“Clean energy” is a loaded term. Supporters often have visions of windmills and solar arrays bringing an end to carbon-based energy sources. Critics see a political agenda that works against strengthening American energy. Neither is a helpful framework for understanding the depths of the transition on the horizon.
A soon-to-be-completed solar-battery microgrid in Roanoke, Virginia, demonstrates the ripple effect that comes when cleaner energy sources are adopted.
Roanoke City Public Schools have been deploying solar panels as a way to lower energy bills. Now, the district is going to tie that into battery storage, according to a story in Canary Media. According to Jeff Shawver who oversees the districts’ physical plants, “They’ll run on the battery until such time as it’s discharged…. Then the diesel generators are cut on. Then, the next day, the sun comes up, and you start charging the battery again. It just keeps the cycle going.”
In addition to further lowering the district’s energy bill — projections are the district will save $22 million over the next 35 years — the system will ensure power is flowing during natural disasters. Because schools in Roanoke serve as emergency shelters, the importance is evident. They’re also voting centers and community gathering centers.
On a less serious note, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is taking a page from Grover Norquist’s “No Tax” pledge to raise awareness about the importance of data centers. The organization is inviting anti-data-center advocates — tongue-in-cheek we assume — to sign a “No Technology Pledge.”
“I personally support a data center moratorium in Pennsylvania,” it begins, “and therefore commit to the following.” What follows are 13 everyday tech tools signers agree to stop using. The list includes social media, ChatGPT, movie streaming, Venmo and PayPal, GPS Navigation, emergency weather alerts, and credit cards.
It’s not likely to change any minds, but it may well force people to stop and think a bit harder about their own data center footprint.
