I think it is also ok to accept that cities won’t produce all that they consume. They need to import food, water, makes sense that they import energy too.
Comment on Half of Americans can’t install solar panels. Community solar is how they can plug into the sun.
mbelcher@kbin.social 1 year ago
The "half of americans" in the headline is those that live in apartment buildings.
No roof, no solar power.
That has been the dispiriting equation shutting out roughly half of all Americans from plugging into the sun.
While community solar is indeed awesome, we need to have apartment and commercial buildings install solar as well.
keepthepace@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
LilNaib@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
Tucson, Arizona in the Sonoran Desert receives more rainfall annually than the amount sourced municipally. In other words, even in a desert city like Tucson, there’s no need to import water. We are wasteful not by nature but by habit, and that can be changed. Rainwater harvesting with thoughtful usage, mulching and locally-appropriate plants and greywater provide all the water necessary except in the most extreme environments such as Death Valley. But even in Death Valley a single family home could provide all its own water through the above if they were also doing solar distillation and reuse.
With proper management and cultural development, cities can provide all their own water and energy and a substantial portion of food.
keepthepace@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
Had never made the calculation about water, but it makes sense thanks. Thing is, we usually consume ground water that has been filtered after being rained, that explains the need to import, otherwise we need a lot of artificial filtration, which would also probably remove a lot of water circulation within the ecosystem. Doable but not necessarily with a lower impact.
LilNaib@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
Doable but not necessarily with a lower impact.
According to Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond (volume 1, 3rd edition) by Brad Lancaster, page 249, an example household doing water harvesting and reuse, saves between 80kWh and 97kWh per month and between 174 pounds (78.8kg) and 211 pounds (95.5kg) of CO2 emissions. That’s a huge win for rainwater harvesting and greywater.
Rooftop solar and wind also save a ton of water since traditional generation methods of burning fossil fuels need lots of water.
And according to the same book, page 240, here are some kWh/gallon ranges of various water sources:
- on-site rainwater: 0.0000 to 0.0007 kWh/gal
- on-site greywater: 0.0000 to 0.0002 kWh/gal
- groundwater: 0.0006 to 0.0020 kWh/gal
- avg utility water: 0.0011 to 0.0041 kWh/gal
- brackish groundwater: 0.0032 to 0.0379 kWh/gal
LilNaib@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
I agree but just want to add that at least some people in apartments and condos can still produce and use solar-generated electricity. Here’s a cool example:
arstechnica.com/…/i-disconnected-from-the-electri…
Although I have rooftop solar producing around 200% of our usage annually, I was inspired by this story and have been increasingly using our offgrid LFP (LiFePO4 / lithium iron phosphate) backup batteries with solar panels to power certain things.
I think people in apartments would need rooftop access (ideally), equator-facing windows or a balcony, at the very least, for this to make ecological sense as there’s a carbon cost to manufacturing batteries and solar panels. But it’s doable and some people are doing it!
Here’s another:
athos77@kbin.social 1 year ago
I'd love to have solar, but my HOA won't allow it :(