Sunday, June 21, 2009

Greensboro Paved Parking Statistics

Using the spatial analysis tools and skills I am learning as a GIS student at UNCG, I recently totaled up the amount of paved parking within the city limits of Greensboro, North Carolina. The sum equals 10.27 square miles - yes, of paved parking within the city limits.

Using figures based on Envision Solar's solar parking lot models, I calculated that area's capacity for generating electricity when covered with solar panels. The figure was over 716,000 - homes that will be powered each and every year from the paved parking/turned solar parking lots in Greensboro. As I did not add in room between arrays, I normally publish the figure that over 500,000 homes will be powered by that area - each and every year (Greensboro only has a population of 247,000).
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This summer, I am learning more about modeling in ArcGIS and am coming up with a model to specifically place the arrays in the parking lots (again, I am basing these calculations on the dimensions of Envision Solar's designs - namely as they are the only company I found raising solar parking lots when I had the idea myself a few years back). This is proving more daunting than my initial idea as I now want to incorporate steps to digitize the parking lot boundaries as well as calculate the power outcome based on the locale's solar irradiation.

ESRI and Solar Boston have a model to do the power outcome, I believe based on location, however their model is embedded into a website application and is proving difficult to get at. With ESRI, you need a separate web server to run mapping applications and this I do not have (as of yet). Any help in to get the model is gratefully appreciated!

Another obstacle in analyzing paved parking for towns and communities is that the parcel data does not always explicitly label paved parking. This is somewhat cumbersome, but as I have time, I re-contact those cities' GIS departments and ask for assistance. This is to bring me along into a Master's degree, after all! If you happen to work for a GIS department and have paved parking that may be separated into its own layer (gdb really, with attribute table) please contact me and send it along! The more statistics we publish, the better!

I fully believe that solar parking lots are a viable solution to our climate dilemma. Most all scientists are now stating that we need to reduce carbon emissions by 40% within the next 10 years. Let's get busy! We can put some people to work with this one!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

HBO's Bill Mahr Takes On President Obama

As Bill Mahr states, scientists (all) are telling us if we wish to continue to live, it is imperative (we have to) cut our carbon emissions by 40% within the next 10 years. The current president's plan to cut back on carbon emissions calls for a 4% cut sometime during the next 10 years.

Climate Change

I don't really get involved with the debates over this report or that. I know what I see before me when I see the fumes from the cars that are tangible in the air. I hear the noise from the high voltage transmission lines for the electrical grid. And I feel the heat from so much asphalt for roads and parking lots. I wonder if we will set our atmosphere on fire. I disagree with the way our American government supports the automobile makers yet won't subsidize solar energy - with solar parking lots at select, semi-permanent locations such as churches, schools, large malls (of which we Americans have plenty) we no longer need the high voltage lines (to me they are SO dangerous! I mean, gesh, we've already proved that living near them causes cancer, etc, yet they just seem to be getting bigger with more volts). Solar parking lots also provide an infrastructure for charging electric vehicles - at a time that is plausible and won't really affect the power supply on the grid (everyone is so worried about everybody charging up their EVs at night - brownouts, etc, well just charge them at work while the sun's shining!). Funny how the simplest solutions that provide the most positive outcomes (community-sustained and secure electricity, jobs, infrastructure for a much-needed change in our transportation system) get buried - and by whom? Profit-mongers (for lack of a kinder term). I was demonstrating at a sustainability conference at our state's capital about a year and a half ago, just showing my positive, glowing support for the cause, and one lady flat out told me, "I don't care how they do business" (talking about Duke Energy and the coal plants they were discussing) "as long as they get me my money." Whatever gives these companies the most profit is how they do business. You see it all over the planet now. At times I am so ashamed to be an American - and this new president says, "We won't apologize for our lifestyle." Over-consumption and grandiosity is not why our forefathers founded this country, and it’s not a lifestyle to which I subscribe. I am just grateful that there are many small movements that are gathering force within the communities of our nation. Community spirit is reborn and there are groups working together making lifestyle changes within the community. It is so inspirational, now, to walk about the streets, smiling at neighbors, playing board games at the coffeehouse, or just kicking back being comfortable amongst friends - much like some parts of Europe I visited when stationed in England back in the 1980s. Refreshing, it is. If I've somewhat lost hope in America as a nation, at least it is reborn within the people themselves - those of us who love life and live keeping thoughts of stewardship and sustainability in mind - and just be. Let's hope that we make that necessary climate shift within the time left to us to change the predicted outcome of this global crisis.