Hair on Fire

September 06, 2008

At first they were dots to be connected, the dream-vision dots of a sustainable, self-sufficient energy platform for America. The dots are connecting. The dots were there in, say 2004, but the lines between them were not. The lines are now coursing to connect the dots. This is exciting. The dream dots in 2004 were:

• Plug-in hybrids
• Wind power (and other renewables) on buildings
• the Smart Grid

Plug-ins and the smart grid are on the way (see our post Grid, Ready to Talk). And now, it seems, wind powered buildings are coming to the U.S. BroadStar Wind Systems will install (will install!) 70 turbines by February, having made deals with 15 major corporations (like JC Penney) and in talks with 17 more. The Discovery Tower in Houston will integrate ten wind turbines in an architecturally pleasing manner at its roof line (catch them on the virtual fly through on their webpage).

Each piece of the car-building-grid system will stand on its own cost-wise. But consider the bonus cost synergies when the pieces marry. Cars buffering intermittent wind. Wind powering cars at a fraction of the cost of gasoline. The smart grid leveraging the peformance of both. And then as added bonus, the car-building system will go beyond its finite cost structures to work on external costs: to secure our access to oil, for ozone caused health care, from having a brittle, centralized electrical grid.

The pieces of this breathtaking system are being stood up now. And the latest developments in building-sited wind turbines are enough to set your hair on fire if you're a dot watcher.

Photo: .....dotted..... on flickr

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