Community Reluctance
Every day there is a new story about people disapproving of solar or wind installations in their communities. It's not that they don't care about the environment; in many cases the people opposing the installations are self-avowed environmentalists. To some people, the addition of turbines to the skyline that they can see from their porch or long stretches of dark blue panels in a field where there used to be waiving wheat are forms of visual pollution.

As we move towards our renewable energy future we should recognize the inherent differences that exist between the old and the new means of energy production and the change to built manifestations that consequently follow from this shift. The days of the gas or coal fired power plant at the farthest outskirts of the city come to a close, we will find more and more integration of energy production within the fabric of our commercial and residential communities. The need for large scale exurban generation will always be there, but this will be augmented more and more by urban microgeneration as well.

We live in a world that cross-culturally puts a high emphasis on design. As energy generation necessarily comes in closer proximity with the real estate that it powers, issues of aesthetics that drive acceptance are becoming more and more debated.

Macro energy installations in the landscape should integrate with their surroundings both visually and environmentally. Micro installations should integrate with the fabric of the urban community. Just as buildings and public art and land art exist as interventions in the fabric of the environment, so must power generation constructions from our green fields to our suburbs to our downtowns react responsibly to their role as permanent additions to our shared experience.

Education and innovation
In the scientific and commercial development sectors, research continues on the specifics of harnessing natural sources of renewable energy with a mind toward investment and capital returns. LAGI aims to work on the heels of such important work, but at the same time remove it from the restriction of return-on-investment being defined strictly cost per installed capacity considerations. LAGI installations will have value beyond the energy that they produce and will have the potential to either establishing new revenue streams from site activities or payback the city in economic stimulus from increased tourism to the site.

The aim is to actualize public art that fulfills its traditional role while pushing the envelope of technology—progress at harmony with the natural world. In doing so we would like to provide examples that can inspire people. Perhaps some of the people who now object to renewable energy installations in their communities will change their minds after learning more about the need for renewable energy and/or perhaps aesthetic evolution will be advanced in a way that makes future renewable energy installations less offensive to communities in the first place.

sustainable city planning
Cities around the world are exploring contained energy self-sufficiency in preparation for the end of conventional oil. Some are starting from scratch and others are aspiring to retrofit themselves to carbon neutrality. Public artworks that provide energy to the grid can give urban planners a new and versatile tool for bringing renewable energy generation into cities both small and large.