For you, the grid is over The US Defense Department (DoD) is preparing to make dozens of its key bases across America “off grid ready.”  And apparently in 15 years, all Army bases are expected to be fully off-grid with renewable energy, say military sources – that’s if …
>>Keep reading “What next, eco-napalm?”

Larch Maxey: can’t fly, won’t fly An off-grid academic has become a media hero in Britain after he refused to fly to an environmental conference in the United States.

Larch Maxey, Doctor of Sustainability at Swansea University lives in a self built chalet, and does everything he can to keep his carbon footprint low.  He had been offered the all expenses paid trip to attend the Smithsonian Festival in Washington last week to present a paper on global warming.

“If I had flown, it’s more than my share of carbon emissions for a couple of years,” said Dr Maxey. Instead he presented his paper, ‘The Future in Our Hands: Low Impact Development and Sustainability Transitions,’ by video link.
>>Keep reading “Why I won’t fly to America”

Fuld – no justice if he walks Bernie Madoff ruined the lives of a few thousand greedy rich people and got 150 years in jail. Yet the SEC ignored the frequent complaints about him for over a decade.  Meanwhile  the disgraced boss of Lehmans, Richard Fuld, who deliberately overstated profits in order to award excessive staff bonuses,has received no penalty for a bankruptcy of over $600 billion – ten times what Madoff stole.  Fuld ignored the advice of accountants and auditors. Recently he sold his $13m mansion to his wife for $100.

He received ZERO years in jail.

And John Thain, the former boss of Merril Lynch earned $83m in 2007, after the company’s profits were overdeclared.
He received ZERO years in jail.
>>Keep reading “Madoff-150, Fuld-0, Thain-0″

Free water Off-Gridders across the state of Colorado have been waiting a while for this moment – its now legal to gather rainwater off your roof, as long as it is 3,000 square feet or smaller.

But before we all have a barrel of fun, take note: the only people allowed to capture rain are those whose residences are well-ready with a well permit. The mere fact that you have no access to water, are not connected to the water grid, is not enough.

There is still a hill of rules you have to climb for fetching a pail of water.
>>Keep reading “Roll out the rain barrel”

Sacred Power Inc. of Albuquerque has got its hands on half a million dollars of stimulus funding for off-grid power.

It has been awarded a USD500,656 grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help bring solar- powered electricity into homes on the Navajo Nation currently without electric power.
>>Keep reading “Navajo go solar”

Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, BMW, VW. The auto lies at the heart of the German economy and culture. But one small corner has taken a stand against the tyranny of four wheels by creating an entire car-free community.

If you want a car in Vauban, you must buy a parking space in one of the municipal garages on the fringes of town. It’ll cost you close on $40,000, but you wont be able to drive your car anyway
>>Keep reading “A town with no cars”

If you are lucky enough to have access to fast moving water on your land, you can use it to generate power.  And there are free plans available on the web for DIY water powered generators (see below).  But be careful only to go to recommended sites.  Bogus companies like Earth4Energy has affiliate deals sweeping the net, selling worthless e-books for $30-75.
>>Keep reading “Free water generator”

Michael Jackson in 1995 Michael Jackson sang in his best known environmentally conscious track “Earth Song”: “Did you ever stop to notice, the crying Earth, the weeping shores? What have we done to the world?”

This kind of ecological concern from artists was not common at that time (1995). The brilliant video – which was derided by some of the pop press as “hard to understand” featured shots of wildlife and Jackson walking through a burned out landscape.

In 2007 the pop superstar told Ebony Magazine he was “very concerned” about the “international global warming phenomenon.”

“I wish they would have gotten people’s interest sooner. But it’s never too late…..It’s been described as a runaway train; if we don’t stop it, we’ll never get it (our world) back. So we have to fix it, now.

“That’s what I was trying to do with Earth Song, Heal The World, We Are The World – writing those songs to open up people’s consciousness. I wish people would listen to every word.”
>>Keep reading “Michael Jackson’s Earth Song”

Rabbit in the headlights Energy Secretary Steven Chu delivered a vital speech last night to increase his offer of stimulus bill funding for large energy projects, mainly building new electricity towers. The annual meeting of the privately-owned electric utilities had been disappointed by initial offers from the DoE last month of $20m per project. Chu told them last night that they will get now get $200m per project out of a total pot of $3.9b. By contrast each State is reeiving an average of $20m for energy conservation measures and renewables.
>>Keep reading “Big Energy hand-outs”