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The Vegan Land Movement in the UK provides a model for others to follow – anywhere in the world – to link up and secure bare land for working and living purposes.  The London Times covered a recent purchase of 6.8 acres of grazing fields in South-West England.  A £44,000 bid from the group of vegans, secured the plot.

Using the Landbuddy map – off-gridders can adopt the same  strategy – and form groups of like-minded people to acquire land quickly and easily.

“A lot of people think action is about standing on a street with a banner,” says Gina Bates, 60, the founder of VLM. “Obviously that plays a part but not many people are actually trying to create alternative systems.”

Veganism is growing in popularity. According to YouGov, 2 per cent of the population was vegan in 2021, rising to 3 per cent last year. Veganuary is celebrating its tenth year of campaigning with the number of people pledging a month of veganism growing year on year.

Meanwhile, vegan organisation GenV has challenged Rishi Sunak to adopt a plant-based diet for a month for a donation of £1 million to a charity of his choice and has taken over every inch of advertising space in Westminster Tube station to get its message to him. Founded in 2019 by Matthew Glover, who also established the Veganuary group, GenV has previously issued the same challenge to the Pope and to Donald Trump.

GenV doesn’t take public donations and is funded entirely by a private trust, which is supported by a number of philanthropists

A section on its website headlined “Supporters past and present” features pictures of Joanna Lumley, Paul McCartney, Bryan Adams, Joaquin Phoenix and Woody Harrelson. “In the case of this particular million pounds, this is being offered by an anonymous donor,” says GenV.

VLM comprises three core members and about 20 volunteers, and no one takes a salary. All of the four sites it owns are in Somerset, a region it has honed in on for a few reasons. “One is because it’s one of the most depleted areas in Europe for biodiversity,” Bates says. “It’s also the biggest region for dairy farms in the country, so there’s a lot more pollution per acre there than there is anywhere else in the UK.”

Bates, who used to work as a print designer for Liberty in London, but who now lives in the Highlands and has planted a “veganic” nut orchard, wanted to “think of solutions.”…

Bluetti is one of the pacemakers in the home battery market, with an online following crowdfunding some of its latest products. Over the coming weeks at Off-Grid.net and our associated Youtube channel, we will be test-driving some of its leading products and comparing them to the competition – Jackery, Anker, Allpowers and others.

The company styles itself as a pioneer in the clean energy storage industry, and is to showcase its new model EP900 and other power backup products at the upcoming CES 2023, the world’s biggest tech conference. It claimed to redefine home energy at the Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall #9335, Jan. 5-8, 2023.

The upgraded EP900 & B500 feature a 9kW inverter and expandable capacity that starts at 9kWh with a single B500 LFP battery and ends at 79kWh when paired with 16 batteries. The system can be integrated directly into most solar panel systems, allowing for up to 9kW max solar input. Besides its peak-load shifting mode to reduce electric bills, it also acts as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that switches instantly to battery power in 10ms after the grid power fails.The stellar combo of the year will also hit the stage. A month earlier, it raised $11 million from more than 4,000 backers on Indiegogo, another record in BLUETTI’s history.

The 16-outlet solar generator pumps out 5kW pure sine wave power and can be charged via 8kW AC+ Solar dual input. The AC500 can handle anything from home blackouts to outdoor camping when teamed with one to six B300S LFP batteries for a maximum capacity of 18,432Wh.

BLUETTI has a diverse product range that can be classified by size, usage, or design. It has a lineup of portable generators called the EB series, such as the popular 10-pound EB3A. The AC200MAX, AC200P and EP500, EP500Pro make up the best all-in-one power giant collection. Options for power stations are growing in number as BLUETTI’s R&D team continues to roll out products based on customer demand.

 …

A cluster of 3,335 satellites called the ‘Starlink Constellation’ created by SpaceX is currently offering off-grid high-bandwidth WiFi to consumers in 45 different countries. Around 1 million people have already subscribed. This is the perfect provider for any people in need of a service designed for off-grid living.
A large portion of customers happen to be from Ukraine, and it is actively aiding them with the current war.
Starlink has also provided Ukraine by helping restore power and installing ‘Starlink Terminals’ that will help them access the internet.
The satellites and internet have given Ukrainians a chance to communicate with the outside world and Russia has threatened to shoot them down as they say it is interfering with the invasion.
The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishnya says “Starlink has played a crucial role in helping Ukraine to mount its defense against the Russian invasion”
Starlink released the service in 2019, and aims for global phone service after 2023, as well as increasing their overall number of orbiting satellites.…

What could be nicer than climbing into a warm bed on a cold, damp night?

Normally that means heating the room, but you could perfectly well heat the bed for a couple of hours just before sleep, for only a few cents.

The humble Electric blanket
(click here for UK version), was a staple of middle-class homes in the 1950s and 1960s, but has since fallen out of favour as central heating was installed, and after a string of fatalities.

Modern Electric blankets
(UK version)
must pass stringent safety rules, and there is a wide range to choose from. This one in UK is only £11.50.

A battery like this onein USA and this one
in the UK, will power the blanket for up to 6 hours via the USB. The battery can be recharged the next day – this can be with a 200-watt solar panel
for the USA version – or here
in the UK.

Or plug into the mains – if you can find a live socket at a friend’s house!

Street lights can also be used as a power supply (but only when connected by a qualified electrician). And you could pay for charging at a local garage or anywhere you can find with a power supply.

Sweet Dreams – and remember to switch off the blanket before sleep, although you can switch it back on again if you wake up cold.…

Washington DC – US department of energy has trailed an announcement later today (Tuesday), from energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and under-secretary for nuclear security Jill Hruby to announce “a major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Physicists have since the 1950s sought to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun, but this is the first time they had been able to produce more energy from the reaction than it consumes. The figures to be released later today reach a milestone known as net energy gain or target gain, which would “derisk” investment in fusion to achieve a reliable, abundant net-zero alternative to fossil fuels and conventional nuclear energy.

Boosters of nuclear fusion are already claiming that this announcement puts commercial fusion production less than 10 years away. There are fears it will provide an excuse for governments and industry to put current Net-zero plans on hold. Even on the most optimistic assumptions about climate change that would be too late to stop catastrophic warming.

Physicist Daniel Jassaby, who worked at the Princeton plasma lab, said a fusion reactor would be “far from perfect and in some ways close to the opposite”.

Writing in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists he said the process of nuclear fusion has the potential to produce radiation damage and radioactive waste – contrary to claims it is clean and safe.

He also says the “parasitic drain” of power needed to fuel fusion reactors renders means that they could “consume a good chunk of the very power that they produce”.

Fusion reactors have to be supplied with fuel made from fission reactors which he said implies a “perpetual dependence” on them.

And there is the potential for nuclear weapons proliferation through the “clandestine” production of plutonium-239.

In total there have been 21 commercial start-ups in fusion energy over the last five years, with a cascade of private funding over recent months following successes by the Livermore lab in 2021.

The Fusion Industry Association in Washington says there are currently five private companies pursuing inertial fusion of different forms, including the UK’s First Light, Focused Energy and Xcimer Energy in the US, and Marvel Fusion and XB11 in Germany.

“The advances being made point to market viability much sooner than expected, within the next 10 years,” said Todd Ditmire, co-founder of Focused Energy.

The $3.5bn National Ignition Facility at Livermore was primarily designed to test nuclear weapons by simulating explosions but has since been used to advance fusion energy research.

Achieving ignition involved collaborators at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Nevada National Security Site; General Atomics; academic institutions, including the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University; international partners, including the United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.…

There are currently nearly 700 significant microgrids in the USA and only about 13 in Western Europe, according to a new report. There are four microgrids under construction in the UK. A microgrid is a local electrical grid with defined electrical boundaries, acting as a single and controllable entity. It is able to operate in grid-connected and in island mode. A ‘Stand-alone microgrid’ or ‘isolated microgrid’ only operates off-the-grid and cannot be connected to a wider electric power system.

There is a signficant potential market for mircogrids, and the current size is vanishingly small, but it is proof of concept. Globally the buildout of microgrids is growing at only 7% per year, and this could change dramatically if a recent Off-Grid.net forecast of potential demand is correct.
The highest number of microgrids are employed by the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) sector globally (e.g. Walmart, Inc., eBay, Panasonic/Xcel, Castello Di Amorosa Winery, etc.) and are primarily aimed at serving the needs of these businesses and corporations.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), there are at least 676 microgrids in the US, providing a total of 4,132MW of reliable electricity. – DOE lists over 620 grid-connected microgrids and over 56 off-grid microgrids in the US
The new report from Triton Research estimates there are currently 13 existing microgrids across Western Europe. In the United Kingdom, there are currently 4 microgrid constructions underway.
Transitioning to a microgrid is driven by reduced electricity purchase costs of distributed energy resources, favorable government initiatives, reduced carbon emissions to achieve a low carbon economy, and increased resilience and insulation from external events. Demand along all these categories is likely to increase.
Market growth is currently restricted by the regulatory framework and high maintenance and installation costs.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

Hitachi Ltd
Schneider Electric
Duke Energy Corporation
8.4. Exelon Corporation
Siemens AG
Fairbanks Morse
National Grid plc
. S&C Electric Company
Bloom Energy,
Cummins Inc,
Fuelcell Energy Inc,
General Electric Company.
Power Engineers Incorporated,
Nrg Energy Inc,
Eaton Corporation plc

The global microgrid market includes North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa regions.
The Asia-Pacific is deemed to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period. The large population base in the region has increased the demand for power grids due to the lack of electricity. Due to low electrification rates, several microgrid innovators are expanding operations in the region and are backed by government funding.
Additionally, with several nations facing extreme weather conditions, microgrids have emerged as an ideal solution to improve grid efficiency. During the forecast period, collaborations between governments, international development agencies, and energy companies are expected to rise, boosting the market’s growth.

The report can be found at: https://www.tritonmarketresearch.com/reports/microgrid-market…

European countries facing energy shortages will be bidding against each other for scarce energy supplies at times of peak demand this winter.

Leadership failure by the EU Directorate means there is no system to “share the pain” between countries when the Ukraine-led energy shortage bites. Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo has warned Europe could face up to 10 difficult winters as a result of the standoff.

The UK government is considering a “revenue cap” on electricity generators in line with a similar move by the European Union. The UK budget announcement this week will contain a tax of 40 per cent on the “excess returns” produced by the sector above a certain price per megawatt hour, according to people close to the discussions. That threshold has not yet been decided. Energy prices for a typical UK family will have tripled between 2021 and 2023

The head of France’s electricity grid warned yesterday that his country is at risk of electricity shortages this winter, as problems with its nuclear power stations mount. Xavier Piechaczyk, president of the Reseau Transport d’Electricite (RTE), said it is in a state of “state of particular vigilance”,  in a warning that also raises questions for Britain’s power supplies this winter.

National Grid in the UK is hoping to be able to import power at times of peak demand if gas shortages mean not enough electricity is being generated domestically but it will be competing with every other energy provider on the continent to do so.

France typically exports electricity to other countries but is less able to do so given half of its nuclear power stations, which are owned and run by EDF, are currently offline, either for maintenance or as a result of corrosion problems. The widespread shutdowns add to the strain on the energy system caused by gas shortages, creating the risk that Britain and Germany will struggle to meet needs at peak times this winter. National Grid has warned there could be blackouts in the UK.

RTE is publishing a forecast of electricity supplies up to four days in advance, known as Ecowatt, to try and help manage the system. If supplies are looking tight, it will launch a “red alert” calling on users to cut consumption.

Early last week, French power prices for January surged above €1,000 per megawatt hour after EDF cut its electricity output for the fourth time this year. Prices have since fallen back, though remain far higher than in neighbouring countries.

Mr Piechaczyk said he was taking a “cautious” approach to nuclear plant availability in RTE’s forecasts, Bloomberg reported, given the risk of maintenance taking longer than planned.

France is one of several countries that trades electricity with Britain, helping balance out supplies on both sides. In its winter outlook published in October, Britain’s National Grid warned it may have to impose rolling power cuts …

As costs of energy double and redouble in the UK, and the government prepares to announce details of a bailout for householders, 100,000 off-grid households face winter out in the cold.

The bailout is likely to be based on previous utility bills, and as off-grid homes do not buy from utility companies they are being left out of the calculations. Van-dwellers, liveaboard boaters and permanent dwellings that are energy independent mostly rely on oil, butane or wood for heating and cooking. All of these will be in short supply this winter.

A document from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published on 29 July, states: “Evidence suggests up to 400,000 would not receive EBSS support due to these circumstances compared with approximately 29 million that will.”

Gypsies and Travellers fear missing out on energy bills support and the National Bargee Travellers Association says thousands of “liveaboard” boaters could be locked out of the support payments.

Dan Hooper, an environmental activist nicknamed Swampy, who achieved prominence for his tunnel protest activities, lives off-grid in Tipi Valley, a 200-acre former farm in Wales.

He and others in the community generate sustainable electricity from solar panels supplemented by bottled gas and wood burners for heating in the cold winter months. Bottled gas prices have risen by 40% in the past 12 months.

Dan Hooper, AKA Swampy, said: ‘Government should not allow the energy companies to charge these extortionate prices.’
“Government should not allow the energy companies to charge these extortionate prices and make so many people miserable while they are making record-breaking profits. It’s all about human greed. We need to consume less,” he said.

He added that while he has some protection because his home is extremely well insulated, “Everyone should get these payments, which could be used to help people get their energy in more sustainable ways such as from solar panels.”

For Terry Green, a Traveller living with members of his family in a caravan park in East Sussex, the energy price hike has come as a “big shock”. He lives in a caravan with his wife. His three children and his grandchildren live in other caravans on the site.

“We’ve lived on this site for four years. It’s one of the best sites I’ve been on and I wake up every morning and thank God when I see my children and grandchildren around me. But when we add up the increased cost of paying our electricity key meter and bottles of gas I don’t know if we can afford it.

“A lot of Travellers will have to go back to the old ways of cooking outside on an open fire. Why should we be forced to do that? We should have equal rights with everyone else. Greed has crept in. It’s ruining the world.”

Friends, Families and Travellers, which supports Gypsy and Traveller communities, has written to …

Sunnova will use a 20 year old law to get around current regulations…