| Yet another benefit of renewable energy, and that is the ability to get power quickly to an area or building after natural disasters take out the main power lines. Mobile Gen, a traveling renewable energy trailer that combines solar, wind, battery and propane power generation, came to Muskegon last week to show-off the product to organizations that might need such a piece of equipment for disaster relief.
Yesterday, a series of thunderstorms rolled through town, and - you guessed it - took out the power. So, they gave 'er a spin.
This past weekend's storms knocked out electric service to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Muskegon, but it is not totally without power. Mobile Gen's mobile power generation unit is supplying the research facility on Beach Street with electricity for the next few days. The small trailer was on site this past Thursday for testing, but then the storms rolled in, it was put to work.
The Mobile Gen is supplying 50% power to run the facility, keeping science labs with "living organisms" running (just what are you guys doing up there, anyway?). Dennis Donahue, the Marine Superintendent at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, is sold on the idea.
Donahue says the lab isn't paying to use the mobile generator at this time because of the testing agreement in place with Mobile Gen. He says he will recommend its use to the agency for use at its remote facilities around the world, not just for emergency use, but as a main source of power as well.
Mobile Gen plans to market the trailer to disaster relief organizations, RV sites and the military. It says the mobile generation unit can be pulled by a regular utility truck and can bringing power to remote areas without the worries of environmental hazards.
I've often wondered if the people who have turbines and/or solar panels set up at their homes can use that power to run their essentials (like the fridge and hot water, heat in the winter) when thunderstorms or ice storms take out the main lines. Since I often lose my power during storms, it would be nice to have that kind of backup.
And when you think of the blizzards here in the late 70s that trapped people for days AND took out the main power, you begin to realize that having the ability to produce your own power right on your house just might save your life someday. |
