Posts by — jeromebaddley

Cooking without gas

Solar-powered equipment for water, lighting, and communications is being sent to Haiti as part of the reconstruction efforts following last week’s devastating earthquake.

Solar manufacturer Sol on Tuesday said it shipped 15 of its solar streetlights to Haiti as part of an aid mission. With hospitals operating without power, the lighting can be used to extend the time that doctors can treat the wounded, company executives told WPTV. (more…)

21 more in Tulsa This transcript of a discussion between Tulsa highrise managers shows the way the nation is getting to grips with new eco-specifications for buildings.

About 65 percent of the total U.S. electricity consumption each year derives from commercial buildings, Angela West said in opening the Tulsa Roundtable on green construction trends. (more…)

what price tranquility?

Great news! A load of pin-striped city bankers suddenly want to buy your off-grid home.

No less an authority than The Financial Times has endorsed off-grid holiday homes in a breathless article that will win over many CEOs to the merits of an off-grid haven to call their own.

Of course no biggie if you are merely adding to your property portfolio with a fraction of your annual bonus, but for many its all they have. (more…)

Russian turbine team

If you want a high-quality, low-cost household wind turbine, go to St Petersburg. Toomas Pungas, Project Manager, ElektroSfera, explains.

Russia is the world’s biggest country. Almost 70% of it is sparsely populated. That means 70% of the country is off the grid, including European North, Siberia and the Russian Far East. Power in these regions is usually by diesel generator. Thousands of small and big diesel power plants consume 6 to 8 millions tons of fuel annually. Some of the regions are very inaccessible, and the fuel is ferried by planes and helicopters, which is wasteful and expensive. There are villages where electricity is available only a few hours a day  for morning and evening milkings.
The total population of these regions is about 10 million. Annually Russian state and local budgets spend more than $3 billion to provide distant territories with fuel.

Now they have started paying more attention to wind resources. (more…)