Archive for the ‘Renewable Energy’ Category
Strange Goings On
October 18th, 2008 | Author: Scribhneoir
If you are new to reading this blog you may be confused by entries appearing in a very strange calender order – the explanation being that I had lost all my entries due to a large technical hiccup in Canada where my blog was sitting on a server that became non-existent.
I found some of my articles backed up on a usb thingy and put them up on the blog a few evenings ago and then I discovered last evening that most of my blog was still saved for me on my google reader – hurray for google!! I have spend the evening copying and pasting my entries back into the blog so very little has now been lost, isn’t technology wonderful after all?
As I write this i am looking at the rising moon out of the window and I have to admit that it is very difficult to stay focussed on the screen, my eyes are constantly drawn to the wonders of nature outside the window. There is a storm forecast for tomorrow with 110mph wind so we will have more wonders of nature to observe. We will be visiting friends who have a wind turbine and the wind will certainly test it tomorrow, hopefully everything will stay where it is supposed to.
Sleep well and stay safe…
Posted in Blogging, Cyberspace, Ireland, Co Leitrim, Renewable Energy | 
Tags: Beauty around us, Nature | 
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Back Again
September 24th, 2008 | Author: Scribhneoir
Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve posted! What have you all been up to?
I have been helping out at an amazing week long workshop where eighteen guys were learning to build a wind turbine – how cool is that? The workshop was organised by a locally based couple, the Leitrim Renewable Energy people Eirbyte. They invited Hugh Piggot to come and teach people how to build one of the wonderful domestic wind turbines that he designs.
It was a really great week. I have rarely seen 18 people who never met each other before get along so well together. These were people who probably would have never chosen to spend any significant time together, never mind a week, for any other reason than to build a wind turbine and yet the crack was mighty, I haven’t heard that much laughter in ages.
Although ages ranged from early twenties to late sixties (at a guess) and a wide range of backgrounds and work experiences everyone worked so well together in small groups, in pairs and at times singly but always with humour and a great sharing of skills and knowledge.
Many different sets of skills were used, I saw people learn to carve wood with hand tools to create blades (propellers), some who hadn’t tried it before had a go at welding under the watchful eye of a great welding teacher, everyone had a go at winding coils of copper wire to make the alternator, there was grinding of metal and the setting of things in resin – so much activity over the week and it all culminated in the creation of a wonderful wind turbine at the end of the week.
Hugh was always available to answer questions and give advice, aided and assisted by Jimmy and Miriam, Sean and Niall who all mucked in to make the week what it was.
After all the technical stuff everyone ate together and shared their stories and on some evenings there was great music and storytelling and the telling of jokes and the singing of songs. Some of the food was cooked on an open fire in the garden and no-one went hungry or had to wait for their dinner – not bad when you consider that nearly thirty people with big appetites were being catered for every day.
Best of all the turbine was successfully built and ceremoniously raised on the saturday afternoon and the rain stopped! It is always so exciting to see a new turbine go up into the air and everyone waits for the first breath of wind to spin the blades and excitedly watches the metres to see what energy is being generated.
The energy generated by this turbine will run the lights in the house on the site where the workshop took place, it may also run the lights in the guest cabin. The new owners will learn to observe the weather differently now and be more aware of the wind. They will know where the wind is coming from and how hard it is blowing, they will begin to notice how often the wind does not blow and they will learn what they can expect to power from the turbine and how to look after their battery bank.
At least three new turbines are currently being built now by guys who were on the course and we are also building a new one for ourselves. We spend quite a bit of time on Sunday deciding where to site the new mast for the new turbine. We have a few new neighbours here recently and so we are moving the mast from where it was because we want to put up a slighlty higher mast, still within the planning permission exempt height but it would place the turbine in the direct path of our new neighbours, who probably bought their holiday houses here based on the view. So we thought it would be a good start to a neighbourly relationship to move the mast to a site where it will still get good wind and not cause any turbulence to the good energy we wish to have with our neighbours as well as the good energy being generated by the turbine.
So at the moment I am enjoying carving the wooden blades for our new turbine and if the weather holds we will get started with the mast installation and dig the new anchor holes for the guys which hold up the mast. Life is good.
How are things with you?
Posted in Community, Good Living, Ireland, Co Leitrim, Renewable Energy, Sustainability |
Tags: Relationships, Renewable Energy |
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MISSING THE SUN
August 17th, 2008 | Author: Scribhneoir
As I mentioned in one of my earlier entries we are living off the grid here in Leitrim, supplying all of our own electricity. We had a very basic system to start with, which we did by ourselves and now we have a more sophisticated system with help from some local people.
We used to have a wind turbine but we took it down late last year to make a larger one so we are relying on our solar pv system for power.
The PV system has brought us though the winter with flying colours, it was installed by a local Leitrim company Eirbyte who do systems design and installation. We were really happy with their work and they are nice people too who also live off-grid.
We do have a back-up diesel generator as do most off-grid people and luckily we have not have to use it often. The pv panels are on a tracker so they get the most out of the sun available on any given day.
Posted in Ireland, Co Leitrim, Renewable Energy |
Tags: Renewable Energy, The Weather |
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Sustainability
July 26th, 2008 | Author: Scribhneoir
Simple living and sustainable living are not necessarily the same thing, although the terms may seem to be interchangeable for some people. That might sound like a strange opinion (hey, it’s only one of many) but the difference lies in what sustainable means, or indeed what it means to you or to me. It is a word which has suffered great abuse lately, every marketing Tom, Dick and Harriet has (ab)used the word to sell one thing or another – green-washing.
What does it mean to me? I find it hard to define clearly and succinctly but it has to do with living and using earth’s resources in a manner which does not have a negative impact on future generations or the earth herself. Ok, that was my first go and already I can see that I need to edit it to – striving to live and use resources in a manner which does not have a negative impact on future generations or the earth herself.
I have read quite a few blogs where the two terms are loosely used to mean the same thing, where there is an assumption that people in the “simple living” community (to coin an Americanism) are living sustainably. Some of them probably are but many people who are practising simple living are doing so primarily in order to reduce debt. There is absolutely nothing wrong in that, debt avoidance and debt reduction are very powerful ways to take responsibility for your life.
However it means that these people are making solely financial choices and thinking only in terms of money and how to reduce their living expenses. If this results in their buying fewer toxic chemicals to clean their houses or growing their own veg then that is a great result but the benefit is purely incidental.
Hopefully, for many of these people there will be a change of mind set as they realise that the benefits are not just financial and so begin to look at their life choices (and buying choices) not just in terms of money but in terms of the environmental impact and the impact on their children learning to be more thoughtful consumers.
Taking a little more time to think carefully about buying a product can be very empowering. There are often many things to consider. Where was it produced? How well are the workers paid? Is there a Fair Trade product available? If so can I encourage my local store to stock it instead? Are there lots of toxic chemicals in this product or were nasty things used in it’s production? Do I need it or just want it?
Not buying as much “stuff” does reduce negative impact on the environment in many ways, check out The Story of Stuff.
What does sustainable living mean for you? I’d would love to hear what you think…
Gas Guzzler
July 24th, 2008 | Author: Scribhneoir
Yesterday I was sitting in my van in a carpark, writing my shopping list – boy, aren’t I organised? Anyway, there I was, minding my own business for a short while, looking about me for inspiration for the shopping, when I noticed that a SUV parked in front of me had a 6 litre engine! Wow, I thought, 6 litres, who needs that?
This is Ireland, we don’t have huge mountain ranges to cross or dangerous deserts, the vehicle didn’t even have a tow hitch so pulling large horse boxes wasn’t a good reason to have a 6litre engine.
It’s not as though I drive an electric car (yet) or even a hybrid myself, I am no transport angel with my 2.5litre diesel work van. I think that I was just a bit amazed and I admit to still being a bit amazed and confused by an engine of that capacity.
Perhaps I noticed the vehicle because I had recently read a blog post somewhere about transport and oil (sorry, can’t remember which one it was, read too many that day, if you recognise it let me know) and on reading the post an SUV driver had been offended.
He commented that drivers such as himself were an easy target and perhaps he is right but I think that if you drive to the shops in a 6litre gas guzzler that really you are not doing yourself , or the planet, any favours.
His excuse for continuing to use the big tank (suv) was that if he didn’t use it the suv would end up in a landfill (perhaps he hasn’t heard about metal recycling) or that some other person would be driving around in it. He also stated that if someone were to give him a hybrid car he would drive that – nice of him!
I reckon he could always do what we used to do with old cars in Ireland before we discovered the environment (!) – leave the car in the field and use it as a hen house…