Peterson - power without limit or danger

The Observer newspaper in London has followed up on this story with a major news report written by Nick Rosen and Jon Vidal. 24 hours after publication it was the 5th most popular item on the web site of parent newspaper The Guardian. Read on:

A miniature nuclear power station costing $25m and capable of powering a sizeable community is being prepared for launch. US company Hyperion Power Generation says it will produce up to 4000 of its “low yield” Uranium Hydride reactors in the first production run starting June 2013.

Hyperion claims over 100 firm orders for the plants, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says it is also targeting the “off-grid market” and that its reactor could power an entire community of up to 10,000 typical American homes for 8-10 years. “Our goal is to generate electricity for 10cents a watt anywhere in the world,” said John “Grizz” Deal, Chief Executive of Hyperion.
>>Keep reading “Micro-nuclear plants for local power”

Jet set disaster junkie: Villinski Artist Paul Villinski likes to pop into disaster zones. He fetishises the tools people use in emergencies. His Emergency Response Studio is a solar-powered, mobile artist’s studio, repurposed from a salvaged trailer.
>>Keep reading “Art anywhere”

Ed Miliband, climate change ministerThe UK government has backed down in the face of utility company opposition and introduced an Energy Bill which stops short of guaranteeing householders can sell their renewable energy back to the Grid.

Although the British administration tabled an amendment to its own bill that would allow people to generate enough power to serve a community of more than 1,000 people, it does not yet require the energy companies to take a feed from their customers.
>>Keep reading “British people power”

How many times have you seen those wonderful gadgets advertised on TV? These infomercials tend to air early in the day, or late at night, enticing you to part with your hard earned money, if you would just order within the next 10 minutes, your life would be so much easier… but wait, there’s more!

>>Keep reading “As Seen On TV”

Building a grid free future Could urban communities ever make their own electricity, and sell surplus energy to neighboring streets or townships?

The South African Council for Scientific & Industrial Research is establishing two standalone mini-grids in rural areas generating electricity from renewable energy.

Funded by the department of minerals & energy (DME), the R20m pilot was launched by the CSIR and Shell Solar in 2002. Its aim is to build a database of commercially viable mini-grids in rural areas, which do not have access to electricity from the national grid.
>>Keep reading “Mini-Grids”

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - It’s mid morning and Jyoti Fernandes has just received a call from a local restaurant in the wealthy coastal town of Lyme Regis, Dorset.

They need some mixed organic salad leaves in time for lunch - a rush order. The leaves are high-volume-for-weight and pack into three sizeable boxes.

“The Nasturtium petals are the most popular” said Fernandes, 34, who is from New Mexico.
>>Keep reading “Sustainable business”

… that you may not know about me. This is a continuation of a list 100 things that you might not know about me. With this being October, late October, nearly Halloween, so this should be pretty appropriate.

>>Keep reading “2 of 100 Things…”

Isn’t it funny that the first sentence is always the hardest to write? But here goes, first an introduction, my name is Wretha and I live 100% off grid. I live in a small cabin with my hubby Bob and my little dog Pekoe, a 9 year old, long hair Chihuahua. We live on a 5.75 acre tract of land on the side of a mountain in the high desert of far west Texas.

>>Keep reading “Introducing Wretha”

I thoroughly enjoy cooking, I am very passionate about it, to the point that going to restaurants is a bit of a challenge to me. I can’t just enjoy the meal, I have to know how it was made, and then I am thinking about what I could do to make it even better.

>>Keep reading “A Gift Of Bread”