Comment on Half of Americans can’t install solar panels. Community solar is how they can plug into the sun.
keepthepace@slrpnk.net 1 year agoI 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.
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
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:
keepthepace@slrpnk.net 1 year ago
I am curious about how he gets to that numbers. Is he only counting transport? You need filtration, you need treatment, you may need pumping if you want any kind of pressure. And when all these are taken into account, I have a hard time believing that the economies of scale do not compensate for the transport.