Slashdot Mirror

I've heard about for or five years. While this sounds like a good concept to save money and danger from kerosene lamps, what do people do then? Still, even with planned obsolescence, such systems may still be very cost-effective. But it seems to me there might be better battery technologies one could pick? If not, I hope some sort of battery replacement and recycling program is thought about.

More on a related larger movement of design
"Design for the Other 90 Percent: Innovating for the World's Poor"
http://miter.mit.edu/articlede...

Of course, EF Schumacher and the "Appropriate Technology" movement was doing this in various ways in the 1970s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
"Appropriate technology is an ideological movement (and its manifestations) originally articulated as intermediate technology by the economist Dr. Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher in his influential work, Small is Beautiful. Though the nuances of appropriate technology vary between fields and applications, it is generally recognized as encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sound, and locally controlled.[1] Both Schumacher and many modern-day proponents of appropriate technology also emphasize the technology as people-centered.[2]"

A website in this area: http://www.appropedia.org/

Another organization (of many):
https://www.ncat.org/about-us/

Another cheap way of getting some light indoors (but only during the day):
http://www.nydailynews.com/new...
"Brazilian mechanic creates light bulb using water, bleach and a bottle
Alfredo Moser's cheap and environmentally friendly invention is picking up steam in developing nations around the world. The 'Moser lamp' was picked up by the Liter of Light campaign and is now brightening 140,000 homes in the Philippines."

BTW, extending the day using artificial light (which I'm not eager myself to give up) is still problematical in a few ways including for health reasons.

On "Spread the wealth, but don't do it for free", it's important to remember that much of the wealth we enjoy in the West is due to cultural ideas that originated in Africa and the East (even things like the concept of "zero"). A lot of key minerals come from poor countries as well, where any wealth from their extraction got concentrated in a few hands. And there is a brutal history of slavery and genocide and colonialism underlying much of the unfolding and spread of Western "civilization". Look at the history of any, say, any currently materially poor African country and you will likely find a land that probably had (for their time) wealthy kingdoms hundreds of years ago that were taken over by European powers with most of people then driven into poverty and/or slavery and then eventually carved up into countries not respecting tribal and cultural boundaries which contributed to later warfare. Entrepreneurs may need to charge for things to make sustainable businesses in today's economy, but there are complex economic and political issues underlying great wealth disparities.

The "Social Credit" idea is worth considering when accepting how so many things are essentially the common capital of all of human kind, and thus all humans in that sense have some claim on the fruits of anyone using that capital:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...
"Douglas disagreed with classical economists who recognised only three factors of production: land, labour and capital. While Douglas did not deny the role of these factors in production, he saw the "cultural inheri

I think aquaponics is the future. A 3000 sq foot greenhouse can produce 4000 lbs of organically grown produce per month, and several tons of fish per year.

One of the best species of fish to use is Tilapia, which is native to africa and is a vegetarian fish which can subsist mainly on duckweed with some protien supplements. Channel cats eat pretty much anything, and striped bass are predators, which is why I'll also be raising tree frogs (who will serve as pest control too) and composting their waste.

With some solar cells an aquaponics greenhouse can be totally self sufficient and is very water efficient. There's virtually no waste if the fish solid waste is composted, which can provide the worms and insect larvae necessary for the protein supplements. (provided you keep the effluent separated. Fish can't eat animals grown in their own feces. However animals grown in other species feces are fine)

Bacteria convert the ammonia from the fish waste into nitrates, which feed the plants, who filter the nitrates out of the water and help oxygenate it.

It's pure genius. Best thing is you can start an aquaponics setup with a kitty litter box, 50gal plastic container or aquarium and a $200 trip to home depot.You could grow 12 tomato plants in such a setup.

You can build and outfit a 3000 sq foot green house with $30k if you have the space for it on your land. There's no pesticide needed, no outside fertilizer. It's about as organic as you can get if you use lady bugs, lacewings and other natural pest control in your greenhouse.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/aquaponic.html

I just aquired a 25 acre property and am starting my enterprise this summer. My end-game goal is to grow my own vegetables and fish. I'll probably mix channel catfish and striped bass with the tilapia, in different tanks of course ;) I'm starting small (in my sun room) and studying aquaponics for now but I eventually plan on building a greenhouse and my GF and kids will be running a roadside stand to sell whatever extra vegetables we can't eat. The GF has always wanted to run a produce stand and a greenhouse. So she'll handle that while I work 9-5. She's quite excited about the idea.

I already have a business plan and someone writing up my grant papers now. Yes you can get grant money and farm subsidies for this, it's green, sustainable, and can be done year round even in a temperate climate. It's also good way to earn some extra pocket money. The best thing is you know your veggies are really organic and not FDA-Skirt-the-rules bullshit organic. You also know your fish doesn't have mercury and pesticides in it :-)

Social Security is not "other people's money". Workers pay into Social Security our whole lives, which the Federal government borrows from to pay for the $TRILLION wars you Teabaggers love instead of, say, better and more universal education, more effective transit infrastructure, or other investments in our people. Social Security gets interest on those extremely safe Treasury bond investments, paying a minimum pension of about $14,000 annually per worker, substantially above the $11,000 poverty line. A government pension that people pay into themselves,

Social Security is a taxpayer funded pension with wealth redistribution components. Low income households get back 27% more income than they put in while middle income get back 5% more than they put in and high income get back less than they put in. That's not a big surprise and is another reminder that it's not really a personally funded pension program. The actual tax is twice the rate most folks realize because the company funded component is passed on to workers in the form of lower wages. (How else do you think companies pay for it?) The surplus borrowed against by the government to pay other bills effectively co-mingling Social Security and regular Federal funds. The notion that the money is sitting somewhere waiting for the day it is needed is ridiculous. The money will only be if we heavily tax future generations to "pay back" the loans on those "high quality" treasuries.

I'm fascinated by your offer to both stop posting Teabagger propaganda and to deliver more propaganda about Teabagger conspiracy theories targeting "liberals" (anyone more liberal than some arbitrarily selected Teabagger) who make Teabaggers look racist. When it's Teabaggers like Mark Williams, Tea Party Express spokesman and Conservative Party USA chief who are undeniably racists. Now you'll tell me that "the" Tea Party kicked out Williams after his racism went beyond any excuses, but that's just damage control.

But I'm even more fascinated by

No, we want all government programs including Medicare audited for constitutionality and for waste and cut back as necessary. I personally want Medicare completely eliminated, as well as the Medicaid, Social Security and all Unemployment Benefits. If we want to help our fellow citizens (and I do) we should do it voluntarily through charity. We have no right to do it with other people's money.

Social Security is not "other people's money". Workers pay into Social Security our whole lives, which the Federal government borrows from to pay for the $TRILLION wars you Teabaggers love instead of, say, better and more universal education, more effective transit infrastructure, or other investments in our people. Social Security gets interest on those extremely safe Treasury bond investments, paying a minimum pension of about $14,000 annually per worker, substantially above the $11,000 poverty line. A government pension that people pay into themselves, rather than the private corporate pensions that routinely disappear, especially when you Republicans are running the economy. Medicare is also funded by its recipients, mostly, with subsidies earned on the basis of the common good, like investing in preventive care rather than much more expensive (in care and lost productivity) responsive care. Government pensions and healthcare make our labor force more competitive with global labor, and easier for entrepreneurs to start and run companies without being arbitrarily forced into the healthcare or retirement business. Not to mention that most Americans don't want the country's grandmas living off catfood and freezing to death, which is exactly what used to happen before we got civilized with these social programmes. Yet you Teabaggers turned out to vote for the Republicans who almost privatized Social Security, right before it would have lost 40% or more of its savings in the stock market crash you shephered in.

Yes, taxes are going up. You Republicans fight tooth and nail to stop the Walmart family from paying the Estate Tax, and any other taxes, while borrowing at something like 50% total interest $TRILLIONS for wars, including totally unnecessary ones, for bank bailouts, for oilco/pharmaco/agrico/telco/whateverco subsidies until the system crashes expensively. All that debt and rotten infrastructure is even more expensive to pay off, but you still refuse to pay the taxes.

But this is all just a load of details, all of which are against you Teabagger Republicans, but against which your corporate PR organizers have ginned up any number of shallow rationalizations. The simple fact is that you Republicans insisted on the government that caused these problems, primarily the torture, domestic spying, deregulated banks, insane and catastrophic wars, but never blinked at the costs - either monetary or to our democracy - until a Black Democrat showed up to start shoveling us out. Then you strutted around in public wearing guns, talking about your love of a country you'd long ago sold out. You're clamoring for another chance at the power you've used to do nothing but ruin the country, and you've learned nothing from it except that you could get the power back again.

These can be used in soy fields (or corn or...), after you do an over winter cover crop.

  http://www.attra.ncat.org/calendar/question.php/2006/05/08/p2221

  http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/depts/notill/roller_gallery/index.shtml

It smashes and crimps the stems of the cover crop/ green manure whatever you want, then packs it down on the surface where it is a slow die off, acting as a mulch and eventually a slow release fertilizer. You plant right through it. I don't have one, we aren't big grain farmers here, we are poultry and cattle, but it sure looks interesting. No till + reduce or eliminate sprays. Seems a decent alternative.

Actually, when they say 120 MW output, that's a measure of maximum instantaneous output, aka capacity. Those of us in the bulk power generation business call it "120 megawatts".

If they produce 120 MW each second for a whole hour, then it's called 120 MW-Hours. In 2004, the average price / MW in Florida's power grid was $91.25/MWHr, so that's $262,800 a day in revenue. Then, like they say in the article, they can also sell the slag produced from the process. Then minus your operating costs, loan payments etc (your $85k figure above).

They can probably run 24 hours a day like the ones in NJ do, so that's a nice profit stream. Which is what you want for alternative energy production, it has to be cost effective to compete..

The Gulf of Mexico. It already has a chemical-triggered dead zone where algae bloom and die, causing oxygen depletion. Might as well produce oil.