One of the most interesting tension-points in the politics of climate change, sustainability and renewable energy is the issue of state sovereignty.

Any global solution that tries to force people, businesses, or governments to invest in renewable energy, or to pay a carbon-tax, will meet resistance from nations and individuals who simply want the cheapest energy possible.

In my heart the VT Yankee relicense question never felt right to me. But in the interest of being reasonable I have explored the facts with an open mind. I am very sensitive to protecting Vermont's business climate, because I do believe that the health of the Vermont business community should be a top priority to strengthen our state. But my conclusion, like State Senate Candidate Robert Wagner's as detailed in his press release, is that Vermont Yankee is not a valuable asset to Vermont and it should be decommisioned in 2012.

A new way to frame discussion on the supposed tension between business and sustainability, from Jeff Wolfe, CEO of groSolar, while at the COP15 Convention in Denmark:

Business As Usual - an archaic illusion. Business As Sustainable (BAS) is our only path forward.

My little hot-water from composting wood-chips experiment is yeilding promising results. I am getting 100-degree water with a flow rate just under one gallon per minute, (from 48-degree well-water). The temperature holds steady at 100 degrees, even when we've had extended periods of freezing weather.

...even though some claim, with reason, that structural political and economic changes (like decentralization or even secession) need to be made before we can really create a sustainable, peaceful society; and while some argue that national environmental organizations who ignore sovereignty/political issues are wasting energy, I believe that HUMAN ENERGY is our best and only hope and we should applaud anyone who is motivated to improve our society.

After a week of sub-freezing temperature the water from the mound is up to 122 degrees and holds steady at one gallon per minute. Pics below show the progress made on the buried/insulated lines from the mound to the house.

I will plumb the mound loop directly into my existing hot water heater, pulling cooler water from the bottom of the tank into the mound and pushing hot water into the top of the tank with an in-line circulation pump.

During the past week the water coming from the 400-feet coil inside the "Brown's Mound" has increased in temp from 95 degrees to 117 degrees. The temp seems to stay steady unless I increase the flow-rate beyond 1 gallon per minute.
117 Degree Water From Brown Mound

Re-post of the "making of" video

The "Brown Mound" composting wood-chip hot-water system is built and currently putting out 105-degree water at a sustainable rate of 1-gallon per minute. If we insulate the mound properly this should provide all of our hot water and some heat energy for our house for the next 18 to 24 months. Special thank you to the Carbon Shredders, SunWood Systems, Whitney Tree Service and the two-dozen people who helped out with this project.
105-degree water from the "Brown Mound"

PROGRESS! We've completed the first two levels of water-coils in the mound, and we have a system down to make this a pretty quick and easy. The piles of chips that are waiting to be spread, soaked, and packed around the coils are STEAMING in anticipation.

Had a slight delay whilst looking for the right barrel to use as the inner methane-chamber. But I finally got one and this weekend we'll be building the mound, coiling the tubing, making progress.

I found a reference to another person who's done the heat-portion of this concept, succesfully.
http://www.appropedia.org/Composting_greenhouse_provides_hot_water_(original) This confirms that everything we're expecting is possible, it'll just take some work.