Trying to be ecological in rural Alberta. - Page 2 - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#14699601
That's awesome, P.O.D.! I'll be really interested to hear of your progress. Keep us posted! I'm mostly in the research phase of going off-grid at the moment. Looking into adobe and rammed earth construction, solar and wind energy, etc. I'm trying my hand at gardening for the first time this year and learning plant identification/foraging and tracking. Like you, the goal is to eventually live a more traditional, sustainable lifestyle. It's slow going, but I consider it a good day if I've learned something new (or old, as the case may be).
#14699661
Red_Army wrote:How would rural solar energy take away from urban hydro electricity? Also do you honestly think hydroelectricity is the most ecological choice?

It simply means that instead of emitting the lowest possible energy through the grid, you do decide to emit more to live off the grid.

Mean emissions according to the IPCC:
Coal : 820
Gas: 490
Solar PV: 41
Hydropower: 24
Wind offshore: 12 (for 130-150m turbines that destroy the landscape; small ones perform far worse)
Nuclear: 12

Now one can argue that the grid itself adds more emissions, and that Canada also uses a few fossil fuels. But the emissions related to the fuel cells and fossil generators needed to live off-the-grid are likely worse. And there is the rare materials consumption for fuel cells.

Afaik, if you want to go green, live in the city (less transports and heating) and hook on the grid. I live in the countryside myself, quite isolated, so I can understand this choice, but it is narcissist and anti-ecological.
#14699702
Harmattan wrote:Given that Canada mostly uses water dams for its electricity, isn't electrical autonomy anti-ecological there?


Only Quebec (that is one province out of thirteen provinces and territories) uses hydro-electricity to provide electricity to the grid.

Mind you, solar panels are less ecological than hydro-electricity, which is why I am going for passive solar right now, and looking at wind power for the future.

The wind power is also nice because my father in law and sister in law are both good with tools and would enjoy building something like that.

That being said I can understand his desire to live as far from Muslims as possible, even if it means living away from the power lines. It is worth burning some fossil fuels in the atmosphere. I can't wait for his next preach to tell me that i have to live with Muslims and make my country Sharia-compatible in the name of Multikulturalism while he lives in his little shielded community.


You seem to think a lot of incorrect things about me. It is amusing.
#14699753
@Red_Army,

I completely agree that hydro-electeic dam projects have negative impacts. And the flooding you describe is the largest negative impact.

Solar panels, in the other hand, require a lot of resource extraction and processing to create the solar panels. And getting rid of them afterwards is a big problem. They are basically mixtures of several toxic compounds that have been mixed together in such a way that it is almost impossible to dispose of them safely.

Consequently, solar photovoltaics are a little bit more damaging than hydro. Though solar is still far better than fossil fuels, it is not as good as hydro, wind, or nuclear.

EDIT: There is also the question of self-sufficiency. Wind turbines can be repaired or built by anyone with a decent knowledge of electricity and engines. Solar PV assemblies are not as easily repaired or built by non-professionals.
#14699761
If there was a river or a creek on the property, we would definitely be looking into small scale hydro. Unfortunately, there is not.

We thought qbout geothermal as well, mosly as a heating source rather than an electrical source, but the excavation costs are prohibitive. Any money we have for excavation will be spent on a well instead.

----------------

Doing the basement renovations has me thinking about construction waste. Since the current drainage system is a septic field, we have to be careful about what we dump down the drain. And getting rid of garbage is an ordeal. Ideally, we will have very little construction waste, but for what there is, I will need to come up with a plan for managing it on site.
#14699764
Thank you.

As someone who lives in a cold climate, you are probably one of the few who can understand the unique requirements of trying to create an ecological home in such an environment.

Most of the information for building such houses comes from California or other locales where snow is non-existent. Fortunately, I have many years of experience building in cold climates, so I can modify designs intelligently.
#14723824
My parents used to take me to visit friends on Scoraig. There was no grid to be attached to on that peninsula, though the people did usually depend on being able to do some food shopping since the land on the Scottish west coast is pretty poor. I can't remember much detail about it (I was about 6 at the time), but wind turbines feature prominently in my memory. It certainly didn't seem like a hard life, though kids are pretty adaptable if the parents put in the effort.
#14725554
Pants-of-dog wrote:Elsewhere on the property, we want to look at allowing nature to reclaim the land, hopefully getting some more biodiversity. This involves cleaning up the centuries of garbage that are littering the property, up to and including whole buildings.

Do you know the costs, requirements and durations of building permits on naked land vs renovations of existing buildings? My family in Eastern Europe keep all their decrepit building as 'renovation' permits (even if it means demo everything and build anew) are cheap and last for decades, but building on clear land (its farm land) requires permits with environmental assessments, last only 2 years, is very costly, etc.. If you have similar issues and there is no safety/trespasser concerns, consider leaving them.
#14725557
Harmattan wrote:Given that Canada mostly uses water dams for its electricity, isn't electrical autonomy anti-ecological there?


Dams have their own ecological problems. Nevertheless, it is possible to achieve electrical self-sufficiency for individuals and small groups - and to do so in a responsible manner. It's possible, for instance, to repurpose commercial standby power inverters (they can be purchased at reasonable prices when large buildings upgrade their equipment). Known as Uninterruptible Power Systems, these units have batteries that are normally maintained by a trickle charge from the grid - but they can be maintained by solar panels or wind turbines instead. These can be operated in tandem with diesel generators that take up the slack when the system fails or you have an unexpected load (run the generators with biodiesel).

You can also become fossil fuel independent. Where heavy equipment use is required, use diesel engines. Biodiesel processor units allow a small community to create enough fuel to run tractors, backhoes, etc. Even the van to buy staples in town.

Kind of like the Benedict Option for tree huggers.
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