In this, and the subsequent posts I would like to revisit and complete the discussion of the Permaculture principles I started three years ago.
Don't Spend Your Life Savings on Getting By
When hearing renewable energy people tend to think of solar panels or wind turbines, which in turn bring to mind the amount of pollution involved. This is when skeptics raise the issue of the production of photovoltaics or the impact of large scale wind parks on migratory birds, all of which may be true, but it drags the topic away from renewable resources.
For that reason I would like to bring up the business analogy of David Holmgren, where he relates energy to money. Suppose you are fairly well off, thanks to having inherited, or saved up a good amount of money. This amount in the bank symbolizes our oil fields, and other non-renewable resources. Depleting our fossil fuel reserves can be seen as using our life savings for paying the rent, bills, food, vacations, etc. Depending on the amount we have, and the expenses of our lifestyle, this could last longer or shorter, but it's going to used up eventually.
Even if we budget it wisely (which is not precisely what our global industry is doing), any larger unforeseen costs, such as hospital bills, would pose serious problems. I hope this attitude towards handling our fortune should scream unsustainable, not only to business professionals. The obvious recommendation for such a situation would be to continue working to cover your regular expenses, using the savings for emergencies, or better yet, invest some of this money into something that brings continuous returns, possibly even increasing our fortunes. What works for money should be possible energetically.
In this light, the squandering of our global fortunes should raise at least an eyebrow of those business tycoons who are responsible for it. So why are non-renewable energy sources so popular anyway? The answer could be again, lack of creativity, flexibility, and sheer laziness. After all, as Holmgren points out, non-renewable energy tends to have a higher and more constant flow. On the other hand, since it does not require diversity, it tends to be also more centralized, and thus more vulnerable, than a complex system of many different types of renewable resources.
Paying Attention to Scale
Not all renewable energy sources are the same. Strictly speaking, even fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil are also renewable, provided we have millions of years to wait for them to accumulate again. Firewood also grows naturally, renewing itself periodically, but whether we can consider it as a wise choice of energy source depends on our rate of consuming it. This is where rocket stoves and rocket mass heaters make a huge difference to a common fireplace, because they utilize the fire's energy more efficiently, thus requiring less fuel.
But what if we didn't need to burn anything? Earthships maximize their solar gain, which heats up their insulated thermal mass walls, capturing and storing heat passively. The source of this energy is the sun, which comes up every day, providing more heat during the summer months. Even this source of energy will deplete at some point, however once again, the scale is so huge in this case, that we won't have to worry about this for thousands of generations. The same can be said about wind, ocean currents, geothermal energy, and even hydroelectric power.
Concerning the last example, I also want to point out, yet again, how important scale is. A huge dam can adversely affect the ecosystem of an entire watershed, while being a centralized and thus vulnerable system consumers become dependent on, a network of individual micro-hydro systems could offer a more autonomous and therefor more stable energy source, which doesn't have the same impact on the ecosystem.
Renewable Resources Not Just For Electric Power
Before my discussion on energy resources becomes fully focused on means to generate electricity, I want to point out that for most cases of non-electric energy there are a number of natural solutions. For example, if you really need to till the soil (there are many agricultural techniques which don't require it), it is more energy efficient to let pigs do it rather than putting in the physical work of a horse and human (not to mention machines). Pigs love to root around in a soil, turning it, fertilizing it, and getting rid of undergrowth that otherwise would be bound to grow back.
An Energetic Balance Sheet
This principle is not trying to make us avoid non-renewable sources of energy all together. Depending on the purpose, they may be appropriate. We just have to be aware of the consequences. No matter which type of energy resource we use for which purpose, it's important to keep the balance in mind: how long does it take for this type of energy to accumulate, and what is the intended purpose for this energy use? What do I take away, and what am I getting out of this? Once the transaction is complete, will I be energetically richer or poorer? Finally, what alternatives are there? Because there always are, even though it may require a bit of creative thinking to find them.
To see my discussions of other Permaculture Principles, take a look at these posts:
Permaculture: A Starting Point
David Holmgren
- Observe and interact
- Catch and store energy
- Obtain a yield
- Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
- Use and value renewable resources and services
- Produce no waste
- Design from patterns to details
- Integrate rather than segregate
- Use small and slow solutions
- Use and value diversity
- Use edges and value the marginal
- Creatively use and respond to change
Bill Mollison
- Work with nature, not against it
- The problem is the solution
- Maximum effect for minimum effort
- The yield of the system is theoretically unlimited
- Everything gardens