Energy Team
Energy production has become deeply centralized in contemporary society. On the positive side, this allows economies of scale that are not possible – or at least more difficult – for more decentralized energy production. There is a great deal on the negative side, however:
- Centralized power means... well... centralized power! Because the financial incentives for maintaining the statu quo are so high, there's little motivation to develop new forms of generating power that could lessen cost and lessen or eliminate dependency.
- Centralized power is inherently inefficient. A short film by Greenpeace describes how central power plants in the UK are responsible for 32% of emissions, and waste over 60% of the power that they generate. Simple, much more efficient alternatives are not generally pursued.
One goal of the energy team is to become familiar with existing distributed energy generation technologies. These include well-known technologies for generating electricity:
- Photovoltaic panels
- Wind turbines
- Hydro-electric generators
as well as technologies for generating fuel (which can, if desired, then be used to generate electricity):
- Biodiesel conversion
- Methane conversion
- Generating hydrogen
In addition, there are a number of technologies that are used on a much smaller scale, but that have potential for use in the developing world:
- Geothermal energy
- Wave generators
- Solar Stirling engines
- Pedal generators
