[sudo-discuss] Resilience: Re: Power grid: the internet of electricity:

To be clear, I don't mean to say "no grids!1!!1!!!" but just "use large-scale grids only for what they're best for in the context of a broader heterogeneous system, not for almost everything as they are now, and take into account in a rigorous way overall system efficiency and other concerns like vulnerability to failures both routine and rare and corruptibility of the social systems that grow up around the technical systems." I remember discussing these points a few times in the past with you, George, and Hol, and others around sudo room; might we like to get some documentation together on interesting specifics? A section of the wiki maybe, where we can throw ideas up about the details and see what sticks? On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 5:06 PM, Anon195714 &lt;anon195714(a)sbcglobal.net <mailto:anon195714@sbcglobal.net>> wrote: A lot of the arguement against power grids is ultimately rooted in opposition to having our energy supply controlled by distant corporations whose decisions are not sustainable and not in our interests. I agree that over-dependence on greedy corporations for vital infrastructure, merely for the sake of convenience, is a shortcut to servitude. Google is the worst offender, with its seductive Gmail and Google Voice offering "convenience" in exchange for intensive and intrusive surveillance, not only of those who use the services, but of everyone they communicate with. (Worst of all, Google Glass: "become a volunteer surveillance drone!") The model we should be looking toward, to manage the power grid, is one of municipally-owned transmission infrastructure (the wires along the streets), and diversification of power producers (from individual households to the existing power utilities). Everyone would be paid the same rate for power they "upload" to the grid, and everyone would pay the same rate for power they "download." This would immediately level the playing field and provide an enormous incentive for all manner of renewable and new-tech power generation. Further, the municipal ownership model should also apply to the wired telecoms grid: telephone and internet. (Even your mobile device is only "wireless" for the last half mile at most; the rest of the way it's as wired as my antique dial phones.) All of these things are using the public rights-of-way along the streets; they are arguably public rights-of-way in themselves, and as such, should be owned by the public. The municipal internet of electricity would entail each local power producer (household or larger) having small storage capacity on-site, and a switching synchronized inverter to connect to the grid. An onboard microprocessor with an analog voltage sensors would monitor line power to determine when power should be uploaded to the grid or downloaded from the grid. Simple "net metering" would keep track of the billing. The small decentralized battery packs would act primarily as buffers, to level out power production and consumption among users. Overnight and over multiple cloudy days, and during peak demand hours, the decentralized solar would be supplemented by other power sources such as micro-reactors and natural gas turbines. The uniform pricing mechanism would prevent predatory "arbitrage" of electricity, and provide the incentive to install solar panels on every solar-accessible flat surface, even on bus shelters and other street kiosks. The point-of-production microprocessors would be isolated from the internet to prevent cyber-attacks against the grid: the best kind of "smart grid" is one that self-regulates locally without being vulnerable globally. I should also mention: Yes, electric automobiles can provide household power storage in the absence of having a grid, but a) not everyone owns or even wants an automobile, b) if you've drained your car battery pack overnight to power your house, it's not available the next morning to get you to work, and c) even if everyone could afford a new electric car, there are good reasons to reduce car ownership and usage in favor of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, buses, and trains. Beyond that, we should not be destroying our civic infrastructure in favor of requiring everyone to have their own i-Things or do without. Public phones, public bathrooms (do you really want to carry an i-Pee around?), public drinking fountains, public benches for sitting, public transport, etc.: are all civic goods that make the public sphere more user-friendly and accessible. A public power grid is another example, as with public water supply, public sewage treatment, and refuse disposal: life without those things would be worse than miserable. Don't destroy it: reclaim it, revision it, and rebuild it. -G. ===== On 13-03-26-Tue 3:41 PM, Anthony Di Franco wrote: