PDC+++ Module 4 Class 6 Renewables

+ PDC
Module 4 of the PDC+++
+ +
Energy & EcoTechnology
Class We dedicate this Module to the Mother &
Father of Integral Permaculture: Dana
M4.6 Meadows & Howard Odum, two original
pioneers who helped humanity make
Renewables great strides in understanding systemic
thinking, in all four quadrants.

What Energy Sources are available & how do they work?
Civilizations are based on the fuels they use to power themselves.
The fuel determines the technologies used, and the technologies determine the
lifestyles, economies, and eventually the entire culture.
So the transition to sustainable fuels is critical if we wish to design sustainable
cultures.

This class explores which fuels can be considered 'renewable' & under which
circumstances.

Also we look into the various transformer technologies which are needed to
make this energy available to us, how they are most effectively used and we
explore what a truly 'solar-powered civilization' might look like.

M4.6 * What Energy Sources are
available & how do they Work?
Direct Link to this chapter in the e-book: www.bit.ly/Renewables46

Energy Sources & Societal Design

Jeevon's Paradox

Gravitational

GeoThermal

Solar Energy

Leverage Points in a System

“That you may live in interesting times”

we are destroying 200
species per day - all being
tranformed to human

“In times of
biomass biodiversity right now are alive 3/4 of the
extraordinary extinction 65+ year olds that have ever

change, energy-matter & lived. A fundamental problem
of the 21st century.
the 'gray wave'

the problem is
NOT in achieving
all that we could PEAK OIL
2000 CLIMATE
dream, 2020 CHANGE

but in NOT
dreaming all that monetary
we could achieve” instability
&
(Dee Hock) in the last 20years, the 500
the information
largest firms in the world revolution ... things are a lot more
increased their production &
sales by 700% whilst REDUCING interesting than we
their labour force usually imagine ...

What happens with sources & consumption of energy?

Fossil Fuels +
BioEnergies
Nuclear

What happens with complexity?

knowledge >> general principles

See
Class M4.4 Energy
&
Class M4.4 Odum

300.000 emjoules are needed to
produce a joule of electric energy

A society RE-DESIGNED for an energy descent
HT Odum "A Prosperous Way Down"

Basically there are 3
Energy SOURCES:

Thermo-Solar
Gravitational Photovoltaic
Wind
GeoThermic Waves
Hydro
Solar BioEnergy
(Plants & Animals)

Fossil Reserves
(Coal, Oil, Gas)

Geo
Thermal Tidal Dams
Gas from Rubbish
Gravi- Marine Wind
tational
Small Hydro
Terrestial Wind
Solar Big Hydro
source: The Ecologist
Concentrated Solar Magazine
Tidal Currents
Waves
Solid Biomass

Thermo-Solar
PhotoVoltaic
Conventional Coal
GeoThermal

Nuclear
Heat Pumps
Clean Coal

BioDiesel
Ethanol
Tar Sands

In 1865, the English economist William Stanley Jevons observed that technological
improvements that increased the efficiency of coal use led to the increased consumption of
coal in a wide range of industries.
He argued that, contrary to common intuition, technological improvements could not be relied
upon to reduce fuel consumption.

History has repeatedly shown that energy-efficiency rarely leads to net energy reduction.

In fact, quite frequently, efficiency improvements make things worse by actually encouraging a
net waste in energy.
This counter-intuitive effect is known as the Jevons Paradox.

The end aim is NOT
ENERGY higher
REDUCTION efficiencies

Gravitational Energy

Height of tides in the port of
Brest (France) in December
2000

Gravitational Energy

(PowerBuoy in
Reedsport, Oregon)

WAVE POWER

TIDAL POWER
(SeaGen in
Strangford Lough, UK)

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal gradient

Geothermal Energy

Applications

¡

Geothermal Energy

Biggest hotspots in the world

Geothermal Energy

High-temperature deposits (>100ºC): Electricity generation

Geothermal Energy

Mid-temperature deposits (>30ºC & <100ºC): Heating

Geothermal Energy

Low-temperature deposits (<30ºC): Heat pump

Geothermal Energy

GeoVentilation: Canadian Well

Winter:
Outside temperature
3º C
House air inflow
14.5º C

Summer:
Outside temperature
31.5º C
House air inflow
19.5º C

Sunlight in the areas represented by black disks could produce enough energy to power the world. Credit: ez2c.de

Gravitational
GeoThermal
Solar Thermal Energy
Solar Photovoltaics

Wind power

Hydropower

BioMass
(Plants & Animals)


Direct Circulation


Forced Circulation


We‟ll study many solar devices in the M4.9 & M4.10 – EcoScience – classes
… and you can build many of them :)

Photovoltaics

Connecting to the grid

Photovoltaics

Solar Cooperative

Photovoltaics

Solar Guerrilla

Wind Power

Connecting to the grid

Wind Power

Micro Wind Turbines

Wind Power

Homemade Wind Power

Biomass

Electricity generation

Class
M4.5
9) Numbers. Meadows
8) Material stocks and flows

PermaCulture we're building 7) Regulating negative feedback loops.
6) Driving positive feedback loops.
5) Information flows.
4) The rules of the system (incentives,
punishments, constraints).
What we've got / already built
3) The power of self-organization
2)The goals of the system
Places
1) The mindset or paradigm out of which
to the system arises
Intervene 0) The power to transcend paradigms
in a System

The GOALS of the
System

DeGrowth!
DESIGN is
conscious
creation

Re-
design
myths!

&
The mind- FACILITATE
set or healing of
paradigm addictions

Mad Max etc. ... apocalyptic cinema

a flotilla of
Whilst current society rescue-
(the Destructo-Culture)
continues sailing along, in great
boats is not
part ignorant of its wake-up call enough
with Nature...
beyond
the
ABC

in the modern Titanic ...
How many are still :
A) enjoying the view, B) re-organizing the deck-chairs
C) trying to persuade the captains to change course?

The Jetsons, Venus Project, etc.“TechnoFantasy”

The Metaphor of the
Chrisalis
The waking of Planetary
Consciousness

after much
pruning &
eating
the caterpillar
encloses itself in
a chrysalis

& some imaginal cells appear,
apparently „from nowhere‟
... & at the start are killed
as „foreign‟ to the system

... but then more & more
imaginal cells appear,
& little by little they group
to form new organs

&
dramaticall
y change
the design

... when the chrysalis opens, a
completely new creature emerges

We are all in Transition, Re-designing ...
as imaginal cells (activists)

Inventing
our new
butterfly
self
(empowered)

& we need to CONNECT
in order to co-create the new structure, together

M4.6 * What Energy Sources are
available & how do they Work?
Our Imagination, Hope, Intelligence, Optimism
Energy Sources & Societal Design

Jeevon's Paradox

Gravitational In the e-book:
www.bit.ly/Renewables46

GeoThermal

Solar Energy

Leverage Points in a System

PDC+++ Module 4 Class 6 Renewables

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PDC+++ Module 4 Class 6 Renewables