[sudo-discuss] Power grid: the internet of electricity: was Re: Sudo room should be about creating

Tue Mar 26 17:06:00 PDT 2013

A lot of the arguement against power grids is ultimately rooted in
opposition to having our energy supply controlled by distant
corporations whose decisions are not sustainable and not in our interests. 

I agree that over-dependence on greedy corporations for vital
infrastructure, merely for the sake of convenience, is a shortcut to
servitude.  Google is the worst offender, with its seductive Gmail and
Google Voice offering "convenience" in exchange for intensive and
intrusive surveillance, not only of those who use the services, but of
everyone they communicate with.  (Worst of all, Google Glass: "become a
volunteer surveillance drone!")

The model we should be looking toward, to manage the power grid, is one
of municipally-owned transmission infrastructure (the wires along the
streets), and diversification of power producers (from individual
households to the existing power utilities).  Everyone would be paid the
same rate for power they "upload" to the grid, and everyone would pay
the same rate for power they "download."  This would immediately level
the playing field and provide an enormous incentive for all manner of
renewable and new-tech power generation. 

Further, the municipal ownership model should also apply to the wired
telecoms grid: telephone and internet.  (Even your mobile device is only
"wireless" for the last half mile at most; the rest of the way it's as
wired as my antique dial phones.)  All of these things are using the
public rights-of-way along the streets; they are arguably public
rights-of-way in themselves, and as such, should be owned by the public. 

The municipal internet of electricity would entail each local power
producer (household or larger) having small storage capacity on-site,
and a switching synchronized inverter to connect to the grid.  An
onboard microprocessor with an analog voltage sensors would monitor line
power to determine when power should be uploaded to the grid or
downloaded from the grid.  Simple "net metering" would keep track of the
billing. 

The small decentralized battery packs would act primarily as buffers, to
level out power production and consumption among users.  Overnight and
over multiple cloudy days, and during peak demand hours, the
decentralized solar would be supplemented by other power sources such as
micro-reactors and natural gas turbines. 

The uniform pricing mechanism would prevent predatory "arbitrage" of
electricity, and provide the incentive to install solar panels on every
solar-accessible flat surface, even on bus shelters and other street
kiosks. 

The point-of-production microprocessors would be isolated from the
internet to prevent cyber-attacks against the grid: the best kind of
"smart grid" is one that self-regulates locally without being vulnerable
globally. 

I should also mention: Yes, electric automobiles can provide household
power storage in the absence of having a grid, but a) not everyone owns
or even wants an automobile, b) if you've drained your car battery pack
overnight to power your house, it's not available the next morning to
get you to work, and c) even if everyone could afford a new electric
car, there are good reasons to reduce car ownership and usage in favor
of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, buses, and trains. 

Beyond that, we should not be destroying our civic infrastructure in
favor of requiring everyone to have their own i-Things or do without. 
Public phones, public bathrooms (do you really want to carry an i-Pee
around?), public drinking fountains, public benches for sitting, public
transport, etc.: are all civic goods that make the public sphere more
user-friendly and accessible.  A public power grid is another example,
as with public water supply, public sewage treatment, and refuse
disposal: life without those things would be worse than miserable.

Don't destroy it: reclaim it, revision it, and rebuild it. 

-G.

=====

On 13-03-26-Tue 3:41 PM, Anthony Di Franco wrote:
> Production of alternative energy can be and for most reasons probably
> should be much less centralized, equivalently, smaller-scale, than
> production of energy mostly is now. (Off-grid, as you mention, but
> very literally.)
> Large-scale up front + large, complex distribution networks is
> revealed as an obsolete architecture; large scale distribution
> networks become relatively less important, so even if the answer to
> your question is no, which it probably isn't given crowdfunding and
> other disintermediated finance gaining momentum, it's moot, or at
> least of much less relative importance.
> Put another way, when the most important goal is maximum efficiency
> rather than maximum centralization, large upfront capital investment +
> large, complex distribution network is stupid; proper accounting
> <https://homebrewindustrialrevolution.wordpress.com/> of all costs and
> benefits in a global rather than piecewise local sense reveals this
> now for agriculture, manufacturing, energy, ...
> Even now, buffering between supply and demand is a constraint on grid
> architecture leading to great economic demand within the current
> paradigm for distributed storage / production of energy according to
> someone who came through sudo room whose name escapes me.
> This loosely-drafted email brought to you by the slogan
> <http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2010/11/eaas-non-rival-goods-vs-rival-goods.html>,
> "localize production, virtualize everything else"
> <http://www.miiu.org/wiki/Resilient_Things_by_Top-Level_Category> and
> the acronym STEMI <http://www.accelerationwatch.com/mest.html>
> compression
> <http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2008/11/stemi.html>.
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 3:17 PM, Romy Ilano <romy at snowyla.com
> <mailto:romy at snowyla.com>> wrote:
>
>     Is it possible to create alternative energy distribution networks
>     (biofuels/solar/ wind etc) that replace mainstream petrol and
>     natural gas based energy without a large financial sector? 
>
>     the vc system that funds these alternative energy start-ups piggy
>     backs off the investment banks, etc. and big private equity and
>     institutional investment funds. vcs are like a fly on the @ss of a
>     financial hippo.
>
>     I haven't heard people discuss off-grid that much in the tech
>     talks I've been to( which are excellent). Is there a conversation
>     here that would show how off grid is a viable alternative, even if
>     it's not a big money solution?
>
>
>
>
>
>     On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 1:56 PM, <hol at gaskill.com
>     <mailto:hol at gaskill.com>> wrote:
>
>         this talk about imports and exports always reminds me of
>         energy flow
>
>         compare 2011
>         https://www.llnl.gov/news/newsreleases/2012/Oct/images/25306_LLNLUSEnergy2011650.jpg
>
>
>         with 2002
>         http://www.hubbertpeak.com/us/images/us_energyflow2002.jpg
>
>         fascinating
>
>
>
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>
>
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