With the tragedy of the bombing in Boston, this is just one more reminder that we need to be prepared for as many different situations as possible. First I want to say how saddened I am by the actions of whoever is responsible, this is an unspeakable tragedy to those who were injured, killed and traumatized by this bombing, to all their friends and families.…
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.…
Huge deposits of hot money mean UK economy is dwarfed by banking activity…
As the winds of change are being felt around the planet, it´s a good time to post this video about Paradigm shift. The end of the year contains an astounding amount of collective attention to an “end date”. For some, December 21 brings the end of world, a doomsday, a shift in consciousness, an alignment of the earth with major cosmic bodies and black holes. Some say it is the end of the longest cycle of a Mayan Calendar, others say this long count cycle Calendar was made by the Olmecs.
This video doesn’t talk about calendars and doom dates, but it gives a good description of what kind of paradigm shift we maty be going through, and how this new understanding is the key to the next stage of planetary consciousness from the perspective of modern science.…
In Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries on earth, a renewable energy company is busy installing nearly 1,000 solar home systems each day.
In November 2012 Grameen Shakti hit 1 Million Solar Home Systems (SHS) installed. The company’s milestone reinforces a lesson that is increasingly clear. Whether it’s Germany, the US, or evenChina distributed solar installations are driving the solar revolution.…
My good friend, an expert in Ecology and sustainable design, assisted at Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development hosted in Brazil this year. It was one of the largest and more important events concerning human development and sustainability.
He wasn´t very happy with the event and its results but he told me that there was just one talk that made the whole experience very powerful and this was the intervention from Uruguay´s president Mujica. (See the speech here)
So i searched for it on the Internet and found it incredible. One man speaking from the heart pointing out issues that are so essential for human beings that seem to be hiding from the common political dialogue going on in the world.
He makes the big questions about the fundamentals of our Economic system. Are we governing Globalization or Globalization is governing us? He asks… Is it possible to talk about sustainability in an economic model based on competition?
Amazing talk to reflect about it, one president who feels truly honest and awake.…
For users seeking a toilet for an off-grid site rather than one which will clean itself and lower its own seat, a composting toilet could be just the ticket.
Modern composting toilets – also called waterless toilets – originated in Sweden in 1939. Engineer Rikard Lindstrom was looking for a toilet that wouldn’t pollute the Baltic Sea near his home in Sweden. He launched Clivus Multrum in 1962, and the company and others like it would eventually spread to the United States in the early 1970s. Today, composting toilets are used in a variety of home situations. …
The off-grid life is about to go mainstream — in a new network TV series called “Revolution” on NBC. Produced by the creator of Lost and other hit series, Revolution is set 15 years in the future, after electricity ceases to exist on earth because of a solar flare.
The series stars Tracy Spiridakos as Charlie, a teenager who tries to rescue her brother after he’s taken by a local militia in this post-apocalyptic future where all technology has been disabled.
The show launches Monday Nov 17th, so be grateful your TV still works – if it does. “Revolution” mixes a terrific cast, breathtaking visuals, sharp action sequences and brave twists into a low-tech “Mad Max” where cars don’t work anymore.
Survivors refer to that fateful day as the Blackout, but no one knows what caused it until well into series 1.
Director Eric Kripke says: “Its saying what would happen if we all lived without electricity in this very incredibly technologically overextended little world of ours and how would we survive.…
Shedtastic? Or just a vanity project and a grand example of selfishness and privilege?…
Time was, the phrase ‘water powered’ meant driven by the force of a river or torrent. Lately, it acquired a new resonance with the launch of a pocket-sized charger that needs just a few drops of the stuff to make it work.
The Powertrekk from Swedish company myFC was launched at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, with the slogan ‘Instant Power Anywhere’.
On the down side, the Powertrekk only works with devices that use a USB, but it has the potential to make being off-grid easier. The company says it needs just a tablespoon of water to work. …
Les Rencontres d’Arles 2012 is one of the world’s key photo exhibitions. this year it has an off-grid theme.
In the centre of town, the biggest and most well-attended show is a historical one: Gypsies by Josef Koudelka. The book, first published in France in 1975, is one of the defining photobooks of the 20th century. Koudelka’s brand of poetic sadness is more powerful today given that the world he photographed has all but vanished in the intervening years to be replaced by a new Gypsy generation which prefers concrete and mains power to caravans and wood fires.
The most haunting image in the collection shows a beautiful, bewildered young man in handcuffs. He stands in the foreground as if mesmerised by Koudelka’s camera while, behind him, a string of onlookers and a pair of uncertain policemen await their parts in this mysterious drama. …
The conquest of space may one day become man’s salvation. Mars is our species most likely second home. This picture, taken over a period of several months, is the most detailed ever seen of the surface of the red planet. The view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see. Download the high-res version here.
From fresh rover tracks to an impact crater blasted billions of years ago, the scene, recorded from the Opportunity’s mast-mounted color camera includes the rover’s own solar arrays and deck in the foreground, gives a sense of sitting on the rover and taking in the view.…
