Off the Grid - Decorah, Iowa gives up its power. (PBS NOW, Fri)

[Dover]

NOW Newsletter: Friday, October 5, 2007 (Check local listings)

This Week on NOW: Michael Apted
NOW's David Brancaccio sits down with acclaimed director Michael Apted to talk about how socioeconomic status and education influence life here and in Britain. Apted discusses what he's learned from making "49 Up," the seventh chapter of his groundbreaking documentary series that follows the lives of English citizens every seven years. "49 Up" premieres on POV October 9.

» About the Show


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Off the Grid
Also on the show, we visit Decorah, Iowa, where several families are going above and beyond the energy conservation call of duty by going off the electricity grid and producing their own power from renewable sources. They've given up some amenities, like air conditioning, but they haven't given up everything. Even more families who remain connected to the grid use Iowa's net metering laws to sell the extra energy they generate back to their utility company. Do they have the power to make it last?

Web Extra

Power Tips: New resources to help you save energy, money...and the planet.

[kestrel91316]

1. I have considered Decorah, IA as one retirement possibility.....

guess there are likeminded folks there!

[emmadoggy]

2. That would be a great choice!

I don't live in Decorah, but in the next town over. But I LOVE Decorah. It is a really beautiful, lovely town. Very Norwegian, but I don't hold that against them (too much! :evilgrin: )

The home prices are a bit higher than the rest of this area, but other than that it is great. Home to Luther College, beautiful location, just good living overall. And hey! You'd be my neighbor! (sort of.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decorah%2C_IA

(The photos on Wiki don't do it justice.)

[kestrel91316]

8. I like all the midwestern towns with their vintage homes.

My dream is a little piece of land with a 1900-1915 craftsman home to restore. Room for chickens and a dwarf orchard and big garden. Maybe a milk goat.

[Kolesar]

9. I want some of that prarie soil

I am on this "gardening" kick and learned how good the soil in the tall grass prarie is.

[emmadoggy]

11. Hmm,

No home here, but check out this little piece of heaven...

http://site5.dev.completeconsulting.com/template.asp?id=1014

[emmadoggy]

3. This is so cool!

I live in the next town over from Decorah. Pretty cool that they are being featured on a television show. I hadn't heard about this venture, so I'll try to remember to tune in and watch. Good for them!

Thanks for the info!

[Dover]

4. Kind of an unintentional "intentional community" built around living off-grid.

It ought to be an interesting story to hear how this all came about.

[NNadir]

5. It is nothing more than a Iowan Utsira.

We heard lots and lots and lots and lots about the hydrogen wind project on Utsira, everything about how wonderful it was.

The only thing we didn't hear was about commercial scale up.

Utsira will shut, and you will hear no more about it until the next time.

PBS would never wish to offend the middle class fantasy about the brave new hydrogen/solar/wind world.

As for the general trend, the energy situation in Iowa is right here, not counting all 5 people who live off grid:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/sep_use/total/use_tot_ia.html

[AlecBGreen]

12. I dont understand your complaints NNadir

If people can successfully get themselves off the grid and power their own homes without coal & oil, is that not a good thing? Im not asking about EVERYONE ON THE PLANET, or the FUTURE OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION, just these few families in Iowa.

If anyone can get themselves off of burning fossil fuels, isnt that a good thing? Yes or no?

[hunter]

6. I can go off the grid any time I want to....

All I have to do is walk outside and throw the main circuit breaker to "off." Our family could probably survive just fine like that indefinitely, although washing clothes and dishes by hand would be hugely irritating. I personally wouldn't miss the refrigerator, but that's a sticking point between me and my wife... I want to get a smaller super-efficient solar refrigerator but she thinks that's crazy. I wouldn't miss the television either.

Anyways, I do have enough solar capacity to run a laptop and network connection, so I wouldn't even have to stop posting here.

My point is that residential electric use isn't an overwhelming problem. There are all sorts of ways to power residences that don't have to involve coal or nuclear power. A much greater greater problem is industrial scale electric use, say for example the California State Water Project, or any steel or aluminum producer. Those are not the kinds of economic activities you can power up with a few wind turbines or solar panels.

[pnutbutr]

7. cool alternatives

My wifes uncle was telling me about some guys he knew who used some interesting things to produce and store power. One guy had a 600ft. elevation change on his property with a nice spring at the top. He installed an 8" diameter pipe and positioned it vertically for the entire 600' and put a turbine at the bottom. The spring provided way more then enough water to keep the pipe full and he produced enough power from it to receive a hefty check from the power company each month by selling the excess.

Another guy bought an old submarine battery when the navy was decommissioning some subs in Norfolk years ago. Huge car sized deep cycle battery. He charged it using a homemade windmill and it stored enough power for almost two weeks of uninterrupted power for the whole house. Best part of that one was the battery was made to be repaired so you could replace parts and extend the 50 year life even longer.

[Dover]

10. Geothermal heating/cooling combined with passive/active solar is a good solution

and both pay for themselves very quickly now. The possibilities and combinations of options is only limited by one's pocketbook and willingness to change.