Mayor wants to take London Off-Grid
Normally, I focus my posts on what’s happening here in the Bay Area but I find the article below remarkable for two reasons.
First, the thought of taking a entire city off-grid would be almost incomprehensible in the United States. True, Stockton is trying to municipalize their power system and their is a growing movement for Community Choice Energy in the Bay Area (San Francisco, Marin, and the East Bay) and elsewhere in California (San Joaquin Valley). All these efforts are facing formidable and sometimes illegal opposition by PG$E because they would reduce shareholder value.
Furthermore, all of these efforts would still be connected to the regional grid from which Community Choice Energy programs would purchase greener electrons that PG$E can provide. Green electrons would likely come from solar concentrating plants in the Southern California desert, wind farms in the Tehachapis, geothermal plants in Sonoma country, etc… Connecting to the grid enables us to get energy from somewhere else.
By endorsing the concept of an off-grid city, Mayor Livingstone is suggesting that all of London’s energy should come from local sources. He is working with French power company EDF to develop his decentralized strategy.
Second, the thought that an incumbent mayor of one of the largest cities in the world would run on a platform calling to take the entire city off-grid is wild to me. I can’t imagine any of our Bay Area mayors running on such a platform. But Livingstone has been a maverick for a minute. Several years ago, I interviewed London’s transportation vice-chair about Livingstone’s congestion charging plan which is being considered in many large cities worldwide including San Francisco and New York City.
Hats off to Mayor Livingstone as well as to offgrid.net for publicizing this development and for helping ordinary people go off-grid.
LONDON 31ST MARCH
Seeking re-election, London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone has called for the whole city to go off-grid, citing opposition from central government as the only obstacle.In a meeting reported in the London Observer, Livingstone told Thom Yorke from Radiohead: “We don’t want the normal grid. We want to get everybody off grid. It doesn’t matter if it’s nuclear or gas, 65 per cent of energy is wasted
in the cooling system.”Nick Rosen, Editor of the off-grid web site (www.off-grid.net) said: “There are practical, achievable ways that any city can reduce and eventually eliminate its dependence on wasteful power and water grids.
“From local micro-grids powered by renewable energy to Combined Heat and Power (CHP) supplies for high density dwellings such as high rises,” it would be quite possible to unplug London from the National Grid.
“Human and household waste could be turned into energy by local treatment plants, rather than be transported miles to sewage plants.
“And rainwater harvesting could supply a very high percentage of our household water needs, especially in winter.”
www.Off-Grid.net has case studies of people living off grid all over the world. 75% of the audience is from US or Canada. It has over one million page views per month.
Nick Rosen is an award winning journalist and documentary maker (including PBS Frontline and CBS 60 Minutes). His latest book, “How to Live Off Grid” is published by Bantam Press on March 31st.
