The monsoon season has finally started, we get some rain once or twice a day, I haven’t had to water my garden in about 4 days (woo hoo!). Today has been mostly cloudy, but it hasn’t rained yet. The only drawback to the rainy days is we don’t get as much solar power… it means we have to really watch …
>>Keep reading “Update”

Dervaes:poster girls

Imagine all the money you’d save if you did not buy your food at the market, in fact did not buy your food at all! Here’s one family doing just that.

Thelma Gutierrez of CNN spent a day with a family that is self-sufficient, well, self-sufficientish.

The Dervaes family are quite possibly one of the few households in America where rising food prices are not an issue. “You just stay at home and you grow your own food in your backyard,” says URBAN HOMESTEADER, Justin Dervaes. His daughter Anais adds: “We try to cook outdoors using the sun and free energy.”

It takes vegetable oil, heat and some chemicals and makes biodiesel. The Dervaes family of four live off their land, but they do not have a big spread - just a modest three bedroom in Pasadena, California.
>>Keep reading “Grow your own food, make your own fuel”

Hutton: disappointment

UK householders were warned to expect years of higher home energy bills to pay for a green power revolution. But nobody told them there could be another way. The sly government news machine announced a massive 90% increase in ground source heating - but forgot to mention this takes the installed base from hardly any to not very much.

John Hutton, the Business Secretary, outlined plans for a massive shift away from fossil fuels to wind, solar and tidal power, but added that “We think there will be a cost.”

So now we know - politicians would rather brave announcing an energy price rise, rather than asking voters to reduce their energy consumption.

The new energy policy contains no incentive for off-grid living, even though that is just as good a way of reducing carbon emissions.
>>Keep reading “New UK power plans but no help off-grid”

Stern: relaxed

British academic Nicholas Stern shocked the world last year with his simple statement that we have to pay now for the pollution already done to the planet, or else we will pay a lot more soon. Since then, the bill has already doubled he says. And now he is back with a six point plan.

“The plan is not ambitious in relation to the problem,” he told Prospect Magazine. “It is ambitious in relation to world politics. It has been out for only a few weeks, but has already been picked up by people in ministries around the world.

The proposed deal has six basic elements. “First, we need to cut total world carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, with rich countries committing at Copenhagen to cut by 80 per cent by 2050.
>>Keep reading “Six ways to save the planet”

You might be a mountain man if you look like this:

Rather handsome I’d say, and pretty handy around the house too! :)

The Tide Turns

An Indian alternative energy company has been crowned energy champion of the world by a British environmental organisation for its ultra-efficient wood burning stove which will reduce fuel use by 30 per cent.

Bangalore-based Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (Tide) was awarded the title along with a prize of 40,000 pounds by Nobel laureate and environmentalist Wangari Mathai at a ceremony in London.

Another Indian group, the Aryavart Gramin Bank, was among six other international bodies whose schemes were awarded 20,000 pounds each Thursday night by the Britain-based Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy - the so-called Green Oscars.

Many of southern India’s small businesses rely on wood as their main source of fuel, causing pollution, deforestation and uncomfortable and dangerous working conditions when boilers and stoves are badly designed.
>>Keep reading “Tide comes in”

UPDATE 6-24-08
One of my very informed readers passed this site to me:

http://www.sunelec.com/

They have solar panels for as little as $2.98 per watt, as long as you buy in quantity.

FYI, Harbor Freight is selling their 45 watt solar panel kit for $179.99 again! Here is the link:

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/tabviewer/…
>>Keep reading “Inexpensive (Cheap) Solar Panel Kits ala Harbor Freight”

I’ve been thinking a lot about food, the availability of it now, and in the future. While I am able to get it relatively easy right now, that may not be the case in the future. And as much as I’d like to think I am prepared for food shortages, in reality, I am really not as prepared as I’d …
>>Keep reading “Buying Food On Line”

The Australian National University (ANU) scientist Tony Flynn has developed a process to create water filters from commonly available materials. The materials need to also be fired, which can be done without a kiln or other western technology, by using common manure.

An estimated 80% of all sickness in this world can be attributed to unsafe water and sanitation according to …
>>Keep reading “Cheap Water Filter for Everyone”