We knew this anyway… but you can cancel that gym membership and get digging… read the full article at: Middle age ‘key for exercising’.
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Seed capital – The Irish Times – Sat, Jan 31, 2009
This year’s catalogues, with their shiny images of flawless plants, will keep you sowing and growing for another season
WITH TWO CONSECUTIVE non-summers piled up in a sodden mess behind us, part of me feels like giving up gardening. But the other part – the cracked optimist and gambler – says that the odds are very good for a proper summer this year. So, as planning for the months ahead is getting more urgent, I’m banking on perfect meteorological conditions, with just the right amount of rain… read the full article:
Posted in Growing, Other News Comments closed
Imbolc – beeswax candle
A beeswax candle we lit at Imbolc:
Beeswax candle lit at Imbolc
Posted in General, Other News Comments closed
How an accident of geography could power wind project
In Ireland the wind blows stronger at night thanks to the weather systems blowing off the Atlantic ocean from the Gulf stream — just when demand for wind power is lowest. It means much of this potentially cheap and abundant power is wasted.
* What’s needed to make the most of this power is something like a gigantic battery that will store energy and release it when needed.
* Gaelectric wants to use water to carve out storage caverns in the salt deposits beneath the ground in the Larne area. There are two salt layers — the Triassic and the deeper Permian — which are what remains of two Mediterranean type seas from millions of years ago.
Read more on the Friends of the Irish Environment. site
or read the full article below:
Posted in Other News, Sustainability Comments closed
Payment for home-produced electricity given warm welcome
THERE was warm welcome for the announcement by Energy Minister Eamon Ryan that householders and farmers will be paid by the Electricity Supply Board for any surplus electricity that they generate from wind turbines, photovoltaic panels or other alternative energy source.
One such householder is Quentin Gargan, founder of Turbotricity, a company that makes wind turbines for the home market.
He started developing a prototype because, as the owner of an electric Citroen Berlingo, he wanted to power it from a home source.
“Up to now, households with a wind turbine had to use a large bank of forklift batteries to store their power, involving additional costs and maintenance.
“It makes far more sense to sell surplus power to the grid and buy back extra energy when it is needed.”
Mr Ryan announced that a householder with their own renewable energy system will be paid 19 cents per kilowatt hour for any energy they produce but don’t need.
read the full article at Friends of the Irish Environment.
Posted in Other News, Sustainability Comments closed
Global Issues on Global Financial Crisis
The excellent Global Issues website has a long article on the financial crisis. Here’s a summary:
This update includes notes and a chart on how much the global financial crisis has cost, in context. For example, plummeting stock markets have wiped out 33% of the value of companies, $14.5 trillion. Taxpayers will be bailing out their banks and financial institutions with large amounts of money. US taxpayers alone will spend some $9.7 trillion in bailout packages and plans. The UK and other European countries have also spent some $2 trillion on rescues and bailout packages. These values are staggering. Such money has been made readily available, yet could have wiped out developing world debt (much of it unjust debt) many times over, though arguing for the small amount of debt relief that has been delivered has required enormous energy. The bailouts also dwarf world military spending, which itself is quite high. The US package almost covers the total value of US home mortgages, though mortgage payers are not the ones being bailed out.
You can read the full report here:
Posted in Other News, Sustainability Comments closed
Vegetable Seeds – Roguelands Seed Company
Thanks for Alison for the link to this heirloom seed supplier based in Oregon US but with UK website priced in sterling….
Vegetable Seeds – Roguelands Seed Company.