Thursday 26 May 2011

Could micro-communities be the way forward for renewable energy generation?


A friend was telling me, on the phone the other night, that their street is closing for it's annual 'street lunch' during June. New to the neighbourhood, they'd had a flyer through the door.

How quaint. A street within a larger town, holding it's own 'private party' where the streets residents all bring something to the table and generally enjoy an opportunity to meet their neighbours.

It set me thinking.... Could micro-communities hold the key to renewable energy generation?

Imagine a street, close or even small village, clubbing together to install a wind turbine or a geothermal well - even a solar panel array and benefiting directly from that installation by using the electricity it generates.

Small enough to survive off of a modest installation but large enough to collectively pay for the installation. Any tariff payments could be put into trust which once a year pays out to the member households.

Who knows, it could even fund next years party? What do you think?

photo credit: nick

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