Using Winter Cold to Cool Summer Heat

Using Winter Cold to Cool Summer Heat

This is an idea that I ‘ve had for a while – and an idea, which I thought was totally unique. A quick Google search however shows that this is not a new idea.

The idea occurred to me when I watched trucks being loaded with snow after a heavy snowstorm in Hartford, Connecticut. I remember thinking that we’d be pleased to have that cool snow in the summer.

In essence the idea would be to construct a lined pit near the Connecticut River. It would be covered with a heavy steel grate – so that trucks could dump their snow on to the grate and thereby into the pit. This would serve two purposes  -

1. it would provide a location for Hartford to dispose of  its snow as it was removed from the streets.
2. it depositing it in this location the snow would be stored and be made available for cooling the summer.

In addition, when the weather was cold, water from the river could be pumped into the hole and allowed to freeze as well. The idea would be to have the pit essentially filled with ice by the end of the winter. During the spring some melting would occur – however be virtue of being underground, lined, and covered a good portion of the ice would remain frozen until the beginning of the cooling season. A network of pipes would conduct the melted ice into a cooling loop circulating between downtown buildings.

I don’t have the cooling requirements for the building but it would seem to me that at least a good portion of the business communities cooling could be met through this process.

Googling the idea – revealed to me that this is a known process called district heating and cooling. A good example of this is the city of St. Paul which uses biomass from downed trees to provide the majority of downtown St. Paul’s heat and in the summer creates chilled water at night –using off peak electricity – for use in daytime cooling. 

The website of the city of St. Paul discuss this in the following link:

http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=501

The idea advance above is an extension of that idea – broadening the time frame for cooled water from beyond night to day – to between seasons.

Weapons of Mass Anesthesia

Weapons of Mass Anesthesia

We live in a world filled with mass violence.  In 1937 the term “weapon of mass destruction” was used in connection with aerial bombing in Spain. Since that time more and more weapons fit into this category. Without much thought we may enumerate the following as “weapons of mass destruction”:

• Nerve Gas
• Other Chemical weapons 
• Dirty bombs
• Atomic bombs
• Conventional bombs used on civilians 

Each of these weapons was developed as technological advances were harnessed for the twin goals of defensive weaponry and offensives weaponry.

They have been employed in various conflicts – the latest being the use of nerve gas by the Syrian government against its own populace. The violence wreaked by these weapons is profound. The survivors of such attacks cannot help but want revenge on their attackers and in seeking that revenge the conflict is kept alive – despite the supposed finality of the weapons.

The loss of life, the re-ignition of the conflict after an attack, and the loss of property stemming from these weapons is tragic.

What if we took another tack with regard to these weapons? What if – instead of destruction – we sought only to immobilize, sedate, or tranquilize a group of people?

The same chemistry that gives us nerve gas can no doubt be harnessed to produce an agent that only stuns or immobilizes a populace.

Imagine then riots, uprisings, attacks would take place as they do now – but on a much softer playing field. One can imagine instead of destroying a populace the population could be immobilized. Whilst they were immobilized they could be disarmed, weapon caches destroyed, and key ringleaders could be captured.

Creation of this capability could be a blessing if used by a thoughtful and virtuous government. It needs to be clearly stated however – that any person or government could use this power for evil as well. The capability itself – is in my opinion – inherently less evil than weapons of mass destruction. But it would be a potent force for whoever wielded it – good or bad.

Tidal Power – Coastal Areas.

In 1980 my wife any I honeymooned in Bermuda. We stayed in a town named Flatts that was between the ocean and a large inland sound – Huntington Sound.

If one looks carefully at the map below one can see that Huntington Sound drains into the ocean through a narrow channel on the Western side of the Island.

We observed that when the tide went in or out the water in the channel moved  very rapidly. This is explained by the fact that the large Sound drains quickly through a small channel – i.e. the velocity of the water must be fast enough to drain the Sound.

If a portion of the channel – either to the side – or below a certain depth where fitted with an in-water turbine significant power could be generated.

This Sound is a natural formation – but there is no reason that man made versions of this couldn’t be constructed all along the coast line. This would offer the following advantages (in addition to providing

clean tidal power):

• it would create a natural buffer against erosion and storm damage
• it would create a sheltered environment for boats and marine activity
• it would foster the growth of marsh species.

It is easy to imagine the problems associated with this idea – especially property rights and maintenance of the system. However there advantages would be great.

Is anyone aware of a system likes this? Are there problems that I have not mentioned?

Making Cities Walk-able

In American cities at least,there is an uneasy relationship between the car and the pedestrian. The auto is an integral part of getting people and goods in and out of the city. But at the same time it is a danger – and a deterrent to pedestrian.

There are many solutions being implemented now. Some of those are the congestion tax in London, which uses tolls to reduce the number of cars on central London. Other cities have adopted skyways and undergrounds to separate the cars and the people.  Still others use speed bumps, in lane obstructions, and other devices to slow vehicles. Car only – and pedestrian only – routes also serve to give the vehicle and the person a “freeway”.

Still another class of technology improves the relationship between the cars and the people. Well ordered cross walks with signals (visual and auditory), sculpted sidewalks and ramps, and cameras make a great difference in the safety and efficiency of the city.

Something that I have not seen – and which seems worth trying - is to reconfigure the cross streets so that there are fewer – but better intersections. A typical block in Hartford has major streets and minor streets. So, for example, Farmington Avenue has major cross over streets like – Trout Brook, South Main, Prospect, etc. but then has numerous minor streets that also empty into Farmington Avenue.

The proposal in a nutshell – would be to eliminate non-critical minor street access to Farmington Avenue. Extending the sidewalk across those minor streets, and potentially, even building a house or store on the resultant lot would accomplish this. The traffic would have to circle make to a major crossroad. The quid pro quo is that intersections would be managed efficiently and upgraded to allow greater through put. Pedestrians would have longer stretches of uninterrupted sidewalk and better-maintained intersections to cross. Any business which allows cars to cross a sidewalk would have traffic flow analysis done in order to minimize the number of times that a car crosses a sidewalk. Again though the reduced number of crossings could be made technically better resulting in win wins for driver and pedestrian.

I would love to hear thoughts on this. Has it been tried anywhere that you know of? Could you imagine that people on the minor streets would accept it? What are the pluses and minuses?

Covered Streets

Protected Public Space

Cities and towns consist of a mix of private and public space. One of the great values of a town or city is that it allows its people to interact in the public space.

London's Leadenhall Market is an example of a public space  - that is at once open - and protected. I remember the first time I came upon this structure feeling a sense of amazement - first at the beauty of this place - and then second - that the idea had not caught on more widely. In its barest essence it is simply a glassed over street. In London's rainy but moderate climate this public space allows all manner of public gathering - from after work drinking, to political activism, to retailing, and even moviemaking (Harry Potter used this as a set).

Leadenhall Market

So a simple way to facilitate community - is to create environments that allow people to comfortably aggregate. In Hartford Connecticut (where I live) the climate is variable and harsh. Rain, snow, cold, wind, and heat all make reliable outside gathering a chancy affair.


I like to imagine that the idea of Leadenhall Market would be adopted in Hartford - covering streets such as Pratt Street and parts of other pedestrian friendly streets such as the end of Asylum Avenue. I think that this would encourage a more vibrant downtown and greater interconnectedness.

A great current example of this was recommended to me by Mr. Doug Suisman who is helping Hartford with its Iquilt program. The following link takes you to a New York Times description of a covered street it lower Manhattan. It is a perfect example of the effect such a covering could have:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/arts/design/architectural-canopy-shines-in-battery-park-city.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss

Derek Blanchard has worked with me to envision how Pratt Street might look. These three images are conceptual and there are many many practical issues that would need to be solved in order to make this a reality. But the first step - is to see if this idea has appeal more broadly. Derek has constructed 3 images - one at street level and the other two from the end of the street - one in daylight - the other in the evening. Enjoy!


Street level:

Daytime view from the end of the street:

Night view (imagine tables out on the street with attractive lanterns!)

I'd love to hear from anyone who has thoughts on this - ranging from further ideas, examples, to problems and concerns.

Purpose of the Blog

The purpose of this blog is to publicly envision solutions to problems that are viewed as intractable and even unsolvable. In the beginning these solutions may seem impractical - or noneconomic - but with refinement - it is hoped they will prove to be viable. Public comment and debate are welcomed. Disagreement and counter suggestions are welcomed.

Ideas may be social, economic, or technical. These three pillars all need to be strong in a sustainable culture.

Some examples of intractable problems:

• the middle east  - the harder we seek solutions the worse it seems to get
• the concentration of wealth - the more we prosper in total - the more a percentage of the populations sinks into despair and poverty
• religion becoming a causative agent in violent uprisings
• depletion of resources

Libertarianism in a connected world.

The problems cited above are all "collective action problems" - which is to say that they involved problems confronting a group - and solvable by a group. This is in contrast to a problems such as personal  finance - which requires only action on the part of a one person.

Libertarian commentary on these problems is often quite contentious - and in general - libertarians seek to maximize individual freedom and avoid collective entanglements. However these problems cannot be solved solely by individual actions. This is not to disparage the libertarian point of view -but merely to state that collective problems require collective actions.

One error in many Libertarian arguments is that degree of intrinsic connection is often overlooked or minimized. With 7 Billion people in the world this is a large omission!

It may be useful to get a firm grasp on the degree to which modern society has interconnectedness as its base. 

Take as an example our house - or apartment.

It stands as a separate structure perhaps (in the case of an apartment it is itself connected to others!). But look at the connections it has to the rest of the world.

In:

• Electricity
• Gas
• Phone
• Cable
• Water

Out

• Electricity (in my case my grid tie interconnect goes both ways)
• Sewer
• Phone
• Cable
• Trash

Intermittent connection

• Oil
• Cars
• Coal
• Deliveries

Contrast this with the norm of a century ago - there were few tight connection - almost every connection was intermittent - things like coal and wood were delivered - or not. Now things are "there" - electricty is present for the asking.

In the Libertarian view of the world individual freedom is paramount. The only rightful place for the state is in the mutual defense of the society. And this philosophy fit well with the disconnected world of a century ago. We were separate then far more than today (but less than a century before!).

The challenge is to move Libertarianism forward in the interconnected age. Our consumption competes with others consumption. Our trash and pollution combines with others. The result is a huge collective action problem. Are we free to do as we please when every flush of a toilet, every flip of a light switch, every bite of produced food, every sip of water - involves interaction with the makers and other users of these products.

Ways to identify ourselves:

Who are we? We have our invidual names of course...But in terms of group affiliations:
1) we belong to groups
2) towns
3) counties
4) religions
5) nations
6) unions
7) genealogical associations
8) races
9) genetic groupings
10) illness groupings
11) companies

Summary point
Collective action problems require collective solutions. Libertarian arguments must factor in intrinsic connectedness.