dont you?
Since you have access to build on your roof then must certainly have access to build on your main or sub. electrical panel. Unless of course the local jurisdiction has taken precedence over the matter. It would seem odd though if they issued you a permit for the PV array and it passed inspection but would not allow grid connection. I am little confused.

Robert, to answer your question from my personal perspective, I would love to have a grid-tied system because for every kWh I would put back into the grid, that's 1-3 kWh worth of fossil fuel not being burned at the power plant.  As it stands, I have a tiny off-grid system that I am playing with, but can't power much with it.

Also, being tied to the grid, enables you to install a smaller system that only supports part of your load.  That system can be expanded over time to meet all of your needs, but many places don't have enough usable solar area to meet their needs.  Grid-tie systems (at least those without battery backup) require less maintenance than a system with batteries that need to be replaced every 5 or so years.  They are also easier to design because you do not have to meet your load precisely or provide backup generators when the sun isn't enough.

Loosing power once in a while is not a big deal for most people.  My electric company shut down power for about an hour for maintenance this past week and even though I was aware, I forgot to do anything about it.  All I had to do to recover from the outage was power on one computer (DVR) and reset the clocks on the microwave and oven.

And finally, I would consider it helping out the local community by providing them with clean power when my production exceeds my load.

I hope this helps you see the bigger picture and you can sleep better.

It was possible in Malmo, Sweden.

Watch ECHO TECH on the Science Channel, episode: "future fuels" or was it "powering up"?


COME

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/zev-independence-day-rally