Events Archives - Page 13 of 27 - Living Off the Grid: Free Yourself

Better Off

If you cannot wait until Earth Hour on 27 March to switch off power in your house, try making this weekend your Power Off Weekend. That is what a group in the UK are doing. The Power Off movement chooses random weekends to switch off all power (yes, including the freezer), and play games by candlelight.

“Power Off is all about having time to have fun, play games, talk to people, have friends and neighbours round, spend time with your children,” says Malcolm, who has started the Touchwood project in the Orkneys to popularise the idea. Of course if you turn off the power in the Orkneys at night, then it gets really dark, unlike London. But the freezer wont melt in a single weekend because its normally too cold.…

March 16, 2010 2 Comments

Off-grid real estate, Phoenix

On March 13, 2010, bidders will have a rare chance to acquire Vulture Ranch, a sprawling 80 acre compound, and “an absolute jewel among Arizona real estate” locals claim. Opening bid is only $250,000.

Just 60 miles northwest of Phoenix, Vulture Ranch is a self-contained, off the grid Arizona real estate complex on the Sonoron Desert. It’s highlight is a nearly 5,000 square foot 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom main house and features four guest suites and two cottages. Vulture Ranch has a large reception hall, opening onto a perfectly landscaped courtyard. It’s a rare find on the real estate auction market.…

March 12, 2010 No Comments

Beware of 1BOG

The company recently raised $5m, a step forward in its aim to become a major corporate player in the solar panel market. But this tiny start up is making some inflated claims.

1BOG sounds to British ears like a good name for a toilet.…

March 9, 2010 1 Comment

Building the off-grid revolution

Ecobuild has become the most important building exhibition in the UK.Off-grid picks its favourite products.…

March 6, 2010 No Comments

Events

Off-grid Olympians

American Olympic snowboarder Hannah Teter has returned to Vermont — to live in her yurt. “Mom has a huge garden and fruit trees,” she told People magazine “and I love it there.

“I helped my parents get solar power this past year, and I’ll be running on solar and hopefully wind power with my yurt so I can be completely off the grid.”

Meanwhile, Olympic gold medalist skateboarder Shaun White says he is anxious to return to his 1969 Volkswagen Van.

Hannah Teter, however, is the off-grid flavor of the month.…

March 1, 2010 4 Comments

Pacific Power Seeks grid-tied Renewable Energy

From March 8 thru May, Pacific Power will accept applications for community-based renewable energy funding from its Blue Sky renewable energy program. They cover the states of Oregon, Washington and California.

To be considered in this competitive application process, interested parties must complete and submit an application form, along with supporting materials, by 5 p.m. PDT on May 14.

…

March 1, 2010 No Comments

Energy

Boom time for Bloom Box

A new but still unseen fuel cell technology that its creator claims can be an off-grid source of cheap energy, and clean power, is about to get its formal debut

Bloom Energy’s much-hyped fuel cell, known as the Bloom Box, will take place at eBay’s headquarters in California tomorrow (24 Feb). Bloom Box is already being trialed on the campuses of Google and eBay among others. FedEx, Wal-Mart and Staples are among a score of Fortune 100 companies that have signed up as Bloom Box clients to save million in electricity costs. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, among those who endorse the technology, is on the Board of Directors of Bloom Energy, an eight-year old stealth start-up that raised more than $ 400 million from Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists who have installed Bloom Boxes in their own bug-out locations.

…

February 21, 2010 13 Comments

Where have all the engineers gone?

A common theme running through many if not most if the current crop of discussion threads dealing with alternative lifestyle and off-grid living is a lack of solid engineering know how.

Many posters ask basic questions about the technology involved. All the major green and alternate energy projects we hear about in the news are mega projects involving huge amounts of money and aimed at creating megawatts of power to feed the existing grid.

These projects do employ engineers but very few of these engineers seem to get involved with low tech small scale energy projects.

I began wondering why.

…

February 15, 2010 No Comments

Here comes the sun

Because we live off the grid, people seem to think we live in a shack without modern conveniences. Totally not true, but we do have to be frugal with our energy usage. On sunny days, we can turn on all sorts of appliances at the same time, allowing me to vacuum and wash clothes while we brew coffee, heat stuff in the microwave, watch TV, and surf the Web.…

February 12, 2010 No Comments

Walking house, Air-borne hotel – Welcome to eco-prop

The world’s first walking home set off on vacation early this morning. The box-like dwelling which uses six hydraulic legs powered by solar panels left the Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridge UK where it has lived for the last 18 months, bound for an arts festival in Essen, Germany.

Meanwhile in the virtual world, a British design company in cahoots with industrial giant Samsung unveiled a film of a “revolutionary transport system’” it calls ‘Aircruise’ –a solar-powered air-born luxury hotel.…

February 8, 2010 1 Comment

Take a walk on the wild side….

…..Lou Reed sang the song; now he has gone back to the wilderness.

The archteypal New York heroin rocker,Reed,together with his wife, performance artist Laurie Anderson, has bought land in upstate New York. She has taken up farming, and he is into nature photography.

A show of Lou Reed’s photos opened last month in Wichita Falls.

Reed, 67, former lead singer of the Velvet Underground, has rediscovered the ethereal, ephemeral beauty of nature in his photographs, but with a kind of avant garde sensibility.…

February 7, 2010 1 Comment

Freeconomy founder talk tonight

A UK green weekend in Nottingham will hear a keynote speech this evening from Mark Boyle, who has been living without money for more than a year.
His talk is part of a weekend of environmental events in Nottingham at the Art Organisation, Station Street, as part of the Space For Life: Big Green Weekend event.…

February 6, 2010 3 Comments

All you need to go off-grid

Events

Better Off

Off-grid real estate, Phoenix

Beware of 1BOG

Building the off-grid revolution

Off-grid Olympians

Pacific Power Seeks grid-tied Renewable Energy

Boom time for Bloom Box

Where have all the engineers gone?

Here comes the sun

Walking house, Air-borne hotel – Welcome to eco-prop

Take a walk on the wild side….

Freeconomy founder talk tonight

OFF-GRID.NET

PUBLICATIONS

CODE OF CONDUCT

REGISTER AND MANAGE ACCOUNT

ORDERING

PRIVACY POLICY

LINKS DIRECTORY

LANGUAGES

ADVERTISERS

POWER MANAGEMENT

POWER MANAGEMENT LANGUAGES

WORK FOR US

Sign-up to our newsletter

Events

OFF-GRID.NET

For films about individuals and technologies for living off the grid

PUBLICATIONS

REGISTER AND MANAGE ACCOUNT

ORDERING

LANGUAGES

ADVERTISERS

POWER MANAGEMENT LANGUAGES

WORK FOR US

Sign-up to our newsletter