 |
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cornellbox |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Earlier this year, it was reported that an elementary school in Michigan which had installed three wind turbines would not be allowed to connect them to the grid because of "'safety and reliability' concerns about allowing the school windmills to continue supplying power to the electrical grid" from the local utility company, DTE.  Local supporters of the program expressed their suspicions about the objections DTE was raising: Pauly said he thinks the utility is putting up roadblocks because it doesn't want to see someone else generating electricity in the Thumb.
The windmills had been operating for about a month. DTE gets most of its power from burning coal.
"DTE, it's the only game in town and they're concerned about the money," Pauly said. "I hate to say that and I don't generally talk like that, but in this case, I think that's exactly what it is."
Pauly said teachers, students and the community rallied around the project and are upset that the windmills aren't turning anymore. But today, after the school administrators and utility company officials met several times, the issue has been resolved and the 65 kW project should be online again next month. This has also prompted the Michigan Public Service Commission to begin an invesitagtion into how the state's utility companies work with independent energy projects such as this one. This is just one more hurdle that proponents of wind power are going to have to face in the coming years. Big utility companies don't want to let anyone else play in their sandbox. Michigan, like many other states, has no net-metering requirements, so independent power projects such as this one are less economically viable, because the utility will not buy the surplus electricity. Not only are the kids at Laker Elementary School going to learn about the physical aspects of alternative energy, they are also getting an education in the bureaucratic and regulatory environment in which it takes place.
via: GLRC Environment Report on Michigan Radio - NOTE: The image above is not from the school project; it's just a nice turbine image.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, if you had a large area of land available (for instance), it would be relatively easy to install a ground source heat pump system. These can also be done in places with more limited available land around them, but I think that cutting 4' - 6' trenches and installing tubing in them is probably cheaper than boring holes hundreds of feet deep for a vertical exchange system. Ground source heat pumps are very efficient (can be 300% to 600% efficient, since they are leveraging "free energy" from the ground source loops). It would still be an expensive project to install the loops in the trenches and to replace your current furnace system with a new heat pump, but the unit would pay for itself with the energy savings in a few years (5-10 years according to the DOE website info linked above). I think that a GSHP would be the most economically sensible option for you to consider, but other options could be considered if you were inclined to experiment. There was an article in last week's Ann Arbor News about a high school physics teacher who has installed a photovoltaic system at his home to demonstrate that PV can work even in Michigan. It can be done, but without net-metering, it's not a hugely attractive option. I've been thinking about a solar hot water system (as a supplemental system, rather than relying on it 100%). Since we are going to be putting in a radiant heating system, and have already put in a larger water heater for it, it could be useful to have a supplemental system that would aid in heating both our domestic hot water and the whole house. But that is still some time off for us. I don't know how suitable the area is for a wind turbine. Commercial turbines, like those going up on farms along the Canadian coast of Lake Huron are huge (1.8Mw generating capacity and a hub height of 200' and blade tip altitude of more than 300'), so proximity to the airport (not to mention objections from the neighbors, cost, and other factors) would probably preclude anything that massive. And there's no support for buying that power from DTE, either. Wind maps show that area as being only marginal for wind power. A friend of mine who lives near the Florida coast was looking at a much smaller turbine (400 watts) for her house, but it would be just a hobby kind of thing to experiment with, and not a significant contribution to their power use. I'd be happy to review some of this (esp. the GSHP) with you further if this is something you're interested in actively pursuing. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
