Posts by — SuperJoe

A letter in today’s Napa Valley Times-Herald:

An open letter to Gov. Jerry Brown:

As you are probably aware, we are getting robbed blind by a very dishonest (and dangerous) public utility called PG&E.

A critical evaluation would show that they generate only a very small percentage of the power that they “retail.” They buy most of the power off the “grid” at an exorbitant price, and then they mark it way up. Then they ration that power with the “ratchet” to prevent excessive usage. (more…)

Buying solar panels is one thing – making sure they work efficiently and also hanging on to them is quite another matter. By definition, the panels have to be in an unobstructed area with relatively clear access for maintenance. That means theft is a serious risk, especially as the price of energy continues to rise. Theft of solar panels rose 17% in the US from 2008 to 2009 reports SolarInsure, a Costa Mesa, Calif. company.

With the number of households owning solar panels doubling every few years, companies are springing up to offer solar insurance. Naturally buying insurance is a risk in itself – the premiums are usually too high, and the insurer may not pay out even if you do suffer a problem not of your making. They also offer insurance against another big risk facing owners of solar panels – that the installer is not around to honor its guarantee in five years time or so, if the panel develops a fault. (more…)

Eureka, CA is the cheapest town on the Happy list – the list of the top ten places to be happy, as reported in Sunset.com.

The average price of a home in Eureka is $207,000,compared to $569,000 in the town which takes the No 1 spot on the happy list, Salt Spring BC/ Eureka is still considerably cheaper than Creston, CO, number ten on the Happy list and one of the main off-grid centres in the USA. In Creston the average home is $250,000.

Eureka, on the Redwood Highway in Humboldt County, has a population of about 36,000, except during cannabis harvesting when it grows to about 70,000.

Here’s the full list of the happiest places to go off-grid: (more…)

Here is an excerpt from Seth Stevenson’s new book about travelling the world sans airplane. Of course, ground transport is just as polluting, and just as subject to snow delays as air transport, but somehow its less total – schedules are more flexible – there is always another bus, or another cargo ship coming along:

“Walking down the sidewalk, I instinctively check my pocket. There are no keys there, and it’s a bit unsettling. I find I keep reflexively patting at the void. I feel a moment of panic each time. Until I remember there’s nothing I need keys for anymore. No apartment, no mailbox, no car. I feel untethered. I’m carrying the whole of my existence in a backpack.

It’s a bright August day. We’re walking to the metro stop. Last week, my life lacked purpose, but today every step seems like a purposeful stride. Those people in front of us? They’re going to the office. Us? We’re going on an adventure. (more…)

Insuring seasonal or recreational homes is different from insuring your primary residence, although you might decide that any kind of home insurance is akin to gambling and likely to lose you money in the long run.

The main difference from an insurance perspective is that the recreational home is not occupied year round. From an insurance company perspective this means there’s an increased risk.

In most cases, you can buy insurance for your seasonal home as an extension of your primary home insurance policy. Types of policies and restrictions vary by insurance company, so consider talking to your insurance adviser before you purchase the place. (more…)

Its not quite a McMansion, as its appearance is too distinctive, but is this $500,000 home a case of greenwash, or just naive?

An Australian design company has won a local eco-building award for its huge Convertible House, which looks like an upmarket Nissen hut, with a curved, corrugated iron exterior; the wrinkly tin is ubiquitous in Australia — think water tanks and sheds. (more…)

Mexico – Oct 13 A British man has gone one better than David de Rothschild’s Plastiki, and created an island home in the Caribbean with 120,000 plastic bottles.

Richard`Rishi” Sowar used the rubbish that would otherwise have been buried in landfill to create Spiral Island 2 in a lagoon off Mexico’s Caribbean coast.

Filling fabric bags with the discarded bottles and then attaching them to pallets, the environmentalist’s island has a house, beaches, two ponds and even boasts a solar-powered waterfall. (more…)

California’s green economy reaches every major metropolitan area in the state, and is growing fast, according to an online map released by Environmental Defense Fund.

Originally released last year with 2,200 businesses, the map has grown 60 percent to more than 3,500 entities and now includes: an additional industry sector category; businesses that use sustainable practices; and non-profits, academic institutions and public agencies that design policies, train workers and educate the public on the economic opportunities that stem from energy and environmental policies. EDF also has a California blog. (more…)