California wants new homes off grid

[bananas]

http://ucan.org/energy/energy_efficiency_alternatives/california_puc_releases_ambitious_energy_efficiency_plan_that_could_make_major_utility_com

California PUC releases ambitious energy efficiency plan that could make major utility companies obsolete
Posted September 19th, 2007

UCAN In the Media

State wants new homes off grid

By: Dave Downey - Staff Writer
North County Times September 18, 2007

By 2020, all new California houses could supply their own electricity

State regulators Monday proposed an aggressive statewide energy strategy that would push developers to build homes and shopping centers so efficient they would require no electricity or natural gas from California's major utilities.

While the proposal by California Public Utilities Commission officials would not require builders to meet deadlines, it would set a goal of building only so-called "zero net energy" homes by 2020 and only stores that require no outside energy by 2030.

The idea would be to design houses and commercial buildings to use little electricity and natural gas in the first place and to get whatever energy they use from on-site sources such as rooftop solar panels.

<snip>

[silverweb]

1. Great idea!

I'd love nothing more than to be off grid and energy self sufficient, and I know a lot of other people feel the same way I do.

I suspect there will be major opposition to this proposal, though. It will go through eventually, but not easily.

[rusty quoin]

2. That would be fucking amazing. Why can't it be done?

[XemaSab]

3. It's silly to make them off grid

Why should they be net-zero when they can provide clean power for the rest of the grid when nobody's home? :) :shrug:

[bananas]

5. I think that's what was meant

The newspaper editor probably chose that term because it's more familiar than "net-zero".

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Looks like the headline doesn't match the actual contents.

Journos who write about energy are going to have to learn the difference between being net-zero and being off-grid. This one seems confused. Or maybe the editor gets the blame, since some have a way of changing headlines.

[losthills]

8. The article is a little garbled....

I don't think they really mean "off the grid."

But the concepts of energy efficiency and passive design, and producing most of your power onsite are the two ideas that will take us into the future.

[melody]

4. California might just be becoming California again n/t

[NNadir]

7. One hears great energy ideas in California.

One more ridiculous than the other.

I would produce the numbers but it would do no fucking good, since we'd still have lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of people who think that the solution to energy is all new stuff and some kind of bullshit 30 year old fantasy about living "off grid."

I mean is there anyone left on this planet who is so disconnected from reality as to not realize that this kind of mindless fantasy is now more than 3 decades old?

Let me guess.

The Greenpeace theory of the universe is that all of the power companies - including those formerly owned by Jeff Skilling's old pals at Enron - are quaking in their boots because of the great, vast, overwhelming, super-popular, trend-setting, novel, brilliant, superduperilicious "off-grid" movement. Um, wouldn't California grid based consumption be falling if this were happening?

No?

Oh, I see, it's "by 2333," like every other fucking "renewables will save us" scheme, isn't it?

There is not ONE "renewables will save us" advocate who has ever spent more than two minutes in Compton or in Oakland or for that matter in El Cajon. Every single "renewables will save us" advocate thinks that everybody lives in a new solar house somewhere less than a 15 minute drive, by Tesla or hydrogen SUV hypercar, from Walmart.

In fact, 43% of Californians do not own homes, and of those who do, close to zero percent are "off grid."

[diane in sf]

9. California already has the lowest per capita consumption of all states. And there

is a lot more easily and cheaply available improvement available. Reducing energy consumption through efficiency (negawatts) is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to reduce energy use and global warming.

Decentralized, small-scale energy generation is easily scaled, nontoxic, and noninviting to terrorist attacks.

[melody]

10. It's hard to tell from the article, however I think that's the whole idea

Off-the-grid, grow-your-own energy systems. Decentralized energy
is the key.

[AlecBGreen]

11. YES

"Reducing energy consumption through efficiency (negawatts) is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to reduce energy use and global warming."

[diane in sf]

12. I cut my household (renter) energy use by 40%, I replaced an old fridge and

5 lightbulbs with fluorescents.

[Nihil]

13. Good going!

How much food can you fit in the fluorescent?
:P

[Dead_Parrot]

14. You owe me a keyboard.

:spray::spank:

[Nihil]

15. I'd recommend this one ...

[diane in sf]

16. written in a hurry!