Piet can pimp your ride

When I visited the Townhead community near Sheffield to write about them for my book, I did not think I would come away with my camper van eco-pimped and ready for the Big Green Gathering.

But they know more about living green and cheap than anyone else I have met, and within a couple of days, they had well and truly pimped my converted hospital bus, turning it from an eco-basket case into a model of sustainable travel. (more…)

Like a Rolling Sloane

Rolling Stone Keith Richards spends most of his time in Connecticut, but now he has bought himself a disconnecti-hut – a beach hut to be precise, in West Wittering,

Richards paid £60,000 for the modest property on the seafront of the genteel West Sussex resort. “Loud music is banned, and there’s no electricity or running water,” reports the Daily Mail. It is especially popular with the well-heeled, and this week upmarket magazine Country Life will name it as Britain’s best family beach. (more…)

Off-Grid editor & his RV

The Off-Grid bus is on the road, and possibly visiting a home near you. I am travelling the whole of Britain to listen to your stories. Why do you do it (live off-grid, that is), and how do you do it?

Is it hard? What are the hidden pitfalls? Get in touch if you want me to visit you. This fact finding mission will take in Big Green gathering next week – (more…)

Average daily carbon

Good news for anyone living off-grid in the UK — the environment Secretary has radical plans to create a ‘personal carbon trading scheme’. Individuals would be allotted credits to be deducted as they undertake CO2-emitting activities, such as buying gas for the car or taking a flight.

Each person in the UK emits 9 tons of carbon per year on average, but off-gridders use only a tenth of that, so will end up making money from the scheme. (more…)

if we all did a little…..

If you are trying to work out what power supply you will need to live off-grid, or trying to reduce your grid-connected carbon footprint, or just save money, it pays to know exactly how much power your are using in your home.

There are now a wide array of energy use calculators which let you see the cost and environmental impact of each appliance, as well as giving you an overview of your total power consumption down to the last light bulb. We list some of the best, but please send us your favourites, or add them as a comment at the end of this story (you’ll need to register and be logged in to comment). (more…)

We can’t do without it

The Justice Department is investigating price-rigging in the propane market, a vital fuel for off-grid consumers.

Propane provides heating and cooking for almost 7m US households which lack access to mainstream gas supplies. Ethan Bellamy, analyst at Stifel Nicolas, said “It is typically the fuel of choice for off-the-grid residences that cannot hook up to natural gas.” Regulators found no evidence of price manipulation in the petrol market, but the dynamics of propane consumption are very different, he said. “Retail propane use is highly inelastic and driven by demand for heating, which tends to be weather dependent. Consumers either pay their bills or put on a parka.” (more…)

Anti-nuclear lobby whacked

The UK Government has caved in to the Nuclear lobby, and its latest Energy review provides little or no support for decentralised and off-grid energy.

Instead its has announced support for privately funded nuclear power plants, supported the continuation of centralised power generation, and is to offer incentives to energy companies to help consumers in reducing consumption. It also said it would raise power companies renewables targets but there is nothing about reducing energy consumption by industry. (more…)

Clay with his Mom before the hike

Writer and broadcaster Clay Jenkinson is to go totally off-grid for 17 days before he gets too set in his ways - he would have preferred longer:

My mother will drive me to Marmarth. We will have a meal at the Pastime restaurant. Then we’ll drive to the bridge over the Little Missouri River, I’ll shoulder a 55-pound pack and walk north (downriver) a couple of miles and camp.

I’m writing this so I cannot weasel out of it at the last minute. (more…)

Author Jaine and friend

If all you want to know is how to build a bread oven, then you might find this book a bit too erudite, historical, playful, wordy, epicurean, and perhaps not discursive enough around the technical issues.

But if you don’t mind a meander around the aesthetics of bread and baking, then you’ll enjoy author Tom Jaine’s style. One of his other books is about bread making, and contains some highly praised recipes, - so it is a bonus that he gives a basic bread recipe in this book, which acts as an extra incentive to the reader to finally get up and make their own oven. It is the combination of recipe and oven instructions, that he says will give you bread that tastes like it used to.

Buy book from Amazon UK…….….Or from Amazon US
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