INTRODUCTION[edit | edit source]
Ecovillages and Intentional Communities often utilize tools, technologies, and practices to reduce total energy consumption and produce and deliver local energy using renewable energy sources, like biomass, hydroelectric or hydrokinetic, solar, and wind power. These energy sources are frequently rather small scale, serving individual buildings, neighborhoods, or rather small communities. Any size and scale is possible though, up to and including major utility-scale projects in scales all the way up to gigawatts.
[Include intro section discussions of each major clean-energy type?]
Bioenergy[edit | edit source]
- Princeton University, 2024, Charting at pathway to next-gen biofuels [Electronic article], available at: https://cbe.princeton.edu/news/charting-pathway-next-gen-biofuels
Energy storage[edit | edit source]
- Battery electric storage
- Chemical storage
- Thermal energy storage
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Energy Analysis, Storage Futures Study [Web page, retrieved March 2024], https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/storage-futures.html
- Y. Yang, G. Hu and C. J. Spanos, "Optimal Sharing and Fair Cost Allocation of Community Energy Storage," in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 4185-4194, Sept. 2021, doi: 10.1109/TSG.2021.3083882.
- Thermal energy storage <introduction and definition(s) here>
- Redoxblox thermal energy storage, https://www.redoxblox.com
Hydro power[edit | edit source]
- Hydro-electric dams
- Hydro-kinetic energy
- Micro-hydro
- Skajit, Washington, public utility: Micro-hydro capturing energy from the water falling down the drain. https://www.knkx.org/environment/2024-09-12/climate-solution-micro-hydroelectric-power-skagit-local-water-utility-municipal-pump-house
- Pumped hydro storage
- Tidal and wave-powered energy
Solar energy[edit | edit source]
Wind energy[edit | edit source]
Electricity generation[edit | edit source]
- Environmental and Energy Studies Institute, Community Energy. https://www.eesi.org/topics/communities/description
- J. Lei, S. Gao, et al., 2023, "A Novel Community-based Photovoltaic Energy Sharing Business Model Incorporated in Decentralized Energy Markets," 5th International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Control Technologies (CEECT), Chengdu, China, pp. 527-534, doi: 10.1109/CEECT59667.2023.10420778.
- Liz Ross and Megan Day, 2022, Community Energy Planning: Best Practices and Lessons Learned, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL/TP-6A50-82937, https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/82937.pdf
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WindExchange, Community Wind Energy [Web page, retrieved March 2024], https://windexchange.energy.gov/markets/community
- U.S. National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP). https://www.energy.gov/communitysolar/community-solar
Energy distribution[edit | edit source]
- Electricity Microgrids
- Community microgrid case studies:
- In California, Connecticut, and Quebec (April 2024)
- Community microgrid case studies:
- Direct-Drive DC appliances and DC Microgrids. https://livingenergylights.com/
- Distributed Energy Resources
- District heating networks
- Distributed Systems for Non-Wire Alternatives
- Laws, Nicholas D., Michael E. Webber, and Dongmei Chen, 2024, "Valuing distributed energy resources for non-wires alternatives, Electric Power Systems Research 234, 110521, ISSN 0378-7796, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsr.2024.110521.
Heat, fuels, and cooking[edit | edit source]
- Solar thermal water heating
- Heat pumps
- Community earth-coupled heat pumps
- Ground source heat pumps
- Air source heat pumps
- Local fuels
- Anaerobic digestion
- Biofuels.
- Biogas.[1]
- Bioliquids
- Biosolids. Torrefied biomass. Pellet fuels.
- High-efficiency solid fuel appliances.
- Rocket stoves
- Top-lit updraft (TLUD) stoves.
- Cooking
- Solar cooking
- Links to world-research about best new cooking appliances
Low/zero energy appliances[edit | edit source]
- Natural fridges / food cooling
- Showers using rainwater harvesting
Timing of energy use[edit | edit source]
- Energy Stacking
- Energy flexibility / demand response services
Off-grid appliances, tools, and equipment[2][3][edit | edit source]
- Human powered equipment
- Human powered appliances. Human-power as secondary emergency backup power for solar-powered, battery-operated medical care devices.
- Bicycle powered devices (mechanical and electrical).
- Appropriate Technology Collaborative (ATC) human powered projects. https://apptechcollaborative.org/design-library/. Coming soon: plans for converting microwave ovens that no longer work, into bicycle-powered electric generators.
- Vennard, H.; Pearce, J.M.; Denkenberger, D., 2024, "Wood Chipper Design for Biofuel Production in a Global Catastrophic Loss of Infrastructure Scenario," Hardware, 2024, n2, 154–172. https://www.academia.edu/120458239/Wood_Chipper_Design_for_Biofuel_Production_in_a_Global_Catastrophic_Loss_of_Infrastructure_Scenario
- Links to bicycle power project groups.
- Human powered tools
- Shareable and People Power Battery Collective, Emergency Battery Network Toolkit: How to Share Energy Resources With Your Community in Times of Need [Electronic article], https://www.shareable.net/emergency-battery-network-toolkit/
| Directory of tools and appliances that use solar-power to charge batteries
for operating small farming, gardening, and appilances. Listing does not imply endorsement, nor guarantee quality. | ||
|---|---|---|
| COMPANY NAME | Product Types | URL |
| Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA),
Member Product Showcase, |
https://www.gogla.org/member-product-showcase/ | |
| GoSun | https://gosun.co/ | |
| Litheli | https://litheli.com/ | |
| Sesame Solar | pre-configured nanogrids | https://www.sesame.solar |
Applications in Ecovillages and Intentional Communities[edit | edit source]
- Conscious consumerism, conservation, and resource sharing, improving health and wellness while using less stuff, and maximizing community value while minimizing wastes
- Integral designs for achieving cultural, economic, ecological, and social resilience, restoration, and regeneration for both individuals and communities
- Local food production and permaculture
- Participatory and inclusive governance and decision-making
- Resilience practices -- “[T]o continue to be centers of hope . . . it is vital for ecovillages to integrate climate risks in their planning.”
Energy Community applications[edit | edit source]
- Community Energy systems, or "Energy Community" designs
- Community Resilience Hubs
- Microgrids (nano-grids, mini-grids, micro-grids; both remote [off-grid] and grid-connected)
- Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading
- Sustainable Energy Utilities
- Virtual Power Plants
Governance / organisation / principles of energy systems[edit | edit source]
- Comprehensive energy efficiency
- Cascade of energy and cascade of heat
Low- and Net-Zero Emissions Building Practices[edit | edit source]
RESOURCES[edit | edit source]
- Back to main page: Ecovillages & Intentional Communities Energy and Climate Action Research Project
- Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica, Appropriate Technologies.https://ranchomastatal.com/appropriate-technology Solar power; Solar water heating; Solar Cooking; Biogas; Rocket-Stoves.
- ↑ Case study from Hammarby Sjostad in Sweden. Biogas from their wastewater treatment plant is piped back to the community for the gas-stoves used in households. There may well be better case studies by now. https://www.visitstockholm.com/o/hammarby-sjostad/
- ↑ Efficiency for Access Coalition, 2023, Building Resilience in Low-Income Communities: The Role of Off-Grid Appliances. Available at: https://sun-connect.org/wpcont/uploads/Building-Resilience-in-Low-Income-Communities-The-Role-of-Off-Grid-Appliances.pdf
- ↑ SunConnect.org, Top Findings from Why Off-Grid Energy Matters 2024 [Electronic article, March 2024]: https://sun-connect.org/top-findings-from-why-off-grid-energy-matters-2024/
