Posts by — Nick Rosen

Has anyone tried the new line of Soleta zeroEnergy range of sustainable off-grid homes? Developed by a Romanian environmental group, they are made from 97% recycled materials and boast a range of energy-saving features — as well as energy-creating options such as solar panels.The dwellings are said to be available in several shapes and sizes, and combine rustic modular design with multiple energy saving and producing technologies. But despite a blaze of publicity, it is hard to track down anyone who has actually seen, far less tried out, one of the homes.

They range from a small unit with just 48 square-meters (516 sq ft) usable floor space (plus attic), up to a relatively sizable model suitable for a family of five, with a main area floor space of 100 square-meters. (more…)

Another great recipe from Corey Naughton

Pasta is a wonderful thing to us off-gridders. Long storage life, high in carbs, you can make it at home, and you can add just about whatever is handy to have a delicious meal in no time.

There is a dark side to pasta however … That dark side … is ENERGY.

Pasta requires a long period of boiling in order to turn it from an inedible stick into a tender slippery string. That sustained boiling requires large amounts of energy. You may be using energy from your solar panels … You may be using energy from burning wood or propane … But, at the end of the day you are expending your valuable resources. Resources that cost money to initially procure and replenish. Resources that could be better spent on making dessert ;-)

What if I told you there’s another way? (more…)

On Monday, the rationale for owning gold collapsed along with its price as the yellow metal dropped more than 10%, settling above $1,350 an ounce at the close before bouncing back a bit Tuesday.

That was its lowest level since February 2011, breaking through every support level in sight and pushing gold deep into bear market territory. It’s down 28% from its peak above $1,900 in August 2011.

But gold’s price could be headed much, much lower, in our opinion. Sell now! We think the price will go below a thousand dollars later this year. Many disagree – if you want to get the best price for your gold bullion, jewellry, and even your silver – try this Gold and Silver price calculator from In Gold We Trust. (more…)

From regular contributor Corey Naughton

Like many of those who live off grid I like to eat healthy. There comes a point when one must define what “healthy” is exactly. At the very least, we must personally define what is NOT healthy and avoid those items with the small exception of occasional indulgences (can you say “bacon”). Many will be surprised to learn that things they think are healthy are in fact not. For those of you who have not yet discovered the dangers of pesticide laden and GMO foods … This might be a wake up call. This quick story very clearly helped me add yet another “healthy” item to my list of things to avoid. (more…)

Two arrests recently have featured lone, crazy hermits stealing from trusting folk who leave stuff out and unguarded because that is usually OK in the countryside.Its important we stand up and disassociate ourselves from this sort of behavior. This web site recently featured a warning from a lady who had invited someone to share her off-grid land, and he has ended up wrecking it. We will be featuring this story in more depth once we have investigated the background more thoroughly
Many locals in his part of Maine said they were relieved by Christopher Knight’s arrest after enduring years of break-ins. Frank Ten Broeck, a retired New Jersey police official who has a cottage nearby, marvelled at Knight’s fortitude. (more…)

Margaret Thatcher privatised Britain’s power, water and rail network, handing huge profits to the private sector, at the expense of ordinary homeowners. Perhaps the best way to mark her death yesterday would be to renationalize the Utilities. Bolivia nationalised its domestic energy resources a few years ago. A shrewd move, at a time when owners of natural resources hold the best cards.

Maggie Thatcher’s greatest legacy was (together with US President Ronald Reagan) initiating the free market economics that have led directly to the bonus culture and gaping income inequality.

The era of “greed is good” capitalism went global, a fitting tribute to this extraordinary politician. Britain’s first and only female Prime Minister, she set the template for a massive transfer of public money into private hands.

The privatization of the state owned energy industry took a lumbering inefficient national power grid and turned it into a lumbering, inefficient and eye-wateringly expensive Corporate national power grid, where nearly 20% of households are officially in fuel poverty. (more…)

This web site tends not to write about new technologies until they are commercially available, but a new breakthrough from Stanford prof Shanhui Fan, reported in the Journal of Engineering seems worthy of a heads-up. It taps the frigid expanses of outer space to cool the planet.

Once its perfected, homes and buildings will be chilled without air conditioners, car interiors won’t heat up in the summer sun.

The team of researchers at Stanford designed an entirely new form of cooling structure that cools even when the sun is shining. Such a structure could vastly improve the daylight cooling of buildings, cars and other structures by reflecting sunlight back into the chilly vacuum of space.

“People usually see space as a source of heat from the sun, but away from the sun outer space is really a cold, cold place,” explained Shanhui Fan, professor of electrical engineering and the paper’s senior author. “We’ve developed a new type of structure that reflects the vast majority of sunlight, while at the same time it sends heat into that coldness, which cools manmade structures even in the day time.”

The trick, from an engineering standpoint, is two-fold. (more…)

Listening to the radio yesterday I realised I might be about to lose my life savings or a decent proportion of it. A guy from the European Central Bank was being interviewed about the Cyprus Bank Raid – a decision by the EU to bail out the corrupt Cyprus Government if in return they would raid the bank accounts of both their own citizens and the Russian Mafia which has been stashing its cash in Cyprus to take advantage of the light touch money laundering regulations.

Not that losing my life savings would be a life-changing event, because I don’t have much – but as I do not believe in investing in shares, the little savings I have are in a bank account, a British bank account. And that’s the problem.

The guy from the European bank was telling the interviewer, Evan Davis on Radio 4, why it was OK to snatch the money from Cyprus personal and corporate accounts. “Its completely different from Spain or Italy” he said. “You see, Cyprus is overbanked – I mean the amount of money deposited in banks in Cyprus is about eight times their national GDP.” (more…)

The rugged outdoorsman dubbed the ‘Last American Man’ is facing a government shutdown of his camp in the Appalachian Mountains for not adhering to building code.

Eustace Conway dedicated his entire fortune and nearly 30 years of his  to building and living off of his 500-acre farm. Now he is facing having his entire way of life shut down by the North Carolina state government. In the YouTube film (click the pic above) he says what motivated him.

You can read much more here about Conway, 51, in an excerpt from my book OFF THE GRID – Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government and True Independence in Modern America

According to the Wall Street Journal, several officials showed up to his Turtle Island Preserve home and found that his outhouses, (more…)