Perpetual Innovation

Category: Energy

  • World Water Day 2021 in Review

     World Water Day
    2021 (in the rear-view mirror): Valuing Water.

    World Water Day (March 22, 2021) is past (www.WorldWaterDay.org)…   By now
    you should have taken the     Water
    Day Quiz     at SustainZine.
    It’s been about 10 years since I developed such a quiz. I had to work to
    improve and update the original quiz… It is still tricky to get good answers to
    some of these water-critical issues. Often the water usage is available to the
    homeowner,     but gets confusing as the data is aggregated for the state and for
    the nation. The more abstract uses of water, like virtual water, are erratic
    and imprecise. Important concepts, but the answers are fuzzy.

    Here is my Water
    Day Quiz     for 2021; if you haven’t already done it, please complete before
    going further. It’s important to know what you know, and what you don’t know
    related to water systems. It is surprisingly hard to develop this quiz because
    the numbers are all over the map. I have 15 multiple guess questions. Answer
    them all before starting to Google the answers. For which questions do you have
    a high confidence in your original answer? I’m trying to use current stats;
    different sources give different estimates, sometimes old news is no longer
    accurate (maybe it never was accurate). I generally used US and US units of
    measure unless specifically indicated otherwise. Answers, scoring and sources are
    presented in the next sections.

    Thanks for playing the game. It’s a
    serious game though, because lives and livelihoods now and into the future
    depend on how we sustainably address water issues.

    Water Facts: The Water
    Resources of Earth

    Over 70% of our Earth’s
    surface is covered by water (we should really call our planet “Ocean”
    instead of “Earth”). Although water is seemingly abundant, the real
    issue is the amount of fresh water available. 

    • 97.5%
      of all water on Earth is salt water, leaving only 2.5% as fresh
      water 
    • Nearly
      70% of that fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica
      and Greenland; most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or
      lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human
      use. 
    • <
      1% of the world’s fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is
      accessible for direct human uses. This is the water found in lakes,
      rivers, reservoirs, and those underground sources that are shallow enough
      to be tapped at an affordable cost. Only this amount is regularly renewed
      by rain/snowfall, and is therefore available on a sustainable basis.       Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_distribution_on_Earth

    With water everywhere (70% of the earth’s surface), it is
    hard to image people without fresh drinking water and clean sanitation, but the
    numbers are pretty ugly. About 780M people do not have running water according
    to the World Health Organization (www.WHO.INT); but you might see 2.1B (about
    25% of the world’s population) who don’t have clean running water at home. And
    probably about 2B do not have safe septic/sewer
    (https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sanitation) Who estimates
    that 4.5B (almost 60%) of the world’s population do not have safe toilets at
    home.   (Some people might argue, that if
    you don’t have clean septic, you really don’t have clean water, because it gets
    contaminated in normal household operations.)

    The health implications of this are massive. Direct
    ailments, hospitalizations and deaths are staggering. Poor water and sanitation
    contribute to diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A,
    typhoid and polio.  A WHO study in 2012
    estimated that for “every US$ 1.00 invested in sanitation, there was a return
    of US$ 5.50 in lower health costs, more productivity, and fewer premature
    deaths.”

    Probably 50% of the US fresh water is
    polluted… as in no swimming, and you should not eat the fish (if any). If it is
    that bad in the US, imagine how horrible it is in some of the developing
    countries. In short, we need to stop treating water like dirt! And definitely stop
    use rivers and streams as a sewer dump.

    How
    much water do you use per day?

    Indirectly
    and directly, the average person in the US uses more than 1,500 to 2,000
    gallons of water per day. This varies a lot by season and by area. Let’s start
    with the more direct usages of water. The EPA provides average usage at home:

    ·        
    300 gallons per household directly.
    (roughly 120 gals per person)

    ·        
    210 gallons (70%) of that water used in
    households is indoors, mostly in the bathroom (toilets, showers, faucets)

    ·        
    12%-13% of indoor water used is wasted from
    leaks!

    ·        
    Much of the outdoor water is wasted as
    well.     

    Use EPA resources here:
    https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water.

    Ensia provides a great visualization including state-by-state differences:     https://ensia.com/articles/water-use/

    Various sources give higher averages. Compute your own water footprint based on
    your lifestyle here:     https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/the-water-footprint-of-energy/ 

    How
    many gallons of water does it take to…?

    Water to power a 60-Watt light bulb?
    It takes a lot of water to generate electricity using coal, natural gas or
    nuclear power. Nuclear requires the most water to generate electricity.
    Estimates are that it takes between 3,000 and 6,000 gallons of water to produce
    electricity for a 60-watt light bulb, 12 hours per day, for a year! Heating
    water (NatGas, Coal, Nuclear) for steam turbine power generation uses lots of
    water; they generally take water out of the river and return most of it further
    downstream after partial cooling (maybe 10% evaporates, however). If the water
    source dries up (or freezes) the power plant may need to be idled. Hydro
    electric from dams simply redirects the downstream flow of the water, so the
    water impact is in the change in water flows (when power is needed) and evaporation
    of the increased surface area in a dam.

    Wind power and photovoltaic solar power do
    not use any water in operations to produce electricity. The power mix of the
    local utility determines the savings of water and CO2 each year from a switch
    to solar power on the home or business.

    Buying an electric vehicle (EV) may not be
    such a great savings if charged from the local power utility that has a heavy
    footprint. Installing solar and charging mainly from direct sun power is much
    better.

    But what about gasoline (before adding in
    a 10% ethanol mix)?

    It takes lots and lots of water to produce
    oil. The drilling process, conventional or fracking, takes huge amounts of
    water, and it contaminates water. Fracking for oil (and NatGas) can produce
    about 0.5 barrels of waste water for every barrel of oil (Duke University
    citing a 2015 fracking study:     https://today.duke.edu/2015/09/frackfoot).
    But then the crude has to be refined, which takes energy and water. There is
    less processing needed for jet fuel and diesel, but gasoline requires about 0.7
    gallons of water per gallon of fuel.

    Ethanol requires a surprising amount of
    water during procession. Ethanol from corn, for example, requires about 10
    gallons of water for every gallon produced; and that’s not counting the water
    required to grow the corn, if corn is the ethanol feedstock. It takes a
    whopping 20-30 gallons of water to make the corn needed for 1 gallon of
    ethanol. (It takes about 1.25 gallons of ethanol, however, to make the equivalent
    power as 1 gallon of gasoline.)

    Water to create a pound of food?
    (See Water Calculator on this.).
    It takes a lot of water to grow crops, and a massive amount to produce animals
    for food. This has been referred to as virtual water. It takes 37 gallons of
    water for a cup of coffee counting everything from grow coffee beans, to
    cleaning them, and to brewing the coffee. 
    To grow a pound of potatoes requires only 31 gallons; beans, 43; and
    corn, 109. BUT it requires a huge amount of water to produce animal products,
    since you have to grow the corn or hay first in order to feed it to animals. It
    requires 371 gallons to produce a pound of cheese; eggs, 400 (8 x 2oz);
    chicken, 469; pork, 756; and 1,857 gallons of water to produce a single pound
    of beef. Wow! Not only is it healthier for you to eat lower on the food chain,
    but it would save massive amounts of water (and energy).

    Oh, and it requires a huge amount of water
    to produce clothes too — to grow the cotton, but the water intensive
    processing required to make cloth and ultimately clothes. It takes 2,000+
    gallons of water to produce one pair of blue jeans!  Countries that are net importers of foods,
    clothes and other finished products are, essentially, also importing water
    inherent in them. (See     https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/the-hidden-water-in-everyday-products/)

    The Nexus of Water and Energy.
    As you can see, power generation and food production require large amounts of
    water. Similarly, water requires energy in many ways. Hydroelectric generation
    from water in dams is a direct relationship. Other requirements of energy are
    simply to get water from wherever it is, to wherever it is needed. Energy is
    needed to purify water. It takes about 10% of the energy produced in the US to move
    water around and process it.

    With only about 1% of the world’s water as
    available fresh water, an obvious way to get fresh water is desalination of salt
    water. Unfortunately, desalinization is rather expensive. It is much easier and
    cheaper to pump water from the mainland to islands (St. Petersburg and Key
    West).




    It takes a lot of water (and typically oil and NatGas)
    to make plastics. Lots of energy, and lots of water, to mine, refine,
    manufacture and ship everything. Recyclings of plastics, paper and metals still
    takes water and energy, but far less than the resources used than the original
    products that started in the mines.

    Oh… If you want to know your water footprint you can go
    here: http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/personal-water-footprint-calculator/

    The last time I ran the calculator it estimates that I
    consume about 2,100 cubic meters of water per year.  If my math is right, that is about 1,800
    gallons per day! The US average is more than 1,000. 

    So What Can I Do Right Now?

    Measure and monitor. You need to measure
    and monitor regularly to have a consistent impact on your usage, and your improved
    savings from each initiative.

    Savings. Reduce what you
    use saves you money, saves resources, and saves water. Directly, you can
    usually use 20 to 25% less water in homes. Each state and most counties will
    offer water savings tips that are relevant to the locale; in Volusia County
    Florida here are 25 tips.     https://www.volusia.org/services/growth-and-resource-management/environmental-management/natural-resources/water-conservation/25-ways-to-save-water.stml

    The gallon that is never saved, and never
    used, is called a NegaGallon.

    As you have seen, most of the water you
    used is indirectly, so reducing travel and using less electricity are important
    places to start.

    Telework. Some of us are
    getting tired of Zoom meetings, but the savings are massive from telework (and
    other types of avoided travel). The NegaGallon of gasoline is petrol that is never
    used and therefore never drilled, refined, shipped, and burned in your car.

    Electricity.
    Do an energy audit if you haven’t already done so; it’s free from your local power
    utility. Energy-ize your home and businesses. NegaWatt. That’s the kilowatt of
    power that you never used: it never had to be fracked, piped to a refinery,
    shipped to the power plant, burned to produce power. No trees were killed, no
    greenhouse gasses produced.

    So
    What?

    So energy and water are very closely
    interconnected. It’s important to conserving water and to use it wisely.
    Unfortunately, as with most things sustainability-related, the people who deal
    with energy, don’t generally deal with water management, and vice versa.
    Sustainability requires an integrated approach to most things, especially water
    and energy.

    Imagine what happens if the rest of the
    world consumed resources as we do. The Water Use Around the Word InfoGraphic shows that US water use is
    156 per person per day, but we know that the real number is 10 times that, all
    things considered. And our usage is twice that of Europe (France) and 4x India.
    What happens if they start to consume at the same rate as we? Plus, what
    happens as we move toward 10B world population? 

    Expect that water and water management
    will become far more important in the future. Probably as important as oil is
    currently. You should see more disputes over water by states and countries. This
    topic is, accurately, called Water Wars.     

    FIND OUT MORE:

    ·        
    Use
    EPA starting here:     https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water.
    Ensia provides a great visualization including state-by-state differences:     https://ensia.com/articles/water-use/

    ·        
    World Water Day 2021 website: https://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday2021/

    ·        
    UN World Water Development Report 2021: www.unwater.org/publication_categories/world-water-development-report

    ·        
    UN-Water SDG
    6 Data Portal:     www.sdg6data.org

    INTERSTING LINKS:

    ·        
    WaterFootprint
    Calculator:     https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/the-water-footprint-of-energy/

    ·        
    www.WaterMatters.org  (Great, including Florida specific info.)

    ·        
    http://www.worldwaterday.org/  

    ·        
    www.UNWater.org

    ·        
    www.savewaterfl.com  (For details & water-saving tips.)

    ·        
    Bottled Water and Energy:
    A Fact Sheet     http://www.pacinst.org/topics/water_and_sustainability/bottled_water/bottled_water_and_energy.html
    (old source)

    ·        
    EPA on Water http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/waterenergy.html

    ·        
    Save Water Save Energy
    brochure:     http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/docs/drops-to-watts508.pdf
    (including facts).

    ·        
    Couple cool Energy-Water
    Nexus sites:     http://www.eeweek.org/water_and_energy_wise/connection
    and
    http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/water/enviro.notes/enviro.notes.water-energy.pdf
     

    ·        
    Virtual Water: https://mywaterearth.com/what-is-virtual-water/

    Tips
    and easy means to save water.

    • FIRST. Measure
    and monitor. Your pump should not be coming on when no activity is happening;
    your meter should not be moving when all water is turned off. Most utilities
    charge more as you consume (waste?) higher volumes of water.

    • In your house
    check for leaks from faucets and pipes; even the smallest drip
    can waste as much as 75 liters (20 gals) a day.

    In the
    bathroom:
    • Flush less — remember the toilet is not an ashtray or
    wastebasket.

    • While brushing
    teeth, shaving, etc., turn off the water.

    • When cold water
    will do, avoid using hot water.

    • Take shorter
    showers — 5 minutes or less.

    • In the shower,
    wet yourself down, turn the water off, lather up, then turn the water on to
    rinse off soap.

    In the
    kitchen:
    • Operate the dishwasher only when you have a full load.

    • Scrape, don’t
    rinse, your dishes before loading in the dishwasher. Run when full.

    • When purchasing
    a dishwasher, consider a water-efficient model.

    • Thaw frozen
    food in the refrigerator or microwave, not under running water.

    • Store drinking
    water in the refrigerator instead of letting the tap run while you wait for
    cool water to flow.

    • When washing
    dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water and fill the rinsing
    sink to one-third or one-half full
    — avoid letting the water run continuously in the rinsing sink.

    In the
    laundry:
    • For washers with variable settings for water volume, select the minimum
    amount required per load.

    • If load size
    cannot be set, operate the washer with full loads only.

    • Use the
    shortest wash cycle for lightly soiled loads; normal and permanent press wash
    cycles use more water.

    • Check hoses
    regularly for leaks.

    • Pre-treat
    stains to avoid rewashing.

    In the
    Yard:
    • Most sprinkler systems waste a lot of
    water. Frequently, they waste more than they (should) use. Install rain
    sensors. Carefully monitor the coverage. Change level and frequency based on
    season.

    • Try to switch
    to reclaimed water; it doesn’t need to be processed as much as potable city
    water. Plus, many cities charge for the water you use assuming that all of it
    also goes into the sewer system (separate, but equal, sewer water charges).

    • Plant local
    friendly (Florida friendly) and low care landscapes.     

    The
    World Health Organization (Who.INT) offers these key water facts:

    • In 2017, 71% of the global
      population (5.3 billion people) used a safely managed drinking-water
      service – that is, one located on premises, available when needed, and
      free from contamination.
    • 90% of the global population
      (6.8 billion people) used at least a basic service. A basic service is an
      improved drinking-water source within a round trip of 30 minutes to
      collect water.
    • 785 million people lack even a
      basic drinking-water service, including 144 million people who are
      dependent on surface water.
    • Globally, at least 2 billion
      people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces.
    • Contaminated water can transmit
      diseases such diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio.
      Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 485 000 diarrhoeal
      deaths each year.
    • By 2025, half of the world’s
      population will be living in water-stressed areas.
    • In least developed countries,
      22% of health care facilities have no water service, 21% no sanitation
      service, and 22% no waste management service.

     Source:
    https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water

    #WorldWaterDay
    #WorldWaterDay2021 #ValuingWater #Water2Me #WaterEnergyNexus #WaterFoodNexus
    #SustainZine

  • World Water Day: 2021 Valuing Water (Quiz your Water Knowledge)

    It’s World Water Day, March 22, 2021 (www.WorldWaterDay.org).  

    Time to test your water knowledge with a World Water Day Quiz. 
    Some days we wish it would rain. Some days, we
    wish it would stop. But every day, not just March 22, we should stop and
    appreciate the importance of water. How important it is to out our being, to
    our lives, to our living and to our existence.

    Here is my Water Quiz for 2021. It is
    surprisingly hard to develop because the numbers are all over the map. I have 15
    multiple guess questions. Answer them all before starting to Google the
    answers. For which questions do you have a high confidence in your original answer?
    I’m trying to use current stats; different sources give different estimates. Sometimes old news is no longer accurate (maybe it never was accurate). I
    generally used US and US units of measure unless specifically indicated otherwise.
    Answers, scoring and sources will be forthcoming.

    Celebrate the day. Go, drink a glass of H2O.

    Cheers!



  • Cool Motor that Runs on Air

    A lot like a perpetual motor: no fool’n.
    As a kid, college really, I was intrigued about the idea of a “perpetual” motor. A motor that ran forever. My idea seemed like it should work, but I had a hard time getting someone to explain why it wouldn’t. My idea was based on the flywheel of the single engine Briggs & Stratton where a magnet on the flywheel creates the spark for the ignition on each rotation. My idea was to have magnets that attract the flywheel and a reverse magnet to repel the flywheel once it got past. But I had the problem that the flywheel would get attracted and stuck. So I found something called paramegnetic materials, materials that repel both positive and negative magnetic forces. All I needed, then is to have a thin sheet of paramagnetic material pass between the attracting magnets to let the flywheel move on to the repelling magnet. Perfect, a perpetual motor.
    I finally got to talk with a Physics professor at USF who explained my small, but subtle issue with the perpetuity of my motor. When you use a magnet, you loose a magnet. It took energy to magnetize a magnet, so the process of using it will deplete it!
    For decades, there have been articles about perpetual motors… But generally they have gone the way of “cold fusion”.
    Here is a very cool article/technology on a motor that runs on air. Liquefied Nitrogen, actually. Very cool. Literally, about -210 C (or -340 F). So, if the internal combustion motor works on the temperature differential before the ignition of fuel and after ignition, the liquid nitrogen concept works in the same way: from really really cold, to cold. Not nearly the same as the 1,000 times differential from gasoline, but still an effective motor. Effective only once you overcome the problem of things freezing up in the process.
    So here’s the great Wired article by Nicola Twilley about the inventor Peter Dearman: A One-Time Poultry Farmer Invents the Future of
    Refrigeration: Mechanical cooling revolutionized the global food supply—and
    accelerated global warming. Peter Dearman’s liquid air engine could change all
    that.
    The thing that Dearman had to overcome is to bring the temp of the super cold nitrogen up enough that it didn’t freeze up the works. (Kind of a reverse of the radiator idea to cool the motor down.)
    So the motor works, not especially efficient, but it works.
    However, your favorite internal combustion engine is very inefficient. Your car is only about 15% efficient. Diesel turbine motors for electricity are generally about 40% efficient, at best… Unless… Unless you need the excess heat. So if you can use the heat, like hot water on a campus environment, then the combined heat and power (CHP) can be very efficient, maybe up to about 70%.
    Imagine if you could use the cool from a liquid nitrogen engine? Say, hypothetically, for refrigerated storage or reefer. (No, not a Jimmy Buffet kind of Reefer!:-) A refrigerated reefer truck.
    And, wa la. You have a really great method of efficiently transporting and simultaneously cooling perishable products.
    The cryogenic reefer truck seems to be really gaining traction (sorry about the pun) within several food chains.
    Very cool!
    Dearman says the nitrogen solution will result in a 40% improvement over diesel in terms of greenhouse gases. If is the nitrogen is liquefied (chilled) by renewable energy the improvement compared to diesel moves up to 95%.
    Even Cooler!
    It also helps to overcome the need for Freon or the replacements for Freon. (Fluorocarbons are a wicked greenhouse gas that blow holes in the ozone layer.)
    With 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere, nitrogen (N) is readily abundant.
    Dearman has several patents related to cryogenics and cryogenic motors.
    Interestingly, it would appear that the same Peter (T?) Dearman is also the inventor of respirators and ventilators back in 1990!

  • Backup to a Better Backup Generator Solution

    You may already have a backup generator for the house. In
    fact, you may have the backup generator with you just about everywhere you go.
    Plus, it might be totally quiet, for hours.
    Yep, we are talking about your hybrid gas-electric vehicle.
    Hybrids have been selling like crazy on the farms because they can easily be
    used to generate 120-volt electricity to run hand tools and generally provide
    backup power.
    Most newer vehicles offer a 120 plug, but they won’t power
    much. What you need is an inverter that will power whatever you want,
    frequently 300 to 400 watts will be sufficient for many applications. Smaller
    inverters can be simply plugged into a cigarette lighter, but bigger inverters
    should be wired directly to the battery.

    A backup solution for the house is rather awkward,
    inconvenient and requires fuel at a time when the least fuel is available,
    storms and outages. Here’s the cost for a generator solution.
    Generator
    The generator solution costs something like this:
    ·        
    Generator $500 (or about $500 to $1,000 for an
    inverter that is much quieter and provides smoother power).
    ·        
    Fuel, maybe 8 to 12 gals per day. At 10 gals x
    $3 is $30 per day.
    ·        
    Storage of generator and fuel cans.
    Traditional generators (gas or propane or diesel) provide
    lots of smoke, noise, and require maintenance. The generator produces
    electricity, even under very low loads, so much (maybe most) of the electricity
    (and fuel) is wasted.
    Generators are best used some distance from the house so as
    not to asphyxiate the inhabitants.
    Tip. Make sure not to allow the generator to run out of
    fuel, the sputtering causes the generator to surge which kills off appliances
    at an alarming rate.
    Auto with Inverter
    Hooking an inverter to the vehicle may be a very good
    solution for many purposes, especially lower loads in the house such as
    refrigerator, lights and fans. However, you will have to go start the vehicle before
    the battery gets too low. (Taking regular lead batteries below 50% will
    seriously erode their life span.)
    A 1000-Watt inverter can cost between $80 and $110
    (modified-sine wave), and about twice that for the higher quality output of a
    pure-sine wave recommended for sensitive electronics.
    Your vehicle is rather quiet, and rather fuel efficient
    compared to a generator. Your typical vehicle will not be able to handle large
    loads, however. One approach is to set up a battery (or battery bank) that can
    be recharged via the vehicle.
    Even better is to hook up to your hybrid vehicle.
    Hybrid Vehicle with Inverter
    The hybrid vehicle is a wonderful backup power supply, just
    like the uninterruptable power supply (UPS) you use for your computers and wifi.
    You can have continuous power as needed, when needed. Plus, the hybrid vehicle is
    designed to start up the motor and recharge when the collective batteries get
    low. Very cool.
    Here’s how you do it. Hook up your power inverter directly
    to the 12-Volt (direct current) battery of the hybrid vehicle to produce
    alternating current (120 AC). Put the vehicle in the “on” mode, but with all
    the vehicle electronics turned off, i.e., turn the air conditioner and lights
    off. Now, when the batteries run low, the vehicle will automatically start to
    recharge all the batteries, lithium as well as the 12-volt battery.
    Tip: Please make sure the vehicle is in a safely ventilated
    area. Do not set this arrangement up in the garage!
    Add in a Battery
    (Bank) and a Solar Panel (or More)
    So good news, you now have an inverter with your vehicle so
    you can use good, clean, quiet power anywhere you and your Prius happen to be.
    Yippee!
    But how about the home or cabin when the Prius is away?
    Get a battery or more, and hook up the inverter to it. This
    should help you get through several hours with just the refrigerator. Batteries
    of this type (deep cycle, for example) will cost $150 to $350 each.
    Then, get a solar panel, or more, and hook them up to
    recharge your batteries during sunlight hours. (Costco has a 100W Coleman with
    8.5 amp charge controller for $159.)
    Now, I have continuous power for low load (the battery plus
    a 1100W inverter at $90, all for under $400). I’ll buy more batteries and/or
    more solar panels as and when I need them. The 1100-watt inverter does
    everything that I want to do in emergency or in the cabin. It does a small air
    conditioner (window unit or small mini-split for a short period of time; a
    refrigerator for several hours; LED lights and fans for days). It won’t do
    central air, well pump, oven, dryer, hot-water heater, microwave, or several
    heavy load items simultaneously. Bigger load electronics include blenders
    (making Hurricanes and Margaritas), blow dryer; coffee pots, electric saw, etc…
    Be careful putting together your system and your battery
    banks. Hooking two 12V 100 amp batteries together can result in doubling of the
    voltage (48 Volt in series) or double the amps (200 amp hours in parallel)
    depending on how you hook them together. Make sure you get the right inverter
    to match the higher voltage if you go in series. Try to get the same batteries
    if you bank ‘em.
    I can see you eyeing your electric golf cart, you already
    have your own battery bank on wheels. Unfortunately, the voltage will be 36 or
    48 Volts (say 6 x 6-volt batteries hooked up in series is 36 volt). Your
    inverter would need to match the voltage of your cart (or carefully hook up a 12-volt inverter to 12-volt battery equivalent,
    which in this case is two 6-volt batteries).
    In short, you may already have a great backup power supply
    solution. Hook up your hybrid to an inverter and you are good to go. Add in a
    battery (or more) and a solar panel (or more) and you have a nice, quiet,
    renewable power solution.
    Tip. Use a volt meter. The meter is cheap. Burning out electronics
    can be expensive, cause fires, shock the bejeebers out of you, and generally be
    very inconvenient!
    Tip2. When you buy your new hybrid vehicle you get “up to”
    $7,500 back in the form of current-year tax credits! The federal tax credits for new
    EV and PHEV cars (and for home solar, as well) are phasing down, so you might
    want to accelerate your purchasing decisions. (See ins
    and outs of tax credit     for vehicles at Edmonds.)
    Do we all need to rethink the way the design/plan for (emergency) backup power? Let us know what you think? 

  • Babcock Ranch aims to be first solar-powered town in US | USA News | Al Jazeera

    Babcock Ranch aims to be first solar-powered town in US | USA News | Al Jazeera:

    This is in partnership with FPL (Nextera) for the power. The powerplant is already up and running that will support an almost 200,000 home community.  FPL has extended the solar to include 10 megawatts of battery, thus allowing the solar power plant to offer more flexibility to the power grid and on-demand peaking power.

    The 440 acres for the power plant (now with about 350,000 PV panels) were donated to FPL at the Babcock Ranch. The whole town is 100% electric with electric trolley and charging stations. They even have SolarTrees(tm) for you to charge your phone or laptop in the park and demonstrate how solar works.

    This city is west of LaBelle on the way toward Ft Meyers. Very sustainable. Now has several developers building and each home has the “option” to have solar installed.

    Here’s another take with a human touch from FoxNews. Talking about the first people to move into the “city” and the first baby to be born in Babcock Ranch.

    This is a very cool example of how a city can be built from the ground up as sustainable — zero carbon footprint, as it pertains to electricity. There is the obvious question, however, of urban sprawl to suburbia, that has had suburban sprawl.

    In a city, with lots and lots of impermeable surfaces (roofs and parking lots), it would be very possible to retrofit the sustainability solutions.

    Way to go FPL. Within five years (2023), FPL plans to produce more from solar than from coal+NatGas combined. Additionally, FPL’s sister company FPL Energy is the largest wind producer in the US, and 2nd largest in the world. !:-)  … NextEra is the publicly ~$75B market cap holding company (NEE).

    FPL does have some nuclear, with plans and approval for expansion. The Turkey Point plant has been problematic and has its own set of issues. Leaks in the cooling canals, and no real plan for ways to store nuclear waste, has the Sierra Club (a group that should generally be friendly to nuclear) up in arms.  They also don’t like some of the sweet-heart deals for FPL that have been approved (rubber-stamped) by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). The sneaky and deceptive amendment on the Florida ballet last year — a move designed to kill solar — by the southern power companies (in which FPL donated $8m) is still fresh in the minds of Floridians.

    Nuclear in general has issues in the future energy mix. Nuclear is wonderful for base load, but not great as a peaking power source. If/when we move seriously and definitively toward solar in Florida, there should be high renewable energy at various times throughout the day, and none during rain or at night, so nuclear continues to be less effective. See how California is planning the retirement of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and looking for other forms of peaking power as more and more power comes from renewables. Nuclear plants seem to have no plan, of any kind, as to what to do with nuclear wast; the only plan seems to be to hold on-site forever.

    At some point the power monopolies need to deal with the reality that every home and every business can and will generate part or all of their electricity. This means that the future of the grid is connecting power creators with power consumers using a smart grid and dynamic pricing. Part of the day I may be a net producer, part of the night I may be a net consumer. One analogy of this type of Smart Grid is to think of it like the Internet. Sometimes I’m uploading content, sometimes I’m downloading. The Internet directs from where power is produced, to where it is needed. The Smart Grid power company will be more like the Internet Service Provider (ISP) of old by providing power as needed, where needed. The internet of things (IoT), but with power, is essentially what we’re talking about. Maybe the Energy of Everything (EoE)?:-)

    Power companies need a new business model (currently the model is based on ROE with the PSC assuring prices that justify a good return on investment). Producing and selling more and more electricity to make more and more money is a broken model. Building bigger and grander centralized power plants is horribly inefficient; about 60% of energy is lost in the production (steam) and distribution.

    We are really glad to see FPL’s effort into solar. Florida, and NextEra, could do more. Time for the power monopolies to make the change before they get overrun. The power model is changing… Trying to block this massive change is a little like stacking rocks in front of a glacier …

    ‘via Blog this’