23 Jun 2006
Greenpeace Launch New Film on Decentralised Energy.
**Greenpeace** have just launched an excellent new film called Decentralised Energy – what are we waiting for?, which sets out a very clear argument for decentralised energy. It runs for 18 minutes and is narrated by Clive Anderson. The film sets out a very clear argument for a profound rethink of the National Grid, using the argument that climate change means we have a rapidly reduce carbon emissions, rather than the, in my view, equally compelling argument that it is madness to use a depleting resource in such a wasteful way. The film looks at the jewel in the decentralisers’ crown, Woking, and argues that it offers a model for the rest of the UK.
The film doesn’t talk much about what will actually power this new decentralised energy world, my guess is that it assumes natural gas will do that for us. It is a huge question, especially with uncertainty over gas supplies. Wood chips? Anaerobic digestion? The actual pieces of the puzzle aren’t explored, rather the bigger picture. The film does touch on conservation but only in passing, strikes me there is no point putting in DE unless you have maximised your efficiency first. I do think this film missed a golden opportunity to frame the need for DE in the context of peak oil, but it does do a very good job of making DE appear modern, stylish and groovy.
You can either obtain DVD copies of the film direct from Greenpeace, or you can watch the film online at the link above.
Jason Cole
24 Jun 1:17am
Interesting to hear about the Malmo project.
Googling “electricity balancing supply demand malmo” yielded at least the following 3 articles:
1) http://www.managenergy.net/download/nr85.pdf A brief resume on the project, noting it’s for 1000 homes
2) http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1271 a Californian’s view on the project, mentioning Peak Oil as well as Santa Barbara having similar goals to get off carbon energy
3) http://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2005/rx05195.pdf an interesting article on the challenges of maintaining electricity supply in changing times. It makes the excellent case for “Demand Response” as the primary means of balancing supply and demand.
The post-peak paradigm shift is one of demand-controlled supply to supply-controlled demand. In other words, no spare capacity. In the new paradigm, demand control will be the key ingredient towards stability of electricity distribution.
P2P Foundation » Blog Archive » Greenpeace Video on Decentralized Energy
27 Jun 12:26pm
[…] Reblogged from the Transition Culture blog “Greenpeace have just launched an excellent new film called Decentralised Energy – what are we waiting for?, which sets out a very clear argument for decentralised energy. It runs for 18 minutes and is narrated by Clive Anderson. The film sets out a very clear argument for a profound rethink of the National Grid, using the argument that climate change means we have a rapidly reduce carbon emissions, rather than the, in my view, equally compelling argument that it is madness to use a depleting resource in such a wasteful way. The film looks at the jewel in the decentralisers’ crown, Woking, and argues that it offers a model for the rest of the UK.” […]