Green-Trust.Org

We are off to LIGHTFAIR International 2008 Las Vegas, NV, to present energy efficient lighting and solar power solutions. Be back this weekend with some new ideas in energy efficient lighting to share with you all. Then June 5th, we are off to St. Maarten in the Caribbean for Enviroweek 2008, where we are presenting on sustainability, energy conservation, and renewable energy. Finally, it’s back to Upstate NY, for a 1500 watt off-grid solar power installation in the Adirondacks. Stay tuned ……

My friend Nick Rosen interviews Hugh Piggott, grand daddy of DIY wind, and our inspiration:

I’ve just returned from a 3 day Timber Framing class at Earthwood in West Chazy NY. We built two Timber Framed post and beam buildings, which will be infilled with cordwood and masonry. I’ll be posting the pics shortly. It was a great experience, and a lot of fun building with such big wood.

Nick arrived Wednesday with his 2000 Ford F250 pickup for a conversion to veggie. We finished Thursday night, and filled Nick up with enough clean veggie for 3000 miles of driving. The truck runs quieter and smoother, and has more power than before. Smells better as well. Read more about using Veggie for fuel at http://www.green-trust.org/wiki/index.php?title=Fry_Guys

See pics of Nick’s conversion at http://www.green-trust.org/Nick’s%202000%20F250%20Veggie%20Conversion/

The DIY Generator Project is finished. The engine and alternator are assembled, and ready for battery charging. Some improvements still to do:

• 3 stage charger circuit
• Propane / methane conversion
• Garden cart for portability
• Solar Panel Upgrade
• Battery Bank / Inverter Upgrade

See more on this project and others at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/ and kits are available at http://www.green-trust.org/products/

Special thanks to:

US Carburetion

The Epicenter

Harbor Freight

Ample Power

Bogart Engineering

Now you can protect your valuable electronics and find out what they are actually costing you. Simply connect these appliances into the Kill A Watt^TM PS, and it will assess how efficient they are while the built-in surge protection keeps them safe. Advanced features such as over current, over voltage, and no load detection provide clean, safe power to your expensive equipment.

Check the quality of your power by monitoring Voltage, Line Frequency, Amperage, KWH, Current Leakage and more. Now you’ll know how much power your entire computer or home theater system is using. With the innovative Kill A Watt^TM PS you’ll have peace of mind in more ways than one.

• Advanced Surge Protection Circuitry
• Displays Max/Min Volts, Amps, Watts, PF, & Leakage Current
• 6 Foot Cord with Low Profile Plug
• Light-Up Power Switch
• Backlit LCD Display
• Six Regular Outlets
• Two Wide Convenience Outlets

This week we are giving away our Methane/Propane Generator Conversion eBook to every one who buys the Methane Digester Video. Take advantage of this offer to learn how to make biodigested fuel, and how to use it to make free electricity.

http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/

I’ve been biking for many years, and since I bike in mountainous country, I have been interested in adding solar assist for long journeys. You can pedal, or let the sun help you get up those hills. Another option is you pedal to charge the battery, and the motor always powers the bike. When you get home, you can plug into your home for a fast, full charge, and you can have onboard solar for slow rate charging while on the road. Here are some ideas for those who want solar powered transportation:

http://solar-bike.blogspot.com/

http://www.solartrike.com/

http://www.kk.org/streetuse/archives/2006/11/solarpowered_trike.php

http://www.solarnavigator.net/electric_trike_rickshaw.htm

http://www.rhoadescar.com/jumpshow.htm

We are about to take in a couple of horses. Not only for the ability to work our fields, and transport us without the use of petroleum, but as a source of fertilizer for our gardens and fields. We live in Amish country, and have spent time learning about horses, and workinging with them, and will spend much more time with folks who work them professionally, but we are in a good spot to learn what is needed. One site that was helpful to us, increasing our ability to understand what the locals were explaining, and helping us ask intelligent questions, is the Horses and Horse Information website. If you have an interest in raising horses, I highly recommend this resource.

It was good seeing and hearing Richard again this year. I’ve been to a few of his lectures, have spoken with him a few times, and this year he was even better than usual. His new book, Peak Everything, coincided with our new venture, Resource Peaks. Here is his bio:

Richard Heinberg is the author of eight books including The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (New Society, 2003, 2005), Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World (New Society, 2004), The Oil Depletion Protocol (New Society, 2006), and Peak Everything (New Society, 2007). He is a Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute and is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost Peak Oil educators. He writes a regular column for The Ecologist, and has also authored scores of essays and articles that have appeared in such journals as The American Prospect, Public Policy Research, Quarterly Review, Z Magazine, Resurgence, The Futurist, European Business Review, Earth Island Journal, Alternative Press Review, and The Sun; and on web sites such as Alternet.org, EnergyBulletin.net, GlobalPublicMedia.com, ProjectCensored.com, and Counterpunch.com. He has appeared in numerous video documentaries, including Leonardo DiCaprio’s 11th Hour