Communications
I was thinking about the Dineh situation, having become interested in them through the mystery novels of Tony Hillerman, which made the connections to the Athabascan people I knew from Alaska, and then back to their mutual roots in the Yenesai region of Siberia from my Russian studies. They are all semi-nomadic in that they have permanent winter dwellings, but follow food sources at other times.
It seemed to be that there had to be a way to establish communications within the nation without causing harm, or building more than a minimum of artificial structures, and there are, but they are being built in “third world” areas because “everyone knows there are no huge expanses of wilderness in the United States.”
I caught this blurb on a blog at CNet, Green-tech base stations cut diesel usage by 80 percent, which deals with a system being created for Africa by Ericsson. That led to a similar system already being deployed by Motorola, again for Africa.
Why is this a great idea for Africa, but not a good idea for the US? Just because the electrical grid is available in most places, what’s wrong with using renewable or freely available energy everywhere it’s possible? Even if it’s rarely used, a diesel generator is expensive and polluting, as are most of the systems that produce the electricity available from the grid. Everyone around here carries gasoline generators, but no one has photo voltaic or wind systems, and rumor has it that we have sun and wind in Florida.
The systems are expensive now because of the low volume, but the volume isn’t going to get any higher if you can’t buy them in regions where they will work very well. I have a feeling that the Navajo Nation might be convinced to allow a large scale test of this “new” technology in their area, although I would suggest vertical axis wind turbines might be a better choice than the horizontal axis turbines many favor.
10 comments
Totally agree on the vertical axis wind turbines, and for extra fun combine it with a small solar tower.
Also, if you sink a large stone to absorb extra solar radiation during the day it can continue to produce energy during the night time.
The cell tower systems purposed for Africa use solar panels on the roof of the equipment building, and the horizontal axis turbines on the top of the towers, so they have that much right, but the vertical axis systems are less complex and “friendlier” to wildlife. A lot of people have essentially vertical axis systems to ventilate their attics down here, with a few using photo-voltaic for the purpose, and both work well. I can’t believe that either wouldn’t work in the desert Southwest.
With proper siting you can get the natural landscape to provide thermals for you.
Electrical transmission towers are ugly and inefficient. It takes a lot of energy to “push” the power through those lines.
Hmm. Based on the comments on that Mag Wind thread, the technology, the company or both may not be viable. I’d like to hear from someone who has such a system up and running.
I had a different thought, though. Florida, like much of the southern United States (including the Katy Prairie just west of Houston), has some significant bird migration routes. I presume such rooftop devices are less hazardous to migratory birds than modern windmills on towers are?
Nothing is ever simple…
There are a lot of other companies and manufacturers, I just liked their design, Steve. There are a lot of the vertical axis turbines in use in Europe to power coastal devices.
The “drum-type” turbines appear solid to birds and are avoided, unlike the propellers on the horizontal axis turbines, and height above the ground is not as important because they operate at lower speeds.
I don’t doubt you saw a lot of hostile comments, as I see them on every blog that deals with alternate energy. Most of them deal with costs that will come down as the technology matures, while the fossil fuel based systems continue to increase.
If someone finally figures out what to do with spent nuclear fuel, and decommissioned nuclear reactors, they might be worth discussing, but not until then.
Bryan, there were comments of that sort, but there were others questioning whether such a device could achieve the claimed efficiency. I don’t know; I’m no expert.
The other comments that concerned me had to do with attempts to contact that particular company; apparently, it hasn’t been heard from on the web in a while. Again, I have no direct knowledge of the situation, though I have a great deal of curiosity about such technologies in general.
Our Houston Sierra Club group has been actively defending the Katy Prairie flyway for quite a few years now, mostly against proposed (and scheduled) road building and airports, but also against other threats to wildlife… hence my question about birds. I suppose every environmentalist is looking for energy sources that do not endanger wildlife and/or the global climate.
(As for communications, perhaps we should be considering the clacks instead of cell phones… 🙂 )
The efficiency claims are laboratory data, and about as useful as EPA mileage ratings, i.e. only as basis of comparison, not as hard facts.
My appreciation of the design is that we use similar roof-mounted turbines for attic ventilation here where they work well, even in hurricanes, and the innovative use of magnets to avoid the bearing load, not an endorsement. It’s a new product and they aren’t easy to get out the door, but there are plenty of similar products available, and they are bird friendly as they appear solid, unlike the horizontal turbines that disappear at speed.
that design would help with this little problem. also, looks like mag-wind wasn’t too successful at ironing some of their problems, but another company seems to think the design has potential. it’ll be interesting to see what comes of it.
That’s another “minor” problem with HAWT design.
While I’m in favor of the VAWT, I don’t like them all, because some have the same “blade” problem as their horizontal counterparts, i.e. they become invisible to people and animal life at speed.
These California turbines and Finnish turbines are being sold and used. Combine them with battery storage and solar cells and you have an off-the-grid electrical system.