“The potato is sad” – this phrase we heard frequently on our tour in the rural area of Chinchero, near Cusco, Peru. Water stress leaves no choice; rural communities, because of the need to adapt water management to the climate crisis, started to plant water: But in order for this resilience not to be directly consumed by an excessive use of water resources by urban centers, it is necessary to understand the necessary reciprocity in the territory.
Who has not felt that warmth that:
– emanates from a lit light bulb;
– comes out when you charge a cell phone;
– comes out from under a blender when you use it;
– from somewhere in the fridge;
– from the TV;
– from the radiator of a car, the tires, the exhaust, the gearbox casing;
– from the air conditioner;
– from the motor of a fan;
– from the sides of a pot on the stove;
– …
Every appliance that uses energy “always” gets hot. A little or a lot, but it gets hot. And that heat is not what we pay for to get light, sound, ventilation, “cold”, movement, entertainment, work. It is heat that is thrown into the thermodynamic dustbin we have turned the upper atmosphere into.
In the field of physics around 1850 a “law” was recognized that has not been refuted to this day: the Second Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Entropy. Sadly, when encountering words like physics, thermodynamics and (even worse) Entropy, the vast majority of readers run away. However, the Law of Entropy pursues them inexorably, no matter how much some raise their shoulders and stop reading. Just as we are inexorably pursued by the light of day and the darkness of the coming night. And by night I want to point out that time of darkness that is fought with the lighted bulbs that emanate that little warmth that is felt. Every light bulb emanates heat, in every room, on every street pole, in every stadium. How many light bulbs will be lit at this moment in the rotating night of the planet? I would say several hundred million, better several billion, billions. And they all emanate heat.
If we wrap a light bulb with a cloth in a few minutes we will feel that it has warmed up much more than without the cloth. Obviously we will not see the light. And if the cloth is thick we will feel that the temperature will be higher in less time and perhaps damage the bulb. The fabric prevents the
heat from passing to the surrounding air and accumulates in the fabric, raising its temperature and that of the light bulb. In the same way greenhouse gases act on the planet, they cause heat to accumulate and raise the temperature.
Yes, every light bulb, blender, car, motor, charger, etc. etc. emanates heat. So, the question is: What are we going to do? We are, say those who say they know, about eight billion inhabitants on the planet with more than one light bulb per person and each person aspiring to a variety of electromechanical slaves according to the drivers of a globalized/globalizing way of life in which the premises of comfort and speed reign, increasing both the number of electromechanical slaves and their time of use. And all of them emanating that little warmth you feel.
Caring for a baby is usually the utmost, by instinct and by learning. It requires delicacy, promptness and good judgment as well as intuition. A baby in its first months really requires little, even if commercialism pushes advertising to over-satisfy the few and crucial needs of the child. In parallel it could be said that caring for (creature) energy, as invisible as it is omnipresent, requires delicacy, promptness and good judgment as much as intuition.
The Care of Energy, I suspect, requires today varied learning that leads to delicate behaviors in its use, which minimize the inevitable consequences of handling errors.
Mauricio Gnecco January 2023
Dario Estrada, born in Tumaco, Colombia, has always had a keen interest in everything related to power generation. During the pandemic, in one of those free moments surfing the internet and watching a video of someone generating gas with drinking water, changed Dario’s life: “gas for everyone!”
Instagram en https://www.instagram.com/ecolhemany/
A mega power plant in Patagonia produces green hydrogen and then synthetic gasoline from it. But that sets the wrong course.
What actually happens to car dealerships when internal combustion engines are a thing of the past? They could become transformation agencies for a traffic turnaround, says the mobility house Golbeck in north-east Berlin. And do it yourself.
In 2008, the people of Zurich voted for the 2000-watt society energy initiative. Since then, the city administration has developed into an ecological role model and is preparing Zurich for change with instinct and reason.
Many raw materials are mined in developing countries, with devastating consequences for nature and people. Even more lithium, copper, cobalt and bauxite are needed for the energy transition. Can you win it responsibly?
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The first bioenergy village was Jühnde in 2004. Since then, many have come. Here you can find out what makes a bioenergy village and how it can contribute to climate protection.
The limited availability of non-renewable resources, a lack of community spirit and dependence on imports are currently critical issues. Bioenergy villages deal with all of them and strive for ecologically and socially sustainable solutions.
A bioenergy village uses biomass as renewable energy and generates it where it is consumed. In addition, the systems for generating energy create jobs and the joint project strengthens the cohesion in the village.
The municipality of Jühnde near Göttingen was a pioneer when it came to bioenergy villages. In 2004, 70 percent of the households there were connected to a biogas plant and a biomass heating plant. A key driver of the project was the “Interdisciplinary Center for Sustainable Development” at the University of Göttingen. In 2019, the plants in Jühnde had to be sold to a company for financial reasons. However, many other communities have been found that are implementing the bioenergy village concept.
In order for a village or community to be called a bioenergy village, the location must cover at least 50 percent of its electricity and heat energy consumption with regionally generated bioenergy. For this, a bioenergy village mostly uses biomass, photovoltaics and partly wind energy . However, other alternatives are also possible. Biomass can be, for example, crops, liquid manure or organic waste.
In addition to the generation and use of bioenergy, the focus in a bioenergy village is also on using the energy generated as efficiently as possible. In addition, the villages try to use energy sparingly.
The participation of the citizens is particularly important in a bioenergy village. They support the idea of the bioenergy village and are involved in decisions. It is important that as many people as possible work together and also rely on renewable energies in their private households. In addition, the technical systems for generating bioenergy belong, at least in part, to citizens and customers, such as farmers.
On the website of the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. currently lists 170 bioenergy villages in Germany. Most of them are in Baden-Württemberg or Bavaria. Another 42 towns are on the way to becoming bioenergy villages – including even Göttingen, which is not at all rural. You can find a more detailed data sheet for each bioenergy village on the website. Among other things, it informs you about how the respective village is currently generating its energy.
However, bioenergy villages are not only found in Germany. For other countries there does not seem to be such a clear listing as for Germany, but an example of a bioenergy village in Austria is Landgut Danzermühle . In Romania, the municipality of Ghelinţa is trying the concept.
Using solar energy via photovoltaics is a well-known method of generating energy, at least without direct CO2 emissions . The Agency for Renewable Resources describes biomass as “solar energy stored in plant form”. This makes it clear that this is also a renewable form of energy: After all, plants grow back relatively quickly. In most methods, the biomass is ultimately burned to release the energy stored in it.
Now you might be thinking: wait a minute, burning produces CO2 – doesn’t that harm the climate? CO2 is actually released during the combustion process, but only as much as the respective plant absorbed during its growth. So there is no additional CO2 and the next generation of plants absorbs the released carbon dioxide again. In that respect, the balance sheet is balanced.
Unfortunately, the calculation doesn’t quite add up in the end, because the plants also have to be planted, cared for, harvested, transported and processed. This also requires energy and releases CO2. That is why you should pay attention to the economical use of energy during these preparatory steps. Overall, energy from biomass has the clear advantage over energy from fossil fuels that it does not release carbon stored millions of years ago in the form of CO2.