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February 2007

Land

I Want One of Those

Cabin
You can take it anywhere

Competing teams around the world are working on mobile off-grid pods that can be plonked down anywhere to become comfortable living quarters.

A Canadian design firm created a cabin that’s packed into a 6-metre container but transforms into a high-tech, environmentally friendly home, fully equipped for living.The cabin has a composting toilet, and two large holding tanks for water. The filtration system consists of UV light to kill bacteria and micro filters to pull out sediment. As of now, the tanks are filled upon deployment of the exhibit, but plans are to add an awning to catch rainwater for the tanks, revealed co-designer Robert Studer.

“It’s amazing how in 480 square feet, you can actually live in something that’s self-contained and filled with smart stuff,” says Lisa Snider, who

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Community

Kelly Hu?

LA�s celebrity reef lovers have been lending their support to California�s under-appreciated ecosystem. Kelly Hu, Greg Hodgson, Gale Anne Hurd, Daryl Hannah and Penelope Ann Miller were all at the Reef Inhabitants event last month, which was making its California debut…..

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People

By-product Bargain

Micro-CHP
Ta-da!

The idea of combined heat and power – or cogeneration – has been around for a while, but harnessing it for domestic use is underexploited.

Marathon Engine Systems have tapped into this area and are now offering an Ecopower Micro-CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit, which basically produces electrical power with a combustion engine. The heat – normally lost in vehicles and other engine-driven applications- is recovered from the generator, engine and exhaust system and can be used for local heating purposes.

It can easily heat a multi-family home, and larger buildings can be accommodated by installing multiple units. The noise level of a unit is less than 56 db(A), which is about as loud as a refrigerator.

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People

Stately Eco-timeshare

Trelowarren Estate, Eco Timeshare, Eco retreat, Taos,

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Energy

Stirling Work

stirling
The closest thing to free energy

Jamil Shariff is one of the world’s leading researchers into the ancient technology of Stirling Engines – he reveals why they are about to undergo a revival:

Local governments in the US are starting to develop their own strategies for energy-independence, or micro-grids. One little-known technology, the Stirling Engine, is being revived because it can make use of waste heat from other energy sources.

In Helena, MT, city commissioners are designing a project to cut utility bills by generating electricity at the wastewater treatment plant, the city government’s biggest energy user. Camp, Dresser & McKee Inc. are drafting plans for a Stirling engine and generator, which will use excess methane gas at the plant to generate electricity.

The technology likely will cost several hundred thousand dollars but could pay for itself in as few as five years. So what is a Stirling engine exactly, and why are they not more widely used? If the explanation below is too technical, try Building a Stirling Hot Air Engine (2 Video Set). Click “more” for the rest of the story

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Now concentrate

solar cookers
Mirror, mirror on the floor…

Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems could be the energy of the future in off-grid locations, both small and large scale. Lenses or mirrors focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. In power stations the beam shines on a vessel that contains a gas or liquid that can be heated up to around 400C (750F) enough for conventional steam turbine. Small-scale off-grid CSP power stations don’t have to be hugely expensive either.

In fact, the basic idea of concentrated solar power is the same as in solar cooking and new methods of water pasteurization – already widely used in the third world – eliminating the need for biomass as a fuel.

But what makes the plants really efficient is their recycling of energy.

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Energy

Leader of the Wind Rush

Dale Vince, Ecotricity, Manchester City, Vegan,

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Simran Sethi’s TV show

Simran Sethi, Majora Carter,

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Events

Shine on!

built in Obsolescence, everlasting light bulb, Swan Edison, Livermore Centennial Light Bulb,

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People

Disaster response

Community Emergency Response Teams, CERT, Illinois, Sociology,

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Energy

Apple power

Methane, biofuel, alternative fuel, cheap gas,

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Community

Be Cool

Global Cool, Josh Hartnett, KT Tunstall

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