Then you may want to check out the resources at The Modern Homestead site!

I was just looking for some information on how to build a greenhouse (a cheap one!) when I ran across Bob Senz’ article on how to get the job done for about $140!

I look forward to reading more of Bob’s material in the future, and I’m sure you will too!

Related article: Living Off The Grid

It’s not something that needs to be controlled for political gain. But the political implications are dramatic.

The company that comes up with the ability to do this profitably will be able to take a free commodity – sunshine – and theoretically produce extremely cheap and profitable electricity without the risk seen in nuclear energy.

Perhaps we could defund much of “petrodollars” that support terrorism today.

Perhaps we could finally hear the end of the cacophony from the so-called “environmentalists” whose solution to everything is to deprive us political freedom in the name of their ill conceived programs for saving the planet.

Imagine how freed up petroleum reserves would potentially spur the development of the Third World economy and do more through free enterprise than sending money gratuitously down government sponsored rat holes in the name of “international development” that usually just seems to prop up dictators.

And in an economy about to seemingly tank, perhaps this is the kind of low cost energy that would start a new economic rebirth in North America?

In the meantime, you’ll just have to Live Off The Grid.

I just like gadgets. I wish I could be off the grid myself. Maybe again one day soon.

Whatever your interest in “Living off the grid”, enjoy…

Living off the grid

The shortage of power, the rapid consumption of non-renewable energy, the ever-increasing demand for power supply, the daily warnings about our environment are enough signs to tell us that it’s time we do something. So, what can we do? For starters, how about living off the grid? If I have startled you with that proposition, let me tell you that living off the grid not only helps the environment and helps save power; it also cuts down our electricity bill substantially. Now, that’s a tangible benefit apart from all the good you will do to the world. Trust me, you will feel good doing this.

Let us first study the advantages of living off the grid.
• Reduced dependability on exhausting resources: Who wants to depend on public utilities all the time? Living off the grid helps you rely only on your resources and not the ones supplied by governments or corporations. How often have you cursed when faced with a power outage in the midst of some important work or a party? Wouldn’t you like to take charge of such factors affecting you life? With alternate power solutions, you can.
• Freedom of usage of naturally available resources: How would you feel when you don’t have to pay for the power you use? Wouldn’t it be delightful to use as much power as you want without worrying about the electricity meter? You can make use of the abundant power available in the nature to light up your home and make your food. The solar power solutions and the wind power solutions are the answers to your power quest (well, literally!).
• Reduced power costs, helping save your money: How would you feel if the electricity bills stop coming in your letter box? The alternate power solutions give you a return on investment very soon, thus making the power supply to your home eventually free!
• Making way for a healthier environment: Don’t you bless the people who planted trees years ago not expecting them to miraculously grow? They planted those trees for the future generations. Make the future of your future generations secure by giving them a greener, healthier world. Cut down on the usage of non-renewable sources of energy. Try to use water minimally. There is not much drinking water left for the next generations.

If you are thinking it is not very feasible to live off the grid, look for alternate power solutions and you will be surprised to learn that they are not only cost-effective but also extremely feasible.

Make power at home with solar and wind energy to eliminate your power bill. Get our complete guide at Earth 4 Energy

Related Link: How To Reduce Your Electric Bill

If feasible (deployment is expected within 5 years possibly!) this could provide power to people without linking them to the grid which, in an emergency or warfare involving electro magnetic pulse weaponry could see power flow disruption.

They only need to be refueled every 7 to 10 years and the cost per home to install the service is as low as $2500.

But will it be used in the US?

Read it and let us know what you think…

Imagine, a community of 10,000 homes could buy this for $250 each and be electrically self sufficient and therefore independent from the “outside” in many ways!

Amazing!

His legislative agenda seemed to be about removing barriers to innovation.

It should be about him investing his and his investors private funds in the hope of gain.

But there’s already monkey business afoot … $5 billion in California bond money and $5 billion in Federal money and Nancy Pelosi investing in a company that stands to benefit..

I guess the government would still be pushing incandescent light bulbs if  elected officials could have “gotten in on the ground floor”.

Because, says the article,  there’s enough energy deposited on the earth in one hour to meet our planet’s energy needs for one year, this scientist’s development of an “inorganic leaf” is a huge step forward in harnessing this power.

For now though, there’s no telling when it will have any real world applications.

I have to admit, I was wrong about biofuels. I thought they were viable, but I’m no longer sold.

I don’t have all the answers – but at least I keep looking.

Here’s a new website talking more about the T. Boone Pickens Plan – PickensPlan.com

Personally I don’t think it talks enough about coal gasification as a possible option… and I think we need to explore every option.

But at least this IS a plan.

To see if a natural gas vehicle is viable where you live (it’s not here and in New Orleans the price is as bad as gasoline) you can check out this site… CNGPrices.com

2) Our own politicians’ failure to encourage US refinery building

The Air Force, at least, has taken a concrete step to help the situation. Do we have the resolve to stop letting ourselves be dependent on the people who hate us and who use the profits to destroy us and undermine us? It’s gotten beyond being a merely economic equation. It’s about national survival.

But our “leaders” are failures in that on both sides of the aisle. As Pickens will say, he doesn’t think anyone in Washington has a clue about the seriousness of the problem we face and, so, they aren’t able to speak to the issues let alone lead.

To add to the national discussion, T. Boone Pickens weighs in through this interview.

He’s an oil insider from way back. I don’t think you’ll be less confused, but at least you will be more educated.

*In answer to the idea that we can demand the Saudi’s produce more oil Pickens says: “In the Mideast, they can’t give you any more oil than they’re giving you. The game has changed.” He believes world wide production has peaked and will decrease 6% per year.

*Unlike some who think the earth’s core is still generating oil and that it’s not a “fossil fuel”, Pickens thinks production and new finds have peaked.

*If ANWR (Alaskan) drilling were ok’d today it wouldn’t be enough by itself to make a dent and it would really only be flowing after ten years.

*Current talk from Congress is making the Canadians who have oil to sell to the US are thinking of selling it to Asia as a result.

*Pickens is going to invest big bucks ($10 Billion) in wind farms because he doesn’t think world oil production can increase above current levels and is, in fact, shrinking. This makes nuclear sound a whole lot better. The French are way ahead of us on this…

*He’d rather have ethanol than Saudi oil.

*In answer to the question “What do you think about solar power?” Pickens answered: “Don’t know anything about it.”

*He likes natural gas as fuel for automobiles.

*Prime quote: “You’ve got to try to develop everything. You don’t push anything off the table now. You just have to go balls-out to get it done, and get off of this crude oil. I just can’t believe, I keep saying this. It’s just a huge outflow of wealth from this country. ”

As home business people, it’s time to see how we can insulate our work at home businesses from the cost of rising energy. It may not be possible depending on your field, but I am at least convinced that Washington offers no promise in the matter and that if anything helps us it will be private entrepreneurial responses.

I did get one idea though… build a Wind Farm in Washington DC next to the Capital building… we might have an indefinite supply of energy very quickly!

This process takes the Carbon Dioxide generated by power plants and “grows” fuel via algae.

The man who perfected the process is an Israeli who was saddened that terrorists were invading his homeland and they were financed by petrodollars.

He equates this development to the human transformation that occurs when a society moves from being “hunter-gatherers” to “farmers”. Instead of “scavenging” for oil, now, he believes, his process would let people “grow” crude oil ultimately.

From an installation of one square kilometer we are now producing five million liters of green fuel a year. After the technology was demonstrated at MIT, the next stage was to take it to a real power plant. 

This is a process that does not compete for land and water resources – algae can grow in saltwater and in sewage.

As soon as one energy farm proves itself economically – and that will happen within a year and a half – we will be able to establish similar farms all over the world. If an energy revolution of this kind occurs in China, it will foment a strategic change in the division of the political forces on a global scale. A world in which China will not be dependent on Iran will be a different world. Some countries will lose part of their power. The message is one of energy freedom. If you have land, sun and CO2, you can grow your own energy. A revolution like this will make the world free.

Suddenly the smokestacks from powerplants are now just another profit center.

The quality of fuel produced equals or exceeds any other “biofuel” without the impact on the environment or the food supply.

And it may even allow energy independence from “foreign oil”… Tell T. Boone Pickens!

One break through that caught my attention is this: Inkjet Printed Solar Cells

In an advancement that could radically reduce the cost of making solar panels, Massachusetts-based Konarka Technologies has developed and successfully demonstrated the ability to print solar cells with an inkjet printer. By using the inkjet printing process in the manufacturing of solar cells, the need for “clean rooms” is eliminated, and manufacturers can work with a number of different substrates, including plastics, and different colors.