WHAT IF THE RICH WERE OFF THE ELECTRICAL GRID?

Treasure Beach Forum: TB Runnin's: WHAT IF THE RICH WERE OFF THE ELECTRICAL GRID?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zed on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 09:36 am: Edit Post

What If the Rich Were off the Grid?::Carl Pope (Chairman Sierra Club)

... It's intriguing to look at the debate about clean, low-carbon electricity through the lens of health, especially with a guide whose challenge to the conventional wisdom is as sharply honed as anthropologist, physician, and Partners In Health co-founder Paul Farmer's.

Here at the Global Philanthropy Forum, Farmer has provided his usual blunt assessment. Somehow, he says, anything that is intended to serve the poor is assumed to be too expensive to do well. We are told that we lack the expertise. Don't have the infrastructure. The capital cost is too high. The technology really won't meet the challenge. And the costs of inaction never get tallied.

Farmer calls this the "failure of imagination."

To prod our imagination, he meticulously lays out the flaws in each of these arguments -- and points out that no one ever has similar objections to health interventions that serve the prosperous.

Listening to him, I am reminded that for the world's poorest 1.5 billion people (those who are off the grid) solar and wind are already much cheaper sources of light than the kerosene they use instead.

And the arguments that Farmer cites from public health officials who, through a failure of imagination, argued that the world could never afford to treat HIV in Africa are eerily similar to those we hear about why wind, solar, and other clean-energy technologies can't meet the growth needs of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Expense and lack of reliability are the two big ones, just as they were for why HIV couldn't be treated in Africa.

But, lumen for lumen, solar power is now perhaps ten times cheaper than kerosene, and wind power is twenty times cheaper.

And that gap grows each month. As for reliability, anyone who has spent much time in a village on the grid in rural India or Africa knows that grid-power is at best a sometime thing.

Indeed, the original business model for India's Suzlon, the world's fourth biggest wind company, was based on wind power being more reliable for pumping energy in oil fields than grid power.

The cost of inaction? For all the discussion about how urgent it is to electrify India's villages, it remains the case that almost all of the proposed investment in the country's Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission is utility-scale solar intended for already electrified cities -- only 10 percent is aimed at unserved villages.

So I idly wonder what the conversation would be like if it were the rich and prosperous who did not yet have power from the grid?

Would we still be hearing that solar is "too expensive and unreliable"?

And I realize that we already know the answer to that question -- because in Europe and the U.S., it is the prosperous who are investing in roof-top solar, and their willingness to do so is sufficiently great that in virtually every state the private utilities have lobbied to keep it illegal for roof-top installations to feed the grid.

Why? Because they are afraid of the competition from their own customers. Even in California you aren't allowed to generate "too much" clean solar energy on your roof.

So the next time someone tells you that solar and wind are too expensive and unreliable, help them overcome their failure of imagination. Remind them that for at least a quarter -- and probably half of the world -- solar and wind are already dirt cheap and highly reliable, compared to what poor people get by with now. And remind them, too, of how quickly we brought down the cost of drugs to treat HIV simply by putting them into the hands of the people who needed them the most -- the poor.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By recent home builder on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 04:10 pm: Edit Post

Oh,yes,the people who sell wind and solar power in Jamaica are stumbling over their own feet to get the contracts for the airports and other "big" jobs,and are barely interested in speaking with those of us who have only a minumum of funds,but want and need to live in a sustainable way, without the huge expense of burning foreign oil,in a place where the wind blows most of the time and the sun shines daily.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Spooky Dude on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 09:40 pm: Edit Post

Zed those arguments are very specious, solar and wind technology are not cheap. The arguments lack logic,e.g.your last sentence.
Recent home builder, why should they be speaking to people who lack funds,the technology is expensive and foreign! They are in it to make money not to help you live cheaply!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By turey on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 06:51 pm: Edit Post

There is indeed a market for small systems that could be expanded RHB. An integrated, weather protected, ergonomically contained battery, charge regulator and inverter that has snap in one way connectors to panels to prevent incorrect connections for a start. There is a system I saw for a while here like that. It had two lamps and maybe a plug for small watt draws. It was suitcase size. Designed for camping and standby.

Trackers and mounts could be sold seperately.

We are acustomed to building as the $ are available. Packages that can be easily connected and enlarged as needed would fit the bill.

As these systems need some care and expertise, even with safe containering, installation should be offered, especially for the larger and more powerful assembleages.

Once the sale is completed for a big job, maintainance is the only next earner for someone staying in the business. Affordable systems in all hardware and appliance ahops is long term business for maintainers, installers, retailers etc. Eventually the recyclers for all the copper wire and utility poles too. The steel and cement ones are great building columns. Not sure about the preservative on the wood posts.

What is a sensible starting price for a startup system?

I can get something like that for under $1,000 at Canadian Tire, peice peice. I'm sure we could even half this with appropriate marketing, design and taxes with the potential volume of sales here. There would be a side market for trade ins and trade ups.

Wind generators should be avallable for those with regular wind. Again installers and maintainance. I've seen some stalled blades around.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zed on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - 06:51 am: Edit Post

Any man who is not a socialist at age 20 has no heart. Any man who is still a socialist at age 40 has no head.--attributed to Georges Clemenceau
...but since age 65 might be the "new 40", there might be a bit more wiggle room when eligibility for "socialized" social security benefits & medicare for an aching back is on a revised horizon!...and, after all, major businesses and financial entities have pointed the way, with government bailouts, to fudge a "not so free market", when they indicate a demur willingness to privatize their profits, but socialize their losses.

Spooky D... [edited by TB.Net] Need a roadmap...a coaxing to sharpen your arithmetic pencil while calculating your JPS light bill this month & how long before your dollar starts to scream....next month (what percentage of your income is going towards utilities...too much then plant a garden and raise some chickens to ease the financial drain...your nascent bargaining skills?}

Specious? ...how so Specious? (apparently good or right or pleasing to the eye, but lacking real merit.)
Conservative about the status quo...the un-moveable mountains always in front of us!
Which angle of the discussion do you consider good & right & which is lacking merit?...that the poor, who don't have a whole heap of HD TVs & other energy-hog appliances to power-up, should be deprived of improving their "financial independence" by using a few Solar PV panels to replace kerosene lamps, so that their children might read by LED lights at night...especially, when their governments and cash-heavy Non Profit Organizations can offer loans, incentives and subsidies to do so.
Is it "lacking merit" to indicate that building up economies of scale in the Renewable Energy sector (products/devices) will not drastically lower prices and bring more competition into play.
Surely, the unmuzzled majority would buy into that persuasion!

As national energy policy, any relief from having to import expensive, dutty fossil fuels to power the national grid, by employing a percentage mix of Renewable Energy sources, should seem both "good & right & having real merit."

RHB...I feel your pain when it comes to our local Renewable Energy Vendor/Engineers. We must, through some form of co-operative group action, hold their feet to the fire. Would you like to share with the Forum some of your experiences or even identify where your new home is and we will attempt to call the most local RE installers to help you work the numbers and try to satisfy your anxieties about loans, financing, pricing.

This is not an endorsement of any enterprise, but a clear-cut testing ground to appraise PERFORMANCE & SERVICE & EFFICIENCY OF DESIGN & RAPID PAY-BACK (Break-Even Point) for your system.

GREEN LANTAN (Lilitz District) has made a pitch for the local business...should we give them a hearing and entertain their proposals, in a bundled fashion, so as to maximize some economies of scale and more potent purchasing power.
In our dreams, we foresee a small demo laboratory (solar co-op) of both a few Solar PV panels (with room to grow) & a Solar Hot Water system & a small Wind Turbine aesthetically integrated into such TB stalwarts buildings as Breds Source or the Womens Group where potential walk-in clients can come to do investigations and pick up a Pricing Sheet.

We also foresee young students visiting such a facility with Renewable Energy docents following in the wake of the Alternative Spring Break students from UVA and the workshop they did with the Power House Project.
We are not above scouting for any seed monies and subsidies from local or international benevolent groups which might wish to underwrite such a project, if they realized that they were dealing with a community-based, sustainable, local organization.
We are in full admiration of the service & labour of love that the Kennedy's (Rainbow Tree/Point villas) and their volunteer board of directors have performed in the area of childhood education and believe that the template that the non-profit Treasure Beach Foundation has executed would be valuable.


Seven Cooperative Principles:
The Cooperative
Definition:
A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Principles:
Cooperatives operate according to seven basic principles. Six were drafted by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in 1966, based on guidelines written by the founders of the modern cooperative movement in England in 1844. In 1995, the ICA restated, expanded and adopted the 1966 principles to guide cooperative organizations into the 21st Century.

1•Voluntary, Open Membership: Open to all without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.

2•Democratic Member Control: One member, one vote.

3•Member Economic Participation: Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of the cooperative. The economic benefits of a cooperative operation are returned to the members, reinvested in the co-op, or used to provide member services.

4•Autonomy And Independence: Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members.

5•Education, Training And Information: Cooperatives provide education and training for members so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

6•Cooperation Among Cooperatives: Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, regional, national and international structures.

7•Concern For The Community: While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.

The Solar Co-op:
... is a renewable energy co-operative that has been formed to help householders and businesses benefit from the huge advantages of adopting renewable energy solutions. We negotiate group discounts for the bulk buying of solar installations and take a small percentage of that discount from the suppliers as our fee. From this, we will be able to provide annual dividends to the co-operative members.

For the Anglophiles out in Forum country, who might feel that Madda Ingland might have a more suitable renewable energy pill for what ails its former colony, there is a model Solar Co-op there that might have a sweeter taste than if one were offered by the "grubby" 'mericans. Their model of incentives, rebates (subsidies going to Renewables rather than a long history of subsidies to fossil fuels) may appeal to our psyches.

The fact that one of these solar co-ops is in Maidenhead may appeal to virginal instincts.

www.thesolar.coop/why-a-co-operative


THE FINANCIALS: Renewable Energy vs. Nuclear•Coal•Natural Gas (LNG)•Oil•Co-Generation (Bagasse)

Private-sector bosses have warned that smart capital will stay away from the renewable energy projects if pricing policies do not make it possible for investors to secure a return on their money.

The National Development Plan - Vision 2030 - speaks to the desire to commission new renewable energy projects with a total capacity of up to 70MW by 2012.

An Energy Policy unveiled in 2006 and updated last year called for Jamaica to double the contribution, as part of its energy mix, to 20 per cent by 2020, which all participants at the forum agreed was a good idea.

If there was, however, one matter on which there was no consensus, it was on who should pay the difference between the cost of electricity generated from fossil fuels and that produced from renewables, with their potentially more expensive technologies.

The majority preference appeared to be direct subsidies from the Government rather than billing charges to consumers.

COAL:
Christopher Levy (CEO of the Jamaica Broilers Group):
"Why is Jamaica not using coal?"
He argued that if Jamaica turns to coal as a major fuel source, the country's energy bill could be reduced significantly, leading to growth in the local economy.
Today, coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, and price-wise, has historically been lower and more stable than oil and gas prices.

OPINION ALERT:
But Levy does not share the Government's enthusiasm for renewables, citing the costliness of solar, hydro, and wind technologies.

"Renewable Energy] is an emotional thing. It's emotional. Unless you have a specific, unique business opportunity, it's emotional, feel good … it makes no business sense. Our country is too small to subsidise it to any great measure."...the VOICE of a Coal-hearted promoter

Zia Mian [Head of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR)]:
...doesn't believe coal is an option for Jamaica. Noting that "there is no such thing as clean coal", he cautioned that the harm it could do to the environment in terms of its high carbon emissions might not be worth its relatively cheap cost.

He also thinks it would take too much time to implement to be useful at this time.


Powering Jamaica - Experts Call For Greater Push Towards Renewable Energy:
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110424/lead/lead2.html

History of Co-ops in Jamaica:
www.dcfsjamaica.org/site/dcfshistory.html


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zed on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - 06:21 am: Edit Post

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY: Wearing Your Solar Power

VIDEO:
Solar Textiles Bring Light To Remote Villages
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/26/solar-textiles-remote-villages


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Zed on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - 11:38 pm: Edit Post

While Di Sun Shine Down Upon Yu Roof...Light Bill Rising True Di Roof!

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110427/lead/lead4.html