11.1 The sustainable city  (Page 10/20)

Power

Today huge plants generate electricity from coal (44.9%), natural gas (23.8%), atomic energy (19.6%), hydroelectric (6.2%), and other renewable (e.g. wind, solar) (4%) sources.

US Energy Information Administration, Net Generation by Energy Source: Total (All Sectors), 1996 through December 2010, http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table1_1.html , accessed 4/25/11

Power affects urban form in that urban centers must be connected to the grid, and the ubiquitous power line tethers us to the power plant. Sustainable cities will probably not lose the grid, but should accommodate those who want to produce their own power by running the meter backwards. Until and unless atomic fusion supplies cheap, safe, reliable power, renewables will compete with fossil fuels. Even as we hit peak oil, coal will be plentiful for the foreseeable future. Coal will continue to be cheap because its price will probably not reflect all the costs of smog, acid rain, and its subsequent effects on health and the environment ^{Hawken; op cit p.76} let alone recognize that the reserves are being depleted. As the technology evolves and as government policy requires utilities to buy power from small decentralized sources we will all get used to wind mills and photovoltaic arrays. Geothermal heat pumps will heat and cool space more efficiently. Zoning and building codes will have to be revised to deal with solar access rights, noise from windmills and odors from biomass and biofuels.

Technology will also enable us to operate more efficiently. One of the problems with conventional power generation is that the plants must be (over)sized to accommodate peak loads. In the future the “Smart Grid” should smooth peak loads by instructing consumer appliances to perform tasks, such as laundry and dishwashing, in low demand periods (middle of the night), and will offer lower rates as an incentive.

See Section 2.7.2&also CNT http://www.cnt.org/news/media/brockway-consumerperspective.pdf , accessed 4/25/11

Commerce

Our parents and grandparents have seen dramatic change in the area of commerce. Until 1950 we walked to the neighborhood store and most of the goods we bought were produced locally. On special occasions you’d take the trolley downtown to the central business district (CBD) to visit the large department stores (e.g. Marshall Fields in Chicago, Macy’s in New York). With the suburbanization following World War II CBD’s were replaced by suburban malls. We drove to the malls. The CBD’s died out. For the last thirty years big box chains have dominated retail, but most recently ecommerce entices consumers with better selection and prices (and sometimes no sales tax). Most of us find that we shop online more efficiently and those that need the personal attention that retail establishments currently offer might find that they will have to engage the services of a personal shopper (note the shift from good to service). Most of the goods we purchase, even food, have been produced somewhere else. World trade, as measured in US dollars at current prices, has grown astronomically, from $10.1 billion in 1900

United Nations, INTERNATIONAL TRADE STATISTICS 1900 – 1960, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/trade/imts/Historical%20data%201900-1960.pdf , accessed 4/26/11

, to $62 billion in 1950, to $15.2 trillion in 2010. US imports and exports have risen from $1.4 billion (exports) in 1900 to $9.6/10.3 billion in 1950 and to $1.97/1.28 trillion in 2010.

extracted from world Trade Organization database 4/26/11, http://stat.wto.org/StatisticalProgram/WSDBViewData.aspx?Language=E