permaculture

[Envirofarming <envirofarming@earthlink.net>]

Sharonka, I know this is slightly going off on a tangent, but your comments 
about solar power really struck a chord with me. It really pisses me off 
the way prominent, mainstream thinking insists that solar and wind are 
still the solutions of the far-distant future, but not practical for now. I 
have lived all my life in a solar powered house (I am 22). But recently in 
Australia there was a conference on Future Energy Solutions and all that 
was discussed prominently was nuclear power and ways to make coal/gas less 
damaging to the environment. I just wanted to get in there and shout: 
solar/wind is not some far-fetched idea that hasn't been thought quite 
through properly yet, it is available and on the ground now. All Australian 
energy needs could easily be supplied by solar farms alone (easy because we 
have lots of sun all year round). Yet these possibilities are ignored, to a 
great extent because big industry has tied too much up in coal and needs to 
protect its investment. Meanwhile we suffer and they destroy our world.

But: best not to run to county commissioner, local government or whatever. 
I don't think anyone -- however firmly committed -- can ever get the 
massive changes we need at that level. Because you can't change the system 
by working within the system and the system is what is stuffed. We need to 
work from the ground up, organizing together at a grass-roots level, 
building protest movements and changing the world from below. It is great 
there are so many wonderful people out there all over the world who care 
and are trying to live sustainably. Now we have to fight to change things.


Response:
Elin,
As I work in a corporate environment, I know exactly what you are talking 
about.  I work for Consumers Energy, a large utility in the state of 
Michigan.  We control more than half the state's area and around 50% of the 
population.  We recently had a meeting where the Vice President of our side 
of the company (generation), and he stated that we are in dire need of 
repairs at our outdated plants.  He stated that we could recoop our coal 
plants, but nuclear was the best alternative.  I felt like screaming.  
However, when the possibilities of environmentally sound methods such as wind 
turbines or water power were brought up, he stated that they weren't 
efficient enough.  It would take twice the land mass to build a wind turbine 
farm as it would a coal plant, if not more!  One wind turbine, if properly 
maintained will peak out at around 5mw of power.  This would provide enough 
power for around 100 homes for a day.  That isn't efficient enough in today's 
society.  However, if we were to use wind power, water power, and other 
environmentally-friendly sources, I think it would be much more efficient 
even than coal power.  It wouldn't pollute the environment, either.  Your 
response makes more than a lot of sense, and we are definitely on the same 
page.  My brother and I are starting a company (once funds are secured) in 
order to educate the general public as to the advantages of sustainable 
living, as well as provide a landscaping and organic produce service and 
products.  Thanks for the insight.

Jerod Groulx