DTI

The Department for Trade and Industry's renewable energy page.

Technorati tag: Renewable Energy

Windsave

A "Personal Wind Generator" that can save up to 30% of a household's annual electricity bill. There are grants available to pay for them as well. A wind turbine, even a small one, is quite high visibility. I don't think it would be an option for a rural location like Mum and Dad's Eco House (but don't quote me on that, I'm not designing it), but I imagine they could work well in the urbs and suburbs.

Technorati tag: Wind Power

On the road again

Country singer Willie Nelson has started a biodiesel company. Wired investigates.

Technorati tag: biodiesel

Mike Pelly's Biodiesel Method

A fairly detailed explanation of how to make biodiesel.

Technorati tag: Biodiesel

Home Power

Home Power magazine, the hands-on journal of home-made power, grew out of our passion for renewable energy (RE). We're concerned about a world that is increasingly polluted. We're concerned about the high energy use and waste of "developed" cultures. And we're concerned that people are dependent and unable to care for themselves when it comes to energy. Renewable energy gives people control over their energy future by using energy that is provided daily by nature.

Technorati tag: Renewable Energy

Hanging Around

Slightly off topic, and definitely not the sort of place to have been during the last week or so- The Hangout, which is designed to be suspended from a tree.

via Engadget

Hubbert

World oil production probably peaked in 2003, as predicted nearly twenty years ago, and the supply is likely to be 90% gone by 2019. The only thing to do is to start planning now to wean ourselves off the black stuff.

via Jalopnik

Think Big

The mother of all eco-houses, Biosphere 2, is up for sale. Biosphere 2 was an experiment in creating an entirely sealed and self contained environment, the sort of thing required for long term moon bases or even that staple of science fiction the generation ship. The project couldn't really be called a success, but has been used as a centre for study.

Bluegrass

Johnny Buck is at a farm/ biodiesel refinery and has decided to post a video about his first few days. I wonder if there's an equivalent establishment in the UK?

The Green Light

Ecotricity is a green electricity supplier, who will match the prices of customers existing suppliers, plant a tree for every new customer and channel profits into building ever more wind farms.

Ecosphere

When the eco house is completed, I think I'm going to get an ecosphere as the housewarming present. I used to have one of the small spheres and it lasted over two years despite neglect and a slight leak. An extra large sphere would make a great centre piece for a room. It could even be built into a glass topped table.

Green Christmas

Wired recommends eco-friendly presents for the environmentalist in your life.

Hack

Hacking your way off the electricity grid. This may work best in San Francisco, where they have far too much sunshine and state rebates, but even less successful attempts will save homeowners loads of cash.

via Enviropundit

Cost

With the rise in price of fossil fuels, green energy is becoming competitive, in Texas, of all places.

via Slashdot

photoelectrochemical

Photovoltaic cells are so passe, it's all about using sunlight to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen.

....a system on a home's garage roof that is 10 percent efficient could provide enough hydrogen for a fuel-cell car to drive 11,000 miles per year. "The market will have a niche in the home, as people will be able to install their own systems and run their vehicles using the hydrogen produced during daylight hours,"

Origami Home

The cardboard house. Made of 85% recycled materials and itself 100% recyclable, it can draw all its power from a 12 volt battery or small photovoltaic cell.

Cal Earth

The Cal Earth Institute's website has been Slashdotted and consequently exceeded its bandwidth limit, but it bears bookmarking here for future investigation.

Enviropundit

Another green building blog. When I sort oout a blogroll she'll go on it.

Round up

I thought I'd mine the main blog for stuff relevant to the Eco-House. So here's some old news-

English Nature suggests turfing roofs to re-green the country

The Guardian's ethical living experiment

An interactive guide to greener housing, and a related article.

Kingsmead Primary, a green school.

Bio-diesel. Jo and I both want veg oil powered Land Rovers.

The majority of house buyers would pay a bit more for energy efficiency.

Tidal energy turbines.

Act Local

"Councils are central to our efforts to tackle climate change. Everything from transport, house building to the energy efficiency of public buildings is affected by - and affects - the changing climate."

Margaret Beckett calls upon local councils to work with the Government on environmental issues.