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Looking to nature creates a second chance for Welsh Farmers

Faced with a dramatic 75% decline in farming through disasters as diverse as Chernobyl and BSE, many Welsh hill farmers decided to pack up and try a new line in work. Not the three families that make up the Cwmni Gwynt Teg (‘fair wind’ in Welsh) cooperative. When faced with disaster in 1997, this ingenious group looked to the the mountains for inspiration and harnessed the wind, on their own land. They now run the Moel Moelogan Wind farm, a profitable and growing business.…

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November 16, 2004 No Comments

Necessity is the Mother of Invention in India

By C.R.Bhattacharjee, 21/10/04

What happens when being off-grid is a necessity and not an option? India has nearly 25000 villages, located in islands or remote areas distant from habitation, where power from grid lines is not techno-commercially feasible. These villages, where population generally varies between 100-1000 are usually inhabited by financially weaker sections of society whose inability to pay for cost of power is a key factor. Their demand for power is primarily for lights to replace kerosene followed by small requirement for water supply.…

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October 21, 2004 No Comments
Courses, guides & tutorials

Campaign to change Planning permission

At the BBC they call him the Jamie Oliver of Architecture, but we think of him as the Corbusier of TV presenters: Architect Charlie Luxton made his BBC series on Guerrilla Homes last month the start of a campaign to change the planning rules (zoning laws in the US).

We want to join in.

Charlie Luxton
Luxton – wants planners to permit ecohouses
…

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October 10, 2004 2 Comments

Free electricity, from fryer grease

Green Trust, a renewable energy research center, powers their facilities with waste vegetable oil. Their 12.5 kw Detroit Diesel 2-71 generator (the VeggieGen) happily slurps used fryer grease instead of diesel fuel. It’s clean burning, renewable, and a recycled product that normally gets landfilled. See the details at www.green-trust.org…

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October 4, 2004 2 Comments

Cycle in the city

The International Cycle Show 2004, London, is taking place right now, until the 26th Sept, at the Business Design Centre in Angel.

Your chance to see the new 2005 models and accessories.

Fee: 10 – for more information see www.cycleshow.co.uk…

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September 24, 2004 No Comments

BBC TV series on unusual places to live

Finding and buying your first home has never been harder, we are told, so it should come as no surprise that people are looking for other ways to live. And there are more than you might think. On TV series “Guerrilla Homes, ” architect Charlie Luxton looks at ingenious ways of solving the nationwide crisis in affordable housing. Here are 10 of the most striking – though not necessarily practical – ways to get ahead without getting a house. …

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September 6, 2004 1 Comment
Energy

Biofuel conversion kits

Running your car on vegetable oil will save money and reduce your impact on the environment. It is possible to convert diesel cars to vegetable oil by simply installing a fuel modification system.

Greasecar…

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September 2, 2004 1 Comment
Energy

Inspiration comes first

The Eco- marathon we previewed last week was a close contest between ‘Inspiration’ and ‘Team Green’ on Sunday at the
Grampian Transport Museum in Scotland. Team Green took the lead after the first run with Inspiration not far behind.

InspirationInspiration in action

They both improved in the second run as Inspiration closed the gap and finally went into the lead on the third run.…

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August 24, 2004 No Comments
Energy

Scotland hosts eco-car race

The lightest, smallest cars in the world will be competing this weekend in a strange car race in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Gho2stHydrogen car Gh2ost and its driver

Teams from all over the planet will drive their vehicles around a 10-mile track during the Scottish round of the Eco-marathon, an annual fuel economy competition organised by Shell Global Solutions programme.…

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August 20, 2004 No Comments
People

Techno rickshaws in India

Bicycle rickshaws with a difference are a feature of the roads of Uttar Pradesh, India, this year. The rickshaws are part of a project called Infothela (or info-cart) conceived in 2003 by the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur. They carry a computer with a high-speed, wireless Internet and aim to use technology to improve education, health care and access to agricultural information in India’s villages.

Infothela cart…

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August 20, 2004 No Comments