Energy with-out Oil Weblog

Although this blog is relatively new, and doesn’t have a lot of content or history as of yet, I am rather pleased as to what has been accomplished in the past few months.  The blog has been moved from the free one given byWebpress and moved to one of my personal domains - www.income-energy-time .com.  As well, I have learned to make this blog my personal link for energy related sites.  I have tried to enlarge and provide a good resource for exploring the various topics related to energy in the pages of the site.  If nothing else, I know I have an excellent resource to find what I need, rather than trying to find the appropriate browser that has a bookmark somewhere in it.

There are quite a few additions and changes that I am sure will occur as the next year comes and goes.  I intend to document the changes that I make to the house here in Montreal as it becomes more energy self-sufficient and leaves the requirements for fossil fuels behind.  Hopefully thatdocumentation will help others become free and clear of MegaOilRon in their lives as well.

As the finances allow, changes will be made in the heating and electrical generation in the house, although in Quebec, where most of the electricity is green to start with, it is not the most economical choice.  Simply reducing the amount of energy I input from Hydro-Quebec right now is the primary challenge.  This might fall under energy conservation rather than strict alternative energy for most.  But my focus has always been on converting the sun’s power into usable energy for the individual, something that is obviously a mega-trend if you read the headlines for any length of time.  So I will be concentrating on projects and products that transform the freely available energy pounding us every day from Sol into useful heat and power, without the need for external corporate production and the environmental destruction that is often the by-product of for-profit companies looking only at the bottom line.

My New Year’s resolution is to find ways to lower the overall requirement for energy from all external sources - making my own from freely available sources.  Rather than than simply move from one form to another, relying as much as possible on the free energy from the sun to deal with the major expenses of power in a standard home - heat and light.

I will be most seriously looking at reducing the heating bill - it is an all-electric heated house - Solar Space Heating looks like a viable economical option, even with cheap Quebec electricity.  The second major expense is the water heating costs - the roof should be able to support panels that can help greatly in this area.

I really do like the benefits of a solar awning on the south side of the house, to add power of course, but it should also help keep the home cooler in the hottest part of the summer, which does seem to get hotter with global warming, every year.  The awning will be independent of the house, jutting out from it, eliminating the requirement for a roof mount and the challenges presented there.  The other major advantage I see with an awning configuration rather than roof mount, is that the solar panels can be double sided (a relatively new and rare product) and will run more optimally as they will not get as hot with trapped heat rising from the roof, let the solar water heater monopolize and utilize the roof and its added heating potential instead.  Dual sided photovoltaic panels also increase their efficincy by turing reflected light into power as well.  Water heating works better the more heat is generated and transferred, so the roof and its dark surface are much better suited for this type of energy capture.
If possible, and there is any extra money after those projects, then adding strategically placed skylights and extra natural illumination is a priority, as long as it is energy efficient and doesn’t add hidden costs in heat loss.  I do love the little solar powered light I use to read at night by, and hope I can find other lamps that will work as well to reduce the use of electricity from the grid….each watt helps.
That experience should help me when I try to get completely off the grid in a rural setting where I hope to produce ethanol as a fuel for the various vehicles that I use.  And you don’t have to worry about the feedstock, I have no intention of trying to use a standard food stock for manufacturing ethanol from a plant source.  What I have in mind should not cause any damage to the environment or take food from the mouths of starving children of Africa.  It will improve the standard crops and fields, though as the final by-product after I am done with it will be used as natural fertilizer to improve the soil and increase yeild naturally.

We can solve the fuel crisis without resorting to war or reducing the food supply of the world to make “gas”.  We can live in the power level to which we have become accustomed without sacrificing lives or denying others the same chances - by showing the way, we can help others around the world break the energy shackles as well.

It can all be done symbiotically with proper planning and the permaculture attitude that there is no waste in the energy chain, only opportunities for alternate products.  Of course I am convinced that has to come from the individual, since the mega-corporate structures prefer to ensure that there are always imbalances to offer opportunities for war and the profits that can be made from them.

Taking the challenge as an individual to be responsible for your own energy production and use is the basic idea of this blog.  By providing your own energy, you become free to think and act for the good of mankind, not stay a cog like all the other sheeple listening to the myths and spins from big government and big business alike.

May you all have a Healthy and Happy New Year.  Let us all hope that in the coming one, each of us will demonstrably and dramatically reduce our reliance on externally produced power - with the firm goal in mind - Energy with-out Oil