February 25, 2010

Emergency Power: engine-driven generators

Living off the grid,  generators have a place. There comes a time  when some backup power is needed.  In most cases  this means using an engine to turn some form of generator.

People living  in Vans, camping trailers or small cabins tend to view  a seperate engine driven  generator as a nuisance  to be tolerated  and  usually do  not wish to spend much money. Various alternatives  present themselves.
Running the Van motor to charge up  the battery is among the first  solutions  that  comes to mind.  Next is a small  stand alone portable genset and  a typical automotive charger  that plugs into the mains.
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LandBuddy – link with others off the grid

Welcome to the beta launch of LandBuddy ™, a place where you can find new off-grid friends and form groups to share land, acquire real estate  and other resources (no commercial postings please).

Looking for the perfect bug-out location?  Real Estate prices are high. Or perhaps you already have some forest or agricultural real estate and are looking for others to share the land?  But who?

Or, maybe you’re just intrigued by this idea of living off the grid, and you want to meet some folks who are building a community together, and help out a bit.

Whichever your interest, Off-Grid.net’s new LandBuddy service is for you. Real estate prices may have fallen but good land is still out of the reach of most. And finding other people who also want to live in an off the grid community in the same region as you is really hard.

We are here to help change that.…

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Energy

Government grants create turbine debacle

The UK Government’s energy conservation watchdog has admitted that consumers were duped by inappropriate grants into buying wind turbines that never stood a chance of working properly.

In an attempt to ensure that there is no repeat of the wind turbine debacle, the Energy Savings Trust, funded by Government and big energy companies, has embarked on the first large-scale trials aimed at providing definitive information on the performance of different green technologies in the UK.

The first trial concluded that an unknown amount of government cash has been wasted encouraging urban consumers to buy wind turbines when no one really knew whether they were effective or not.…

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