Just a light read for those interested in Alternative Energy

I came up with a new Thesis:

Can an off grid log cabin, located deep in northern BC that is currently powered by fossil fuel, be powered by alternative energy sources?

I think these are the questions I need to summaries in my abstract:

Who lives here? What is the problem? Where is this? What are the Alternative Sources? How would it be fixed? Why should it be done?

This is just a rough outline to my Abstract: (feel free to comment on anything)

Can an existing horse ranch in northern BC be transformed from a fossil fuel powered ranch to an alternative, energy efficient powered ranch. This horse ranch is located on the Stikine river in BC. Questions that arise are what alternative energy sources would be used and how would this benefit the ranch? The goal of this research project is to design an alternative energy system that would make burning fossil fuels irrelevant.

There are a few different types of alternative energy sources, wind, solar, and micro-hydro. Located in northern BC there is no need for geothermal as a result of every home is heated by wood fire places. The horse ranch where this research project takes place has resulted in finding that using solar and micro-hydro are the only reasonable sources of collecting power. Because of location and local wind patters, using wind power is not a choice.

The horse ranch is located deep in a mountains alongside the Stikine River in BC. There is a mountain lake located above the ranch providing a perfect opportunity to build a micro-hydro system. With the lake at such a high altitude compared to the Ranch there is an ample amount of head of pressure in any piping needed to create a sufficient amount of power. The only drawback to this system is the fact that the temperature in northern BC can drop to well over -40 degrees Celsius. This system is only good for the summer as everything would be frozen solid throughout the winter.

Using Solar energy at the ranch is a perfect solution because, “Photo voltaic cells convert solar light photons into electricity”[1]. With a basically flawless system of photovoltaic panels, this system has basically no drawbacks besides that, like Micro -hydro system, the system would have trouble functioning in the winter as a result of the world tipping on its access causing the winter months to be extremely dark with very little light. But the opposite of that is that during summer months the sun never sets causing the photovoltaic panels to be perfect for the summer.

The Horse Ranch is run by a local family who runs a trail guiding business. In the north there are more trail riding, hunting camps, and ranch owners who all, like the owners of the ranch I am researching, run fossil fuels to power their homes. With oil prices on the rise, "the peak is here now'...Global production has been flat now for a year and a half or more, and demand continues to climb with world economic growth. We are seeing the consequence of that with higher prices.”[2] Finding an affordable system that could replace running generators because “oil would be depleted by 2041” [3] would be a perfect option for these off grid homesteads in BC to help the economy and the world.