DP: Utilities & Self-Sufficiency

In this blog I will aim to expose evidence that there is sufficient technology available for households and small communities to be able to produce their utilities and public services. I will be focusing primarily on services such as electric generation, fuel for cooking/heating, water supply, and waste water treatment.

In terms of electricity generation we have two main technologies which are the most relevant for household electric production eolic and photovoltaic. Eolics are based on using the power of the wind to rotate a turbine and generate electricity. It is important to say that eolic has the disadvantage that depends on wind speeds which are not always constant and there for not making it a100% reliable energy source. On the other hand we have photovoltaic which generates electricity by capturing the suns radiation and transforming it into direct current. This technology is great because in most parts of the world we have a reasonable amount of sunlight per day. Both of them are renewable and use unlimited power sources but have a major flaw as most of readers familiar with renewable know they are not able to store electricity. This can be solved with the installation of batteries (golf car batteries/marine batteries are great options) the amount and capacity of this batteries depend in the previewed electrical consumption of the household. In households which have a greater electrical consumption and electric appliances a Power Operating Module can be installed to better administer electric consumption. The best scenario for self sufficiency in electricity is to use both technologies this way you guarantee a more stable electrical output. I’d like to add that this technology is not so far fetch for poor countries as some skeptics might think, there is a story about a boy in Malawi who built a wind mill from scratch to produce electricity for his family.

The boy who harnessed the wind TEDX:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QkNxt7MpWM&feature=related

For heating there are technologies now available to maintain comfortable temperatures with minimal or no energetic usage. Most of these technologies are based on knowledge of heat transmissions, flows and interaction with building materials applied to design and architecture. One example of this is Michael Reynolds´ earthship biotecture he managed to solve heating problems by using car tires for the walls (used car tires packed with dirt are good insulators and have a big thermal mass) this and adequately placing the house facing the sun with glass panels on its front (glass panels allow lighting and heat to enter the house) leads to thermal gain throughout the day. The heat entering the house is stored in the tire walls and released throughout the night maintaining a stable temperature the whole day (excess heat is released through vents in the roof). In places with even colder conditions the back of the house is a contention wall and the house is partially embedded on the earth. The advantage of this is that earth’s soil maintains a fairly constant temperature due to the same principle than the tires it absorbs heat throughout the day and releases it during night helping even further in keeping heat inside. Another example of this type of approaches in a more urban context are the high-end BedZED buildings this are buildings which combine several methods such as super insulated walls (made out mineral wool), high thermal mass walls, airtight construction, passive heat recovery ventilation (a wind cowl system that makes the necessary air changes without electricity or excessive heat loss), special windows, biomass heaters, and in some cases the usage ground source heat pumps (geothermal energy on the earth’s surface is harvested and transferred into the building for heating).

Earthship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqSpx0Vgv4

Another technology related to heating and fuel production which I find particularly fascinating is biodigestors. Biodigestors are a perfect example of what Schumacher would call an intermediate technology (small scale, labor intensive, energy efficient and environmentally friendly). This technology basically consists on a hole on the ground covered up with plastic the input is mainly livestock excrement and organic waste, this waste is fermented by anaerobic bacteria as a result of this process we get two by products organic fertilizers with high nutritional value for plants and biogas that can be used for heating and cooking. It’s important to mention that during this process harmful bacterium and parasites in fecal matter are killed this way they don’t make their way to crops and eventually to humans. Another aspect worth mentioning is the low cost for example a small scale biodigestor in Costa Rica would cost around $150 this means it’s actually pretty feasible for low income regions (rural areas/¨developing¨ countries).

EARTH University Biodigester: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMR4KnGktds

The final technologies I will be exploring are water harvesting and waste water treatment. Water harvesting from precipitation is nothing new in fact is one the oldest technologies used by human kind and there are many methods to do it depending on the region, the annual precipitation, and the seasons. It fundamentally consists of capturing water during the rainy season from rooftops and driving it into a cistern where it is stored to be used during the dry season. This water might not be apt for human consumption but this can be easily solved my boiling water or using UV light which kills most pathogens in water. It is important that during the design face it is clearly calculated the amount of water consumption of the household or community in order to make a cistern with the appropriate dimensions and be able to withstand the dry season without water shortages. Generally water harvesting methods are advisable for regions with an annual precipitation greater the 200mm. This can be stretched a bit by being more efficient in our water usage. Earthship biotecture addresses this problem in a very clever way by reusing the same water up to four times in different processes. Water harvested first is used for drinking, washing, and taking a shower (grey waters) this water then is collected again on a ¨botanical cell¨ (a garden is irrigated with this water) there water is naturally purified by plants, rocks, soil and sand and collected once again. The water collected then is used to flush the toilets of the household these black waters are then driven into a septic tank where is treated (there are a wide varitety of methods), when the septic tank over flows this waters which are already treated goes to a second botanical cell outside here is used as irrigation and fertilizer. These types of systems have been proven to be efficient in arid regions such as Taos New Mexico.

Finally I’d like to say that I have only researched a small amount of methods in which we can be self sufficient. I am sure all around the world we can find more and more examples of how people came up with simple ways to provide themselves with basic services through observation and understanding of natures processes and then applying them on their favor to satisfy their needs. I strongly believe that we can achieve a good and comfortable standard of living with this type of technologies. It is important to notice that through the implementation of this type of measures we are making a drastic change on the impact ones live has on earth. With the electric generation technologies exposed we are eliminating the need for coal/gas burning power plants and all the negative impacts that derive from this such as pollution. With water harvesting we are putting a stop on the drainage of aquifers preventing drought and not alternating waters natural cycle. Waste water treatment on sight prevents contamination of rivers that occur on many ¨developing countries¨. We can achieve many services by substituting them with the environmental services nature has to offer at a low cost and for free. Gaining our back our independence from utility companies which constantly increase prices affecting the ones that are the most in need.

References:

http://www.chromasomatic.com/blog/?p=738

http://earthship.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainwater_harvesting

http://www.zedfactory.com/

PS. Sorry there is no pictures Im having some technical problems Ill try to include them later.

Comments Off on DP: Utilities & Self-Sufficiency / 08 Jan 2012 por Javier Solano Palacios
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