Pedal Power, Campus Gazebo & California Power

by Don Ames

Saving the world one watt and one home at a time.

Don Ames

Beautiful 80 degree day,  I have mowed the lawn wondering if it will be the last time for awhile. I had to get the lawn mowed early so it would not interfere with an afternoon  football game.  The last apples are clinging to the trees with a few on the ground, I keep the best one for myself and throw the others out to the horses in the pasture.  For a while, the horses think I’m OK.

Here are a few items I have tripped over this last week that highlight the need for energy, the need to conserve energy, and the struggle to produce clean energy.

Maya Pedal is a nonprofit that makes pedal powered machines from used bicycles that make household, agricultural, and small business tasks easier for rural residents who have little or no access to electricity. The mostly volunteer-run group has designs for everything from plowing to shelling nuts to pumping water to washing clothes—and the designs are open-source, meaning anyone is allowed to build them. (Instructions available for download right on the Maya Pedal web site.)

Linn-Benton Community College is a growing campus just South of Albany, Oregon.  Expansion plans are in the second phase that highlight renovation and updating of the science building.  Included in the project, in the center of a student area, is the construction of a solar gazebo. The gazebo will have a roof that will provide shade, rain protection, and electricity. The students in the science program will have a ready place to study solar power.

California has a statute that requires utilities to obtain 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by this year’s end, though that goal won’t be reached. Pushing the number to 33 percent by 2020 will be a fresh and achievable challenge for the state’s struggling alternative energy sector. This rule that forces renewable energy production and delivery is similar to rules in most every State. It’s these rules that make the smart meter and the smart grid part of every energy discussion. It is the States determination to develop renewable energy sources that is going to dictate that power is going to cost more in the years to come. It is this cause and effect that should arm each and every household to learn learn how their household can conserve power. Power waste is no longer an option.

Thank you for spending some quality time with me, come back soon, but I won’t leave the lights on for you… Don Ames