Contents
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Drawing
- Introduction
- PART 1 – Living off the grid: what it is and what it isn’t PART 2 – Maintenance
- EPISODE 3 – Off the Grid: Escape
- CHAPTER 4 – Leaving the Channel: Energy
- CHAPTER 5 – Off-grid: water
- CHAPTER 6 – Off-grid: waste 977
- Annex 1 – Comparison of off-grid areas
- Appendix 2 – Ingredients
- Annex 3 – Flow system diagram and photograph Annex 4 – System balance
- Appendix 5 – Reference to Biodigesters from the Arlene Foss Glossary
- SEE Drawing
- Auntie: We call ourselves hell. This is where Barter town finds its strength. PS: What, oil? Natural gas?
preface
I’ve always been fascinated by the ability of some people to adapt to the wrong things. When I say less than perfect, I don’t mean missing the family’s favorite television set because the fuse blew in the rain or the casserole burned in the oven too long. I mean really painful, no electricity, no running water, no hot water, no toilet to sit on or shower in. No television, no computer, no air conditioning. There are supermarkets spread over hundreds of kilometers, and there is no transportation to reach them. Almost forty years have passed since I left rich America and found myself in such an environment. Suddenly, I was part of an Andean culture completely devoid of the everyday elements of a modern twentieth-century home. This was a return to eighteenth-century life, and even by those standards it was extreme. In any case, the people I was with did not have a good knowledge of modern fashions such as televisions, refrigerators and the like, and I found the old saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ to be a true summary of emerging psychology. Of course, they’re still dealing with the same problems we all face – family squabbles, abusive relationships, alcoholism, illness and injuries – but life is lived at a faster, more relaxed pace, and the neuroses of keeping up with the Joneses are common It is not available. This happened when people discovered modern luxuries, or someone managed to get their hands on a few, or someone from outside the community (usually a white missionary or relief worker) moved in, rented a house, and immediately transformed it with modern amenities. -The people of Anda realized that they missed these things. This awareness inevitably led to jealousy, the jealousy of the insatiable desire to ‘get’ and possess things. These ‘things’ cause neurotic feelings of dissatisfaction and anger. Twenty years later I was in Saudi Arabia and walked into a cave under the Dahna Mountains. The Bedouin community had noticed our activities. They were friendly in the traditional Bedouin way, and the family sent their daughter, a beautiful girl dressed in a beautiful silk dress, to this remote part of Saudi Arabia, far from the devout Saudis of the cities who were transitioning from the Bedouin way of life. blouses to invite us to tea houses. In this part of the world, people were invited to such people whom they had never met, which meant a lot of faith in human nature and a lot of pride in Bedouin traditions. It would be a terrible insult to refuse the invitation, so we escorted the young woman to the small ballroom above our cave. Here I found myself not knowing the “things” I found in the Andes twenty years ago. There were a few tents and bunks; one of them had a cooking area and a gas stove. The’s only modern connection to the electrical grid was the small white Toyota truck and the generator that, on rare occasions, powered the only unseen light in the main tent. When I returned to the region in 2005 and 2006, a new feeling emerged. The race for ownership continued. Even in a remote Bedouin camp in the desert, satellite dishes with televisions, cell phones, refrigerators and more show that ordinary people are moving towards dependence on the modern power grid. There are now plans to return to off-grid countries in many parts of the world, usually in very rich places. That’s what makes me laugh so much about green. While half the world is trying to get into the grid, the other half is trying to get out. I had been living in San Juan County, Utah, for eight years when I wrote this book. San Juan has been called “the most conservative county in the most conservative state in the country,” and that is far from the truth. It is an area with extraordinary potential for solar and wind energy due to its climate and altitude, but both resources are underutilized due to the stigma of ‘unlimited use of fossil fuels’ in converting most of the renewable energy sources that are supplied with energy. hostility and mistrust, and was labeled by local politicians and journalists as a scam to disenfranchise people by liberals and groups such as the Sierra Club and Southern Utah Desert. Despite the war in Iraq and the rise in gas prices in 2008, even these people appear to have failed to realize that reducing dependence on fossil fuels has nothing to do with free will and everything to do with survival. In the remote desert of San Juan County known as the Valley of the Gods lies the Valley of the Gods Bed and Breakfast, owned and operated by Gary and Claire Drogan. This B&B is impressive in many ways. It is built on a stone farmhouse built by descendants of John D. Lee. The Lee family played a significant role in the history of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, but that’s not what’s shown here (you can read more about John D. Lee online). The real attraction of this what Gary Drogan was able to do on Lee’s old ranch. Four B&B rooms and adjoining family accommodations are rare. Electricity is provided entirely by a hybrid system of solar panels and wind turbines with an emergency backup engine. The water comes from a well and the water flow system ensures that little of the precious water is lost. Lots of house stones .
Download For Free in PDF Format