One of the biggest challenge with living off the grid is still dealing with the issue of transport. Unless riding a bicycle serves your needs then a combustion engine powered vehicle is pretty much the only choice available today. Being 100% off grid would imply that we could refuel and power our own transport as well. This video from TED has one of the GM executives talking about hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles and also the intriguing idea of using the “idle” power of parked vehicles to feed into the grid! Very interesting!
One of the great things about generating your own power on site is the lower amount wasted of electrical energy as you are not transmitting it miles over the national grid. Some conservative estimates are that greater than 7% of the energy is lost in transmission!
Off Grid systems are not necessarily perfect either, storage of electrical energy in batteries is also inefficient. However if your energy sources closely match your energy use, your storage requirements are reduced and thus the system can be overall more efficient.
Watch the short video on creating a smarter grid…
A power grid 5% more efficient could equate to taking 50 million cars off the road! Wow!
The opportunity to change the way our countries harness energy is huge.
New Zealand has amazing amounts of renewable resources right on its doorstep.
If the USA can have bold plans to create a new green energy economy there is
no excuse for New Zealand not acting.
Why is it that the majority of “Eco accommodation” seems to be in remote far flung places of the world. Either in a jungle in Costa Rica or a beach on a Pacific island. How come more large hotels are not more environmentally responsible?
It is refreshing to see one of the world’s largest hotel companies announce that it is to participate in the Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building program in the USA. Where estimates of cost savings alone of up to 50% I do wonder why more companies are not embracing the renewable energy and sustainability technology that is available now.
It always amazes me when I have conversations with people who believe Renewable Energy is too expensive or just not viable. New Zealand has so much renewable energy resource I find it almost criminal to not see it being utilised whilst the country relies on fossil fuels. As Dr Louis Arnoux from Indranet points out in his book “Peak oil, climate change & all that jazz”:
“There is no scarcity at all. It is our inefficient infrastructures and
modes of social organisation that create scarcity and high costs.”
There is no lack of energy, only a lake of willingness for people to ask questions and look at the alternatives. What if the solution was shining down on us?
The Repower America Plan, backed by Al Gore and now Barack Obama
is pretty bold. It is great to see such bold plans.
However what can we as individuals do right now? Apart from supporting
organisations promoting large scale change, we can effect a change right
now through our individual choices.
The products we purchase, where & how we travel, or how we modify
our own homes to be more energy efficient or totally self sufficient are all
ways in which we can make a difference.
We are can “vote” for change with every choice and purchase we make.
A joy of living off grid is to read about the spiralling increases in costs of energy and knowing that my power bill will still be the same - zero!
The recent announcement here in New Zealand of a large electricity retailer Genesis Energy planning to hike its prices by 9 percent is great news for renewable resources! Why great news? Just like oil prices going up, electricity prices increasing eventually cause people to look at the alternatives. Or at the very least ask some questions about what alternatives there are!
For some strange reason nearly every renewable energy product or solution advertised has a “payback period” attached to it. Why cars, fridges, flat screen tv’s or airconditioners do not have “payback periods” baffles me. However in this insane world a price hike in retail electiricity just shortened the payback period for a bunch of renewable technology - thank you Genesis Energy!
At some point in our evolution (spiritual, moral, financial, etc.), we must become more responsible, conscious, directed Hu-man beings. We must consciously take direction and control of our lives.
We must consciously watch what we put in our mouths. We must consciously monitor the words that come out of our mouths.
We must consciously watch what we think about and the energy that we put into our thoughts. We must consciously watch the things that we allow to cycle and recycle through our minds.
~ John-Roger
Fulfilling Your Spiritual Promise, p. 1219
When designing systems to enable house to run off solar power and be off the grid there are numerous factors to take into account.
Often visitors to our Eco Stay ask can we run a washing machine, power tools or an electric kettle for example? The answer is basically a “yes” but within certain limitations. The limitations can simply be addressed by spending more! i.e. installing a larger system allows you to generate and store more power, however the price can be daunting. However if your funding,like most, is not endless then there are steps you must take.
A solar installer should take people through the process of identifying what the power requirements for your house/ lifestyle are. This boils down to the type of appliances, how much power they use and how long each of these appliances run for. Basically an Energy Auditing process.
It is much easier and cheaper to reduce your electrical loads than attempt to just “convert” an existing house to be off grid. For example energy efficient fridges can use a third of the power a usual fridge does. Fridges are often one of the biggest loads in a house as they are on 24 hours a day. Also electric hot water heating is a massive load that can account for a 1/3 of electrical power usage in homes. So identifying the major energy users is the first step, then reducing these loads is the next logical step. It is much easier (and cheaper) to purchase an energy efficient fridge than to install a solar off grid system!
In designing an off grid system the different systems need to be considered as a whole. The design of the building itself needs to be taken into account. For example I see no point in adding solar power to a house located in a cool climate when the house in not insulated adequately! Building orientation, window locations, themal mass and ventilation all dramatically affect the energy use of a house. Thus it is crucial to look at the whole design not just individual pieces of the energy puzzle.
Living off the grid, including no normal sewage lines, does not mean one has to compromise and revert to “traditional composting toilets”. After much searching we came across this amazing system that is basically a large “contained” worm farm. I say contained as a few people have asked, “can the worms get out?”, i ahven’t seen any escapees yet!!
As far as house plumbing goes the eco-stay is bulk standard normal. Standard dual-flushing toilet, sinks and shower etc. There is no smelly composting toilet that requires sawdust added. No special chemicals, no maintenance (apart from an annual check up) and very low power usage!
The power usage was a critical factor in our purchase. As we are off grid we could not install a system that required large amounts of electricity to run.
All “grey water” is also handled by this system, something that if you have a standalone composting toilet, you still have the issue of what to do with the grey water. A hidden benefit is that you can use an “insinkerator” for disposing of vegetable waste. So all food scraps etc are processed by the worms as well. A tasty alternative meal for the worms!
Treated water from the system is pumped automatically to a dispersal field that runs 200meters through the bush.
Why is it that the majority of “Eco accommodation” seems to be in remote far flung places of the world. Either in a jungle in Costa Rica or a beach on a Pacific island. How come more large hotels are not more environmentally responsible?
