Good Energy

 We've been hearing a lot about the weather lately. From record-breaking wildfires in California to Arctic storms in Texas, all the rogue meteorological conditions are making some people say, "We need to clean up our act"–literally.

On Saturday, a bright, cold winter day, I went for a short walk, my feet only occasionally breaking through the crust of ice and snow on the ground. On walks like these, I like to indulge in fantasies of my ideal lifestyle, pretending that in a few minutes I'll be walking back to my little cob house, warm from the wood stove that scents the air and heats a simmering pot of lentil soup ...

Because I want to live in the mountains of West Virginia, wood will probably be my best source of sustainable energy. Wood wouldn't be so great for someone living in an Arizonan desert, but they'd have oodles of solar energy to tap into. And wind might be the most viable, sustainable energy option for someone who lives in Alaska.

What counts as a "sustainable" energy source all depends on where you live. The problem with our current power grid (one of the problems, anyway) is that we've tried to create one source of power for everyone, everywhere, all the time. And it works! Most of the time. When it's not subjected to too much rain or snow or ice or wind.

For me, the idea of sustainable energy is inextricably linked to the type of house I want to live in. I believe that the place should inform what kind of house you build and the systems you build it with–instead of the place being razed and reshaped to conform to the types of houses we want to build. Modern times have proven that we can separate the energy source from the place, but I don't believe we should.

Sustainable energy requires thought and planning. There's no one-size-fits-all solution. (Not even in the garment industry. They lie. No matter how much Spandex you put in there, it's not gonna fit every body.) But I believe that with a little bit of effort, sustainable energy is attainable.