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Draft no 1 July 2008 - Page currently under construction Index Objectives Students can: *Conserve the potential of these prime symbols: energy power and electrical. *Identify and use
with wisdom the maximum range of resources available to humanity. *Critically
analyse cultural mores, institutions, legislation and symbol uses that
destroy science and reduce their life options. It is
common to hear our media and policymakers talk of and write reports
about something called “electricity”. New Zealand even has an
Electricity Commission. It is important to know that there is no science
underpinning this use of the “electricity” symbol. This is because
no such thing as electricity exists! The prevailing use of the “electricity” symbol puts us all at greater risk, as does
any loss of science in our lives. However the popular use of the
“electricity” symbol puts us at particular risk because electrical
phenomenon constitute one of the greatest resources humanity has. How we
use our electrical potential may determine if humanity survives in the
Post Cheap Oil/Gas age. The current popular use of the “electricity”
symbol destroys many vital options and generates unsustainable behaviour. Another
fatal error our culture is making is to confuse electricity with energy
and power. In New Zealand even the Royal Society approves this
practice and our Broadcasting Standards Authority has ruled that
it is acceptable for electricity, power and energy symbols to be used
interchangeably. It is helpful to
understand that powerful bankers who control much of the world’s
fossil fuel and Bulk-generated electricity resources promote this
confusion. The confusion works to serve their short-term interests and
in this they are aided by sophisticated PR companies and by well meaning
and naïve individuals working as educators, media workers and policy
makers. You can avoid
being an agent of confusion by conserving the potential of these prime
symbols. The following suggestions are helpful in retaining science in
our lives: Understand that
energy is the potential of the universe(s). No human knows what energy
is. However we do have guidance as to its nature. The Principle of the
Conservation of Energy suggests
energy is so bounteous it can be considered a constant and can be
neither created nor destroyed. Energy is constantly transformed and is
manifest in myriad forms. This may be as near as a natural law as we
know, for no one has ever proved it flawed. Conserve the
potential of the energy symbol by naming the form you are talking
about and avoid confusing it with energy. Thus our children can enjoy
and be sustained by a greater vision of the nature of energy Understand that
power is the rate at which the potential of the universe(s) is manifest.
Energy forms can be categorised into types and we use a range of
measures to quantify the rate at which they are manifest e.g.
horsepower, British Thermal Units, watts, joules/second, manpower,
calories etc. Many of these measures can be converted into each other. Conserve the
potential of the power symbol by naming the type of power you are
talking about and avoid confusing it with power. Thus our children can
enjoy and be sustained by a greater vision of the ways that the
potential of the universe(s) can be manifest. Understand that
there are many electrical phenomena and there is no such thing as
electricity. Electrical
phenomena can be categorised into types of electrical activity and the
characteristics of one type may contrast completely with those of
another type. For this reason their measures cannot be converted into
each other. Conserve the
potential of the power symbol by naming the type of electrical
phenomena and avoid confusing it with electricity. Thus our children can
enjoy and be sustained by a greater vision of the range of electrical
phenomena that exist. Energy is
manifest in a myriad of forms. These are manifest to us either directly
via our senses or indirectly via our technology. Create a list of forms
that expresses the range of forms that energy can be manifest in e.g.
the brightest and darkest, loudest , most colourful, most fleeting and
most permanent, hottest, most fragrant and most disgusting, the most
distant and closest A drop of rain
hangs in the air above a mountain. It falls. Imagine what happens to the
force with which it hits the mountain. Suggest a chain of
transformations that the drop of water might generate. Extension
Lesson Activity There are many
ways we can understand any activity in the universe(s). Each way or
perspective has its own set of characteristics. Here are some useful
perspectives: Potential energy Note:
Some activities
are more obviously manifest from one of these perspectives. For instance
kinetic energy is easily manifest in a speeding jet, thermal energy in a
hot element on a stove and mechanical
energy in a seesaw. Find out the characteristics of each of these
perspectives and create a list of obvious manifestations of each. *********************** Power is the rate
that energy or the potential of the universe(s) is manifest. Every
element of the universe(s) is energy and thus every element has power.
We can sense and measure the rate at which energy is manifest. Enjoy a
meditative walk in
your neigbourhood. Identify a wide range of sources of power and make a
list of them. Examples: What is that sensation on my head? It is solar power. It has more power today because it is summer time/ it has less power today because it is winter time. What is causing
the movement of my hair? It is wind power. It has more power today
because the mass of air molecules is flowing faster today What are these
sensations of green? It is plant power or photosynthesis power. What is this
general sensation of movement? It is my body working and it is human-labour power. What is this sensation on the soles of my feet? It is gravitational power. What is
this hard, round thing in my pocket? It is a coin and it has purchasing
power. What is this
small block? It is a muesli bar and it has fuel/food power. What are these
lines? They are utility wires and they have electrical power and
communication power and civil power and education power and... There are many
types of power and we use different instruments to measure them. Draw a
picture of the devices commonly used to measure the different sources of
power on your list. *********************** There
are many types of electrical phenomena and they have very different and
even contradictory characteristics. Do not be overwhelmed by this
knowledge. The essential qualities you need to conserve the electrical
symbol are a spirit of care and the knowledge that there are many types
of electrical phenomena. When
talking about matters electrical simply ask the question, “What type
of electrical phenomena am I talking about?” You
do not need to know all the name of the different types or all their
special characteristics. Here
is a list of some the electrical phenomena that exist. (For more
explanations of each type visit “What is electricity?”. electric charge Break the
circuit, hold the wires close together and generate an electric spark.
Observe. Install a light
bulb in the circuit. Observe. Place on the
circuit a piece of paper with iron filings on it. Observe. Simply play,
observe and sense the electrical forces, both visible and invisible.
Enjoy and give yourself to wonder and awe. We are Electrical Beings, formed of a complex array of electrical phenomena.
So too are
the dwellings that we reside in. How we use the electrical potential of
our minds, bodies, dwellings and devices affects the balances and flows
that sustain our society and life on Earth.
Humanity is now
exiting the Cheap Oil/Gas Age that has sustained the increase in our
population from 1 billion people a little over a century ago to the
current 6.6 billion. If we are to avoid the catastrophic global collapse
of humanity we will have to make very wise use of our electrical
potential. A requisite for
this wise use is knowledge of the potential of our dwellings. Thus, for
instance, it is helpful to understand how to make wise uses of the
electrical potential of our dwellings. In order to do this the prime requirement is that
we each identify and describe
accurately the electrical phenomena we are talking about. Thus our
children can know they have more options that just the
“energy/power/electricity” sold by large corporations. Useful symbols
that evoke some of that potential i Bulk-generated
electricity
(Electrical
resources generated by massive plant such as large-scale dams, windfarms,
combustion plant, nuclear reactors etc. Typically hundreds of megawatts. Micro-generated
electricity (Typically one
megawatt or less) Dwelling-generated
electricity (Typically one
kilowatt or less)
Photovoltaic
or PV generated electricity 230 Volt
systems/wiring/sockets
(standard wiring and terminal in streets and dwellings in New
Zealand) utility
grid/poles/wires (Typically
the technology has a wide range of uses including transmitting
electrical resources, communication and social values) Neural
electricity (The biological
neural networks, which enable creatures including humans to
act/think)
Neuro-fussy
(NF) electricity (Artificial
Neural Networks , including community wiring grids)
Collect news
items and text book articles discussing our use of electrical resources
in our dwellings. What key
symbols do they employ? Can you suggest alternative symbols? See how your list compares with the sample list of sustainable symbol uses.
Maybe you are
seeing a pattern emerging? The person who conserves the fuller potential
of the energy, power
and electricity symbols rarely uses them. They reserve their use
of the energy and power symbols for the universal and
refrain from associating them with any particular form or element of the
universe(s). Similarly they know that there is no such thing as
electricity. Thus they free themselves and our children from the
“energy speak” of “energy merchants”. http://www.teachthemind.com/thescience.html
The 1980s saw the
emergence of four great technologies, all linked by the development of
computers. These are:
The confluence of
these technologies is a source of great potential wealth to those that
control it and it is critical to the successful transition of humanity
beyond the Cheap Oil/Gas Age. Since the very first community-wide wiring
grids of the 1890s a few merchant bankers have sought to gain control of
them as a means of extracting great wealth from communities. Thus there
has been constant conflict between the bankers’ interests, which is in
Bulk-generated electricity, and community interests, which is in
Distributed Generation. The conflict has
intensified with the advent of the new technologies and with the recent
exponential growth of the human population. The survival of our children
depends on whether we develop intelligent grids or the grids collapse in
incoherence. Here is a framework for evaluating local utility grids. It
is primarily designed for electrical grids provide 230 volt electricity
to dwellings. However it can be adapted to evaluating other service
grids such as roading, communication and water.
Reticulation grids and metering systems can be understood from a number of perspectives: One is that the grid is a system that transmits electrical resources and data. The meter measures the flow rate of the resource. A second perspective is that it is simply a system for generating and monitoring cash flows. “Infrastructure bankers” and allied industries view it this way. A third perspective is that the utility grid is an essential component of health and Civil Protection/Defence structures. A fourth perspective is that it is a civil structure incorporating a country’s sense of nationhood and justice. A
fifth perspective is that the utility grid is a communication system. An
important element of this system is capacity of the end user to be aware
of and respond to the impacts of their use of the system. For
instance until the 1990s the “ripple” system of New Zealand’s main
electrical grid enabled individuals in their communities to reduce their
negative impacts on the grid and the atmosphere, valleys, forests,
rivers, lakes and oceans by altering their activities at times of peak
loads on the grid. The ripple system involves switches that respond to
wave frequencies sent over the grid. These switches traditionally turned
electrical-heating storage devices such as hot water cylinders and other
heat storage devices on and off a as the grid load varied. New
technology now exists that enhances this communication potential on
scale. However the development of the potential depends on who owns and
controls the technology. Thus the capacity of any community to make
sustainable uses of their electrical potential varies widely. The
evaluation resource below enables teachers to work with their students
to establish the relative intelligence –incoherence of their local
grid. Some learning activities are suggested below. Community grid – This is the local (city or borough) reticulation network. In New Zealand the owner was traditionally the local community. Since the Electricity Reforms of 1993 the owners are now often large overseas-based bank corporations. It is now illegal for communities to own both their local wiring network and its intelligence. The common name for its intelligence is now it "retailer" division, which reflects the commodified state of New Zealand citizens now. Activity: Find out who owns your community grid and who owns its intelligence (retailers). Central grid – This is the main national reticulation
network. In New Zealand the grid is operated by a corporation called
TransPower. Activity:
Find out who owns Transpower. Peak load.
The amount of electrical product being transferred over grids varies
with the time of day, the weather and the needs of consumers at any
moment. The “Peak load” or
spike in demand occurs when the amount of product has to be generated
and transmitted is at its maximum because consumption is high. Activity:
Find out when the “peak load” periods occurs on your community
network. What causes them?
What way can you and your community do to reduce them? Ripple control
system. A small signal of a certain frequency can be sent over the
HV (high voltage) and MV (medium voltage) networks that turns special
switches on and off in dwellings and streets Activity:
If you live in or visit a town you can see the ripple control system in
action each day in the streets. What gets turned on and off? Low Amp
dwellings. These are dwelling grids that can only transmit
relatively small electrical loads. For instance they have only 5 amp
fuses that are typically used for lighting circuits. This puts low
limits on the amount of electrical product they can use at any time.
This reduces to demand they can make on the community grid. Activity:
Create your own electrical circuit with a battery, wire and very fine
fuse wire. Observe. Bulk-gen
electricity. Electrical resources generated using very large
machinery or plant. Typically the plant have the capacity to generate
hundreds of megawatts of the resource. Activity:
Find out all the different types of Bulk-gen electricity plants in your
country. Activity:
A one bar heater typically uses one unit of 230 volt electricity an hour
(a unit is 1000 Watts per hour or 1 kwh). How many one-bar heaters can a
500 Megawatt Bulk-gen electricity plant keep going? How many 20 watt
lamps? Civil
Protection. Another name for this is Civil Defence. It
refers to strategies and resources created to reduce the destructive
impacts on societies of war and other disasters such as earthquakes,
hurricanes, floods, firestorms, snow and/or ice storms etc. Activity:
Compare Dwelling-gen electricity, Micro-gen electricity and Bulk-gen
electricity systems. How are they different? What do you think might
happen to them in a disaster? The grid evaluator is on a separate page. It employs six categories varying from high intelligent meter/grid to high incoherent meter grid. Meters and grids may exhibit the characteristics of more than one category. Pictorial versions of them will be added to this page. Click here to visit The Grid Evaluator
Learning Activities What is
democracy? Find out about the electrical grids in your body. Rate the intelligence- incoherence of your community grid. Compare the Civil
Protection risks of using Bulk-generated electricity compared to
Micro-generated and Dwelling generated electricity (Distributed
generation) DG etc Why cant
our community do this? What is
energy/power? Why would people change these definitions? http://www.ftexploring.com/energy/enrg-types.htm http://www.fi.edu/guide/hughes/energytypes10.html Return to the Compassionate Curriculum Framework
www.brain101.info/EMF.php picture of transmission system |
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