Renewables
"I'm in surplus. I am now providing money to the grid," [Donnachadh McCarthy] said with a grin, gesturing at a red light winking on the wall that marks the progress of his domestic power station.
McCarthy is one of 80,000 UK homeowners with their own renewable power generation units. And why not, with B & Q selling them for only £1500? If that's too steep, try the models from Future Energy at only £695 - with the rising cost of power and the potential to actually sell back to the grid, it seems like a solid investment opportunity to investigate. Although McCarthy warns that alternative energy will only go so far in Britain's battle to restrict the emissions causing global warming.
"Renewables are not the answer. This is about a range of things that come together. Mainly it's about reducing your need for energy," he said. [GT]
Home Wind Turbines Turn Fashionable in Britain
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Renewables
Taking shards of green glass and turning out very green recycled tealight holders, Greenglass is even more tempting right now since the star tea light holder shown here is on for £5.50. But if bejeweling yourself rather than your flat has more appeal, their sea glass style bracelets start at £4 and are tumbled to have the cloudy silkiness of beach finds. Also on special: a two-pack of blue tumblers for only £6. [GT]
Greenglass
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Food & drink
We're mentioning Mackie's ice cream not just because they have an organic range of ice cream, notable as that is, but because their factory is powered by wind turbines. They added the phrase "made with renewable energy" to their ice cream tubs and also added the logo of a wind turbine. Unfortunately, most people thought it was a toothpick. So now, Mackie's is having a competition to design a new logo which is "small, clear and friendly" and demonstrates that Mackie's is made with wind energy. The winner will get 25 tubs of ice cream (no toothpicks required). The deadline is 31 December 2006.
Mackies Ice Cream
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Renewables
José Christos, it seems to be bamboo day here at Hippyshopper - as well it should be, since it's so unbelievably versatile. However, the claims being made about this bamboo carbon seem a tad on the excessive side. I'm sure it does absorb odors, VOCs and humidity; is a good fuel; may even serve as a water purifier and improve the taste of rice and soup; is a good soil additive for gardening. It seems unlikely, though, that it absorbs microwave and CRT (tube-based computer monitors) radiation. However, we don't really need it to be all-knowing and all-seeing - six obvious benefits are certainly plenty. $19 USD. [GT]
Bamboo carbon
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Renewables
Modern furniture tends not to have the same fine grained wood as antiques, because the wood is simply not as old. This leads purists to reclaimed wood, such as the virgin Cypress and Longleaf pine offered by Krantz Recovered Woods. Krantz cypress comes from riverbeds where logs were floated downstream, and sometimes got waterlogged and sank. Since recovery was infeasible and old-growth wood was then plentiful, the wood lay underwater, forgotten. With modern concerns ranging from environmental to economic, companies like Krantz find it worthwhile to salvage these old logs for today's use. [GT]
Krantz Recovered Woods
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Renewables
"No more seaweed topics," I begged mournfully. "There's only so much I can say about it." Well, was I ever wrong - the latest thing is not eating it, but turning seaweed into electricity. Tons (literally) of seaweed washes up on the Japanese coast in an unsightly as well as un-scently manner, and disposal is no fun. Plus it absorbs pollutants from the water, so it ends up contaminating the beaches. Now, though, the Tokyo Gas Co. team up with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has produced sweet results: by March 2007 they'll have the global first that is a power plant run entirely off seaweed. They crush it into tomato-paste-like sludge, and add microorganisms which cause the muck to expel methane. Presto, gas power. The test facility powers 20 houses right now, but that's just the beginning of Japan's seaweed (and kelp, and sea lettuce) revolution. [GT]
Energy From Seaweed: New Energy Source to Debut Next Year
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Renewables
As part of the swag-bag given out by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), all 1500 delegates will receive Solio solar gadget chargers. CGI has given Solio their seal of approval and feels, according to Dr. Kirsti Samuels, that "Solio’s approach is exactly on message with the CGI and ties in exactly with what we are encouraging our members to develop." Having used a Solio and found it bang-on the money (a very reasonable £59 from the Better Energy Store, Hippyshopper applauds their movement to the global stage and looks forward to their next product. Go portable solar power! [GT]
Clinton Global Initiative
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