I came across an excellent documentary the other day which has a look at the emerging market in solar energy.
What I loved about this documentary is how it demonstrates the way that government and industry (in Germany and Spain) have implemented feed-in tariff initiatives to generate new business and large-scale approaches to harnessing solar energy across Europe.
The below text is provided from Energy Times Australia, who's newsletter I have received this information from:
One of the long-term benefits of higher energy prices is that capital investment in energy alternatives has been extremely robust. In spite of all the propaganda about how big Wind Energy is getting, what is really happening is that SOLAR ENERGY technology is exploding. Recently, I was introduced to a spectacular documentary produced by a small, Dutch public service TV Station named VPRO. It's called "Here Comes the Sun" and it's about how Solar Technology is developing in Europe, and especially, in Germany. In spite of the fact that it was made TWO YEARS AGO, I was dumbfounded at how much information it presents that I did not know before.
Many of us in the Free Energy movement have long contemplated a "breakout event", where a clean, fuel-less, energy technology gets out into the market in an unstoppable way, and radically displaces OIL and NUCLEAR in the open economy. This film clearly proposes that SOLAR is poised to accomplish this within the next 5 years!
Grab yourself a coffee or a cold drink, and sit back to watch this great 48-minute documentary.
If you're looking for an easy-to-read and uncomplicated e-book about healthy and simple living, then this is one worth looking at!
Many books that we find on living a healthier lifestyle often turn out to fall short of the promises that we see before buying, and let's be honest – how much time and money should it take to live smarter?
Written by someone from our local area, this book is worth a look, and doesn't need to be read from cover-to-cover. By reading a little at a time we pick up handy tips and tricks that don't require us to make big changes in order to get positive results.
Since finishing the preparation of the garden bed (click here to see Part 1), we planted a few vegetables and herbs on January 9th. This included:
Vegetables:
Sweetcorn,
Tomatos,
Lettuce (a couple of varieties),
Rhubarb,
Brocolli,
Silverbeet,
Capsicum,
Pac Choi.
Herbs:
Oregano,
Standard and Sweet Basil,
Parsley.
The photos below show the newly planted seedlings. I wonder if we have planted more than we should have in the space that we have available, though time will tell. Generally, each seedling has about 30-40cm between them.
What does it mean to build a house that is environmentally friendly?
There seems to be so much material out there telling us to be more environmentally responsible when building new homes. Pressure to reduce carbon footprint, use solar passive design, capture rainwater, re-use greywater, install water efficient taps and showerheads, install grid-connected solar panel systems, build with environmentally friendly materials, reduce power consumption….
How does the average punter navigate his/her way through all of this material? How can someone with the average-sized suburban block do their bit? What expectations should people have of themselves if they have a rural block of land? How do we strike a balance between preserving natural vegetation and reducing the threat of bushfire from existing trees? Is it cost-effective to build with all this in mind? Are materials suppliers and builders becoming more attuned to these issues without ripping of the consumer?
I don't believe that the answers to these questions will be easy to find, or even equally relevant to all people. I hope that you can join me on a long-term project to see if the above goals can be achieved by the average family.
Hope to see you along the way, and love to hear about your own experiences.
I've been working on a raised garden bed in the backyard of my in-laws house in suburban Perth which we're hoping will return a year-round supply of herbs and vegetables.
We have designed it so that a rectangular vegetable garden will receive close to full sun, and a curved section that receives considerably more shade will be good for herbs and flowers. The following photos show the partially constructed structure.
Raised garden bed under construction – November 2009
Rectangular Garden Bed (vegetables)
Curved Garden Bed (herbs and flowers)
Since finishing the main structure in November 2009, the past couple of months have been spent adding reticulation, paper, lawn clippings, other general garden waste and fill sand (excess from another part of the yard). Next will be to take a trailer down to the garden supply yard to pick up some compost for the top.
The photos below were taken today (7 January 2010), which show that the garden bed is roughly half-full, reticulated, and only needing a little fill sand and compost before we start planting. The white buckets with blue lids are our attempts to create 'worm towers' within the garden bed. For the worm towers we've followed Leonnie Shanahan's interesting YouTube video. By the time that topsoil and compost has been added, only the top inch or so of the worm towers should be visible.
Getting ready to compost (January 2010)
Worm Tower bucket – holes drilled for worms to enter/exit
Father-in-law showing bottom of bucket cut out
Garden bed with three worm towers
Now that the hardest of the work is done, it's time to add top-soil and compost, and get set for planting. We have 12 Isa Brown chickens in a coop to the left of the vegetable garden, so will circulate soil from the coop to the garden.
As temporary custodians of this Earth, we're just starting to understand what Bill Mollison and David Holmgren were onto back in the 1970's on the issue of permaculture.
If you're eager to dip your toe into the water of this fascinating and common-sense approach, then the following videos (courtesy of YouTube) may be somewhere to start. This link to the Permaculture Research Institute should also be helpful.
This introduction to permaculture introduces concepts including:
The disaster of agriculture,
The importance of biodiversity,
Design in planting, and
The connection between plants and animals.
This concept makes so much sense, it's a wonder that it's not taught in every school.
The following link will take you to to the Your Home Technical Manual, one of the best reference resources on the issue of environmentally sustainable home building in Australia.
Some of the topics include:
Biodiversity,
Vegetation and Bushfire,
Climatology,
Use of shading,
Passive temperature control (cooling and heating),
Building orientation,
Thermal mass,
Skylights,
Glazing,
Building materials,
Renewable energy (solar and wind),
Water sources, storage and use
Sponsored by the Australian Commonwealth Government, it is a one-stop shop for an excellent introduction of pretty much every issue that you would want to consider if designing or building with environmental sustainability in mind.
Sunday 13th September 2009. Houses open between 10am and 4pm.
This is the 8th year of the successful Sustainable House Day – where houses across Australia are opened to show you how to live more sustainably. And this year it’s FREE!
Follow us on our journey to achieve a sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle in Perth, Western Australia.
What can the typical home owner achieve on the average suburban block? We don't all have acres of land to develop market gardens, and would like to do more to minimise our impact on the environment. This site will be dedicated to sharing our experiences in a range of areas, including renewable energy, gardening, healthy living, and sustainability.
We’ll try to check in regularly to share our experiences of how we are going with our plans, and hope to hear of your own stories as well.
Hooroo,
Dean
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