[p2p-research] Floating Hydro-Electric Barrel Generator

[M. Fioretti]

On Mon, Oct 05, 2009 08:09:42 AM -0500, Ryan Lanham wrote:
> Marco:
> 
> I am, so far, personally very suspicious of all local projects on
> power because of pollution.  Stream ecologies can be easily ruined.

This is the same concern I mentioned, isn't it?

I assume by Active Solar you mean photovoltaics and by Passive water
heaters and such, isn't it? In any case, I had not thought until today
to any leakage related problem, thanks for mentioning it.

Even ignoring leakage, I agree that really implementing off the grid
living, p2p energy production, smart grids etc... on a large scale
will prove to be much harder than we'd like it to be.

Just yesterday a friend of mine who lives in a small single townhouse
complained that Italian regulations forbid her to install as much PV
panels as she could actually host her roof. She'd have tax discounts
for the number of panels whose theoretical output equals the top power
output (let's say 3KW) of her current power line from the utility
company, and she could "sell" to that company the electricity she
doesn't use personally. But she wouldn't have these incentives for
extra panels.

First I agreed with her that this is a dark conspiracy from powerful,
greedy, amoral corporations to keep all us slaves of their services.
Only later I realized that (even if the first reason is certainly
present) there are objective technical reasons to forbid certain
practices today. If she (and all her neighbors) installed 6KW worth of
PV panels instead of 3KW, and all those panels started to pump energy
into the current breakers, local grid etc... all that part of the grid
would blow up on the first sunny day.

> I also have grave doubts about personal manufacturing for similar
> reasons...I doubt people will be able to do it without losing hands,
> eyes, etc. on a regular basis.  It will be impossible to regulate
> and set training standards.
> ...
> Specialization has ruled the world for 300 years.  I don't see that
> stopping soon.  And specialization, but its very nature, is not
> broad-based and distributed.

I also share all your concerns about this. Years ago I used as a
signature that Heinlein quote saying more or less "a human being
should be able to do [practically everything]. Specialization is for
insects" because it looks real cool. Then I realized just what you
write above plus the fact that, as somebody said on Slashdot:

"the whole damned point of having a civilization is to allow a small
minority of farmers to produce enough food for everyone so that the
rest of us can do things like engineering, science, art, law,
politics, philosophy and all those other things that many of us find
more satisfying than toiling in a field"

Oh, and did you read
http://p2pfoundation.net/Thoughts_on_P2P_production_and_deployment_of_physical_objects

There is place and need for a LOT more of P2P-ness in the world than
there is today of course. Especially in education, it is important to
teach kids that, even if it is not realistic or worthwhile to go for a
100% "distributed personal manufacturing" world (unless you aim to 50+
generations from now) they can have much more control on their future
than was possible in other ages, if they are more "peers among peers"
than our generation is.
  
> The P2P implications of personal natural gas engines as are being
> tried out in Germany are very interesting.  I can see that working.

I can see it working for "rich" people, that is those owning single
houses. Not for the masses living in condos. But we'll see.

> No one is a bigger fan of passive solar/OTEC-hydrogen-Ammonia cycles
> than me.

Links about this, please?

> So, as big a fan as I am of the commons and commoners, I don't see
> related P2P solutions in money, manufacturing or power as very
> realistic transformative ideals.

I think this is mostly valid for me too.

  Marco
-- 
Your own civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how
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