Eco Towns - The Truman Effect

Eco Towns have been a controversial issue ever since their introduction in 2007. The need to provide sustainable homes, coupled with a gross housing shortage has since amplified calls for their introduction. However, these are prone to adverse social effects, not least with resultant feelings of isolation and disheartenment.

These adverse social effects may be compared to that seen by Jim Carrey in the film “The Truman Show”. This ‘Truman effect’ is thus a cocoon feeling of remoteness, attributed to living a sheltered existence, cut off from the wider national community, similar to that witnessed within the film which was enveloped in a literal bubble.

These towns main attraction are their environmental credentials in achieving a sustainable lifestyle through use of renewable technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines. These green characteristics are very much debateable, as the article Eco Towns- A green myth demonstrates.

A key aspect of such settlements is in creating independent communities, which are to an extent, self-sufficient, attained through localised resources. Although this may help to achieve greater unity and friendships between neighbours, it is likely that without adequate design and planning, greater social ramifications may result. It is incredibly difficult to create a settlement without adequate links to neighbouring towns and cities, for we live in a globalized era of networks and connections. For without such links to adjacent towns and cities occupants may experience negative and disheartening feelings of isolation.

Eco Town planners need to carefully identify these issues if they are to avert a social catastrophe, and accept our continued nomadic nature and need to travel. A key aspect to achieving a Carbon Zero lifestyle, something these settlements aspire for, is in avoiding the use of standard oil based, polluting vehicles. This will put significant pressure on planners and designers alike, resulting in the possibility for limitations or even exclusion of private vehicular use altogether. Consequently, occupants will find it hard to reach friends and family located elsewhere, and may well find themselves in a socially isolated bubble or cocoon, which is hard to break.

Eco Towns share a similar artificial feel to that identified within the “Truman Show”, a result of a general inadequate mix of new modern buildings lacking distinct and unique architectural features combined with a mass of concrete, paving and strategically located trees and vegetation, to give the impression of a highly maintained yet characterless townscape in which to live. As we are highly attuned to our surroundings and environment, repetitive aesthetics will worsen attitudes and perceptions leading to social rejection and overriding dissatisfaction. The advent of travel and with it Globalisation, has heightened our appetite for experiencing new and different surroundings to such an extent, that it is unlikely we will ever be satisfied with remaining confined and restricted to one place for any length of time.

Without appropriate planning and design detailing, Eco Towns may well suffer from the ‘Truman effect’, due to a combination of poor infrastructure connections to existing settlements, and due to localised design criteria, which attempts to limit individuals movements to a small area, thus minimising their carbon footprint.

Wind Turbines - what to consider when installing on rooftops and buildings

Domestic, small scale, roof mounted wind turbines have a huge potential to contribute to localised electricity production, able to be installed on almost all varieties of roofs anywhere; although the degree of benefits associated will vary, depending on both the type chosen and location to which they are sited.

There are however a number of downsides to these small scale micro wind turbines, these are:

1. Vibration - As wind turbine consists of moving parts, this causes a degree of vibration to occur, which if mounted on the roof, is transmitted through to the building below, causing undue stresses.
2. Turbulence - Air passing over a building is distorted, resulting in cylindrical air movements. This interferes with the wind turbines normal operation resulting in increased stress and lower energy capture. This can be avoided however, if installed significantly above the roofline; however this is much more complicated and may negate any financial benefits. Or a sophisticated dampening system may be adopted, which separates the turbine from the building structure.
3. Safety – Turbines installed on roofs are a particular health and safety hazard, with higher risks associated due to their placement within close proximity to occupants. Their fixings need to be strong enough to withstand high wind levels, and noise levels minimised.
4. Efficiency – The majority of residents currently live in built up urban locations, which are sheltered areas, and consequently experience high degree of intermittent wind speeds. The average wind speed in a town or city is generally a lot less than for the same turbine in a rural and open location.

Financially these turbines are not currently viable for the mass market, however with increased grants becoming available, this situation may be changing, and if the price is cheap enough, these issues mentioned above may not necessarily be a problem.

The cost effectiveness may be increased through clever use of energy storage from the turbines, such as an electric immersion heating element in a water tank may be used, reducing the impact of intermittent electricity production, and making it more viable a source to meet a home’s energy needs.

Although this article emphasises generally negative aspects of wind turbines, it needs to be appreciated, that presuming that are installed correctly, they can provide signficant cost savings, contributing significantly to Homeowners annual energy bill. More information found on Wind Turbines here.

This article was produced by joeknight at http://www.energy-measures.com/

The threat of Coal to Oil technology on CO2 emissions

Coal was one of the main contributors to electricity generation, being a driving force through the industrial revolution, and it is only recently within the last few decades or so that we have started to switch from the use of coal to other alternative sources, driven by an increasingly environmentally conscious society. The Coal industry has since collapsed, with few surviving stations within the UK and abroad.

However, Coal is starting to receive attention once again; due to recent technological advances and changing market conditions, which have allowed the process of extracting oil from coal (CTL – Coal to Liquids) to become financially viable.

There are currently still huge stocks of coal still available, which have been previously made redundant. It is estimated that remaining coal supplies may be sufficient to meet energy demands for the next 300 years, (although the accuracy of this is questionable as many nations have not recently assessed their coal reserves). If the coal to oil process were to take off, as a result of escalating oil prices, as currently it is believed that CTL becomes financially viable when oil prices reach in excess of $25 a barrel, it is foreseeable that irrevocable damage would result. This would lead to the point of no return or the tipping point being reached much sooner than anticipated.

Coal to oil extrapolation may never take off, and it is hoped that this is the case, however if the free market conditions were followed, without undue governmental restrictions, it may be likely that the process would be undertaken on a mass scale. Although the use of CTL depends very much on whether there are sufficient remaining coal reserves available to make it a cost effective option.

Promoters of CTL have also made claim that the technology can harness energy from coal in an environmentally friendly way, as contaminants such as sulphur are removed from the coal during the process. Many also point to use of the Carbon Capture and Storage strategy (CCS) as a method of preventing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere, however this is only in the development stage and would suffer from leakage due to unsealed drill holes or by faults and cracks caused by seismic activity.

By refusing to acknowledge the ever present issue of global warming and oil depletion and by desperately trying to retain whatever remaining fossil fuels there are, in an attempt to prolong our high carbon lifestyle will undoubtedly exacerbate the effects of global warming for future generations to come. There needs to be greater emphasis on renewable, environmentally friendly options, if we are to avoid the highly polluting process of coal to oil extraction, which would be seen by many as a step in the wrong direction.

This article was produced by joeknight at http://www.energy-measures.com/