Investing in renewables
From Minnesota State Fair
Change is scary, and worse in times of fear and uncertainty about the future.
Lots of impressive displays at the State Fair "Eco-experience" building. Wind turbines, PV, solar heating, plug-in hybrids, heat pumps, etc.
When's the best time to invest in technology? Apparently Hybrid-car production is not keeping up with demand, so better to wait on that, right, at least for people who don't drive 20,000 miles/years.
Do I replace my $500 water heater (and corresponding $50/year natural gas costs) for a $4000 passive solar heating system install? (What's the payback period there?! How much will NG cost NEXT year?!)
It's hard to decide WHEN to "upgrade", even when things NEED to be replaced. Even on new construction, people are already taking on a HUGE debt to buy a home and builders hurt their customer base when they can't build affordable homes.
I fear these decisions will get no easier in the future as energy costs rise and people may as well benefit by "scaling back" rather than replacing.
Suburbia was built on the standard of one-of-everything for every house, and in times of wealth and abundance it seemed a clearly convenient solution, but if things get harder, this may have to be reevaluated.
Maybe someday we'll have a wind turbine in every backyard, or PV on every rooftop? Some technologies scale well downwards, but others work better at a larger scale than individuals can afford or use. Therefore community cooperatives are better suited for investing. That adds a new level - who pays - who benefits - who's responsible... Questions we've avoided for a long time in our one-for-each world.
One 80' wind turbine for every city block. That's a nice vision - until the damned thing squashes a HOUSE in a storm in 5 years. Much to worry about, but seems the direction we must go.
Even cars may be better "shared" if we can work together and take the time for that.
I'm hopeful solutions exist, but still anxious for more certainty we'll get there without killing each other, without closing down communication further - into gated communities and such.
A brave new world, and it'll take sacrifies - mostly time perhaps. Maybe we'll be better off, but I expect it'll take a long time to get used to losing what we had.
Change is scary, and worse in times of fear and uncertainty about the future.
Lots of impressive displays at the State Fair "Eco-experience" building. Wind turbines, PV, solar heating, plug-in hybrids, heat pumps, etc.
When's the best time to invest in technology? Apparently Hybrid-car production is not keeping up with demand, so better to wait on that, right, at least for people who don't drive 20,000 miles/years.
Do I replace my $500 water heater (and corresponding $50/year natural gas costs) for a $4000 passive solar heating system install? (What's the payback period there?! How much will NG cost NEXT year?!)
It's hard to decide WHEN to "upgrade", even when things NEED to be replaced. Even on new construction, people are already taking on a HUGE debt to buy a home and builders hurt their customer base when they can't build affordable homes.
I fear these decisions will get no easier in the future as energy costs rise and people may as well benefit by "scaling back" rather than replacing.
Suburbia was built on the standard of one-of-everything for every house, and in times of wealth and abundance it seemed a clearly convenient solution, but if things get harder, this may have to be reevaluated.
Maybe someday we'll have a wind turbine in every backyard, or PV on every rooftop? Some technologies scale well downwards, but others work better at a larger scale than individuals can afford or use. Therefore community cooperatives are better suited for investing. That adds a new level - who pays - who benefits - who's responsible... Questions we've avoided for a long time in our one-for-each world.
One 80' wind turbine for every city block. That's a nice vision - until the damned thing squashes a HOUSE in a storm in 5 years. Much to worry about, but seems the direction we must go.
Even cars may be better "shared" if we can work together and take the time for that.
I'm hopeful solutions exist, but still anxious for more certainty we'll get there without killing each other, without closing down communication further - into gated communities and such.
A brave new world, and it'll take sacrifies - mostly time perhaps. Maybe we'll be better off, but I expect it'll take a long time to get used to losing what we had.
posted by Ares Olympus at 3:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home