Category Archives: wind power

Wind Turbine For 40$$ – Who says the kids of today can’t save the world?

Posted on by
Reply

I did not double check to see what the exact exchange rate is. I just guessed. It’s 20 English Pounds so I just doubled it to be safe:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1046778/Student-inventor-creates-20-wind-turbine-scrap-developing-world.html

Student inventor creates £20 wind turbine out of scrap for developing world

A student has built a wind turbine from scrap to help people in the developing world.

Max Robson, 22, constructed a prototype using rubbish collected from skips, tips and bins including an old bike frame and wheel bearings, the magneto from a Vespa, a battery from a Ford Fiesta and bits of wood.

It is so simple, he says, it can be built by unskilled workers in less than a day anywhere in the world.  

Max Robson designed a wind turbine made from 100 percent recycled materials

His turbine works by converting the energy in wind into electrical energy stored in a battery. It produces an output of 11.3 watts, which is enough electricity to run lighting for 63 hours or a radio for 30 hours.

The product design student from Greenwich has just received a first class honours degree from the University of Portsmouth. He said he had always been interested in gadgets and machines and was inspired by his father Ashley’s enthusiasm

The wind turbine can be built by unskilled workers in less than a day anywhere in the world

‘My dad wanted to do something like this but I beat him to it,’ said Mr Robson.

‘He had the idea of designing a scrap wind turbine but it was my idea to use it in the developing world. I wanted to build something worthwhile and I am interested in design being environmentally friendly.’

‘This isn’t going to change lives in the developing world dramatically but a device like this could make their lives a lot easier,’ he said.

‘It cost me £20 to build the prototype and in the developing world it would be a lot less. The nearest alternative wind turbine on the market costs £2,000.’

Ashley Robson, 51, who studied mechanical engineering at the University of Portsmouth, said he was delighted his son was following in his footsteps.

20lbs.jpg

WHAT AN AMAZING YOUNG MAN!

:}

:}

Clean Energy Summit – This thing has been so widely publicized that no one knows it’s going on

Posted on by
5

I have to admit that if not for Peak Oil and Rueters, I would not have known that this was even going on.

 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/20/business/NA-US-Energy-Summit.php

Business leaders: Make renewable energy cheaper

:}

MY TAKE ON THIS IS MAKE TRADITIONAL ENERGY MORE EXPENSIVE BY TAXING THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEM TO PAY FOR ALL THE DAMAGE THEY DO TO THE ENVIRONMENT – oh never mind.

LAS VEGAS: Representatives from Google Inc. and General Electric Co. said Tuesday that widespread use of renewable energy in United States would be possible — if it were cheaper.

Renewable energy options will remain “boutique” industries unless their costs are cut to make them competitive with coal and other widely used power sources, said Dan Reicher, director for climate change and energy initiatives at Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm.

Reicher spoke to a group of politicians and energy experts at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas. The meeting’s attendees said they hope to develop a national energy agenda to take to the Democratic and Republican parties at their upcoming conventions.

“There’s a whole set of factors that go into the ultimate cost of energy,” Reicher said after announcing a plan for Google to invest more than $10 million to develop “enhanced geothermal systems” technology to generate energy from rocks deep below the earth’s surface.

Google’s project replicates traditional geothermal systems deep below the Earth’s surface by circulating water through hot rock and running the steam through a turbine that generates electricity.

Google said its goal was to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity — enough to power a major city.

“These are all high-capital-costs projects,” Reicher said.

One by one, speakers at the meeting touted the benefits of various energy-related initiatives, including how large-scale solar power could generate thousands of jobs and why wind power could lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil. Extending tax credits, establishing caps on carbon emissions and modernizing the nation’s electricity grid were also ideas that speakers said would be crucial to building a “green” economy.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the energy discussion was timely, and he criticized presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain for not having a real debate about energy.

Texas oil baron T. Boone Pickens also presented his plan to develop wind energy to generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity, then use natural gas to power cars until hydrogen or plug-in electric cars become widely available.

“I don’t see many people from my party,” said Pickens, a Republican. “I’m making new friends, and that’s good.”

 :}

Here is what they have to say for theirselves. It’s a whole day!

:}

http://www.cleanenergysummit.org/

National Clean Energy Summit

WHEN: August 18-19, 2008
8/18/08 -Doors open at 4:00 p.m. for general registration and 3:30 for press.
8/19/08- Doors open at 7:45.

WHERE: University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

Thank you for your interest in the Clean Energy Summit. Web registration for the summit is now closed. We will be able to accommodate walk-up registration at Cox Pavilion as capacity allows.

Industry leaders, scientists, policy experts, citizens, and the media will gather in Nevada at the national summit hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to chart a course for our nation’s clean energy future. This is a pivotal opportunity to focus on defining a policy agenda that accelerates the development of renewable energy, energy-efficiency technologies, and robust clean energy markets in Nevada, the nation, and the world.
Developing a Clean Energy Future for Nevada, the Nation, and the World

Nevada is at the epicenter in the debate of how America should generate and use energy in the future. Nevada has abundant clean energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and efficiency technologies that could be developed to meet its future energy needs. The question is whether Nevadans—and all Americans—will shift to a clean energy economy that creates less expensive and more efficient energy, cleaner air, clean energy markets, and the creation of good new jobs that strengthen and grow our economy in Nevada, the nation, and the world.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect the air they breathe and our nation’s great outdoors. Nevada has the opportunity to do that and lead the nation in a clean energy revolution by developing clean, renewable energy and efficiency technologies that will meet the state’s current and future energy demands.
Once again, America can lead the way. Developing new technologies will result in a robust clean energy economy our country can be proud of while creating good-paying jobs and diversifying our economy while not polluting our air.
This is our vision for America’s future. And the National Clean Energy Summit is a pivotal opportunity to help get us there.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is committed to increasing energy efficiency and to significantly reducing energy consumption through its energy management systems, recycling programs, and turf reduction efforts.  Our goal is to make the National Clean Energy Summit carbon neutral.

:}

Energy Efficient Clothes Dryer – Well there is one but it makes too much sense

Posted on by
3

Ok so you probably know what I am going to say so don’t rush me. Here is the conventional wisdom:

 http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/dryers.html

Unlike most other types of appliances, clothes dryers don’t vary much in the amount of energy used from model to model. That’s why clothes dryers are not required to display EnergyGuide labels. They’re also not listed in the ENERGY STAR®’s database.

But that doesn’t mean that the amount of energy used by clothes dryers isn’t important. A dryer is typically the second-biggest electricity-using appliance after the refrigerator, costing about $85 to operate annually.

Over its expected lifetime of 18 years, the average clothes dryer will cost you approximately $1,530 to operate.

Right now, all dryers on the market work the same – they tumble clothes through heated air to remove moisture. Engineers are working to develop dryers that use microwaves to dry clothes, but they’re not yet being sold. (One problem still to be overcome is metal rivets and metal zippers, which don’t microwave well.)

Electric vs Gas

All dryers use a small electric motor to turn a large drum that tumbles the clothes placed inside it. All of them have an electric fan, which distributes heated air. There are however, two ways to create the heat needed to efficiently dry clothes – using either gas or electricity.

Electric dryers use heating coils to supply heat. Most electric dryers operate on 240-volt current, twice the strength of ordinary household current. If your laundry area is not equipped with a 240-volt outlet, you must have one installed.

Gas dryers use a gas burner to create heat, but otherwise they operate the same as an electric dryer. Your laundry room must have a gas hookup, with proper connections and safe venting of the gas’s exhaust, in addition to an electrical outlet.

The connections you have in your laundry room will probably dictate which style you use. If you have both gas and 240-volt connections, consider that gas dryers cost more to begin with – approximately $50 more than the comparable electric model. But in most areas gas dryers will cost less to run over their lifetime. Generally speaking, the cost of electricity needed to dry a typical load of laundry is 30 to 40 cents, compared to 15 to 20 cents if you use gas.

The energy efficiency of a clothes dryer is measured by a term called the energy factor. It’s a rating somewhat similar to miles per gallon for a car – but in this case, the measure is pounds of clothing per kilowatt-hour of electricity. The minimum energy factor for a standard capacity electric dryer is 3.01. For gas dryers, the minimum energy factor is 2.67, and, yes, the rating for gas dryers is provided in kilowatt-hours, even though the primary source of fuel is natural gas.

 

Buying Smart

Consider these tips if you’re looking to buy an efficient clothes dryer:

  • Check for the highest energy factor number when comparing different models. Remember that there are two costs to an appliance – the initial purchase price, and the cost of operating that appliance over the many years you own it.
  • Know whether your laundry room has gas or electricity hookups. If you need to add a gas line and a vent to operate a gas dryer, you may spend more on adding the hookup than you’ll save with the cheaper operating cost of gas.
  • Look for a clothes dryer with a moisture sensor that automatically shuts off the machine when your clothes are dry. Not only does this save energy; it reduces wear and tear on clothes caused by over-drying.

The best dryers have moisture sensors in the drum for sensing dryness, while most only estimate dryness by sensing the temperature of the exhaust air. Compared with timed drying, you can save about 10 percent with a temperature sensing control, and 15 percent with a moisture sensing control.

  • Look for a dryer with a cycle that includes a cool-down period, sometimes known as a “perma-press” cycle. In the last few minutes of the cycle, cool air, rather than heated air, is blown through the tumbling clothes to complete the drying process.

It’s Your Money

Here are ways to cut the amount of energy and money you spend drying clothes:

  • Locate your dryer in a heated space. Putting it in a cold or damp basement or an unheated garage will make the dryer work harder and less efficiently.
  • Make sure your dryer is vented properly. If you vent the exhaust outside, use the straightest and shortest metal duct available. Flexible vinyl duct isn’t recommended because it restricts the airflow, can be crushed, and may not withstand high temperatures from the dryer.
  • Check the outside dryer exhaust vent periodically. If it doesn’t close tightly, replace it with one that does to keep the outside air from leaking in. This will reduce heating and cooling bills.
  • Clean the lint filter in the dryer after every load to improve air circulation. Regularly clean the lint from vent hoods.
  • Dry only full loads, as small loads are less economical; but do not overload the dryer.
  • When drying, separate your clothes and dry similar types of clothes together. Lightweight synthetics, for example, dry much more quickly than bath towels and natural fiber clothes.
  • Dry two or more loads in a row, taking advantage of the dryer’s retained heat.
  • Use the cool-down cycle (perma-press cycle) to allow the clothes to finish drying with the residual heat in the dryer.

:}

But the real solution is to not to use a machine to dry your clothes:

www.blog.solarhaven.org

clothsline.jpg

If it rains?:

 www.amazon.com

indoors.jpg

:}

Vertical Wind Turbines Go Wild – Stripped down bare and undulating in the wind

Posted on by
Reply

The big breasted modern urban turbines make a man hard as steel. OKOKOKOK so pornography will never sell electricity but the new generation of wind turbines is enough to set the heart aflutter. When I posted on this last year these sexy designs were nowhere to be found.

A New Wind Power Design Good For Rural And Urban Environments
By Zulima Palacio
Washington
10 June 2008

New Wind Power / Broadband – Download (WM)
New Wind Power / Broadband – Watch (WM) 
New Wind Power / Dialup – Download (WM)
New Wind Power / Dialup – Watch (WM) 

Wind power is one of the fastest growing forms of alternative energy in the world.  More and more, wind power mills are seen in the countryside, in large wind farms and for the most part, away from city life.  But a new form of  “wind power” is now designed to work in an urban environment.  VOA producer Zulima Palacio has more in this Searching for Solutions report. Mill Arcega narrates.

Wind farms, like these ones in California, are becoming more common in rural areas of the U.S.   An industry association says last year, alone, wind power capacity in America grew by 45 percent.  Mostly wind power is generated by large propellers that can only be placed in the countryside.

But now, a U.S. company is offering a propeller-free personal windmill that can be set up in city or suburb.  The president of Mariah Power, Mike Hess, demonstrates what he calls the “Windspire.”

“This one generates 25 to 30 percent of the power in your house, but if we are building a three kilowatts version, which is only twice the width, same height, then it generates 100 percent of your power requirements,” Hess said.

This new system was part of an environmentally friendly exhibit at the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington.   The design was inspired by a 3,000 year-old windmill the Egyptians used to grind wheat. 

The company had the modern version independently tested, here in Utah, to prove it can be competitive with large propellers of traditional windmills. 

The large blades have been known to kill birds and bats.  And because they move much faster than wind speeds, they can be noisy.

But Hess says the Windspire’s verticle-axis wind turbine is not only very quiet, but also bird-friendly.

“Bird friendly yes, because they only spin at two and a half times the speed of wind, so they can see it.” He explained.

http://ecotality.com/life/category/green-building/

Duval’s hotel won’t have conventional wind turbine – instead, he’s looking at a German-designed vertical axle turbine, thought to be was safer than having a high-speed rotating propeller that could cause serious damage if it became dislodged. The building internal environment also is a factor in the choice, he says. “We are on top of a building. We can not have anything that vibrates or emits sound. It’s got to be very smooth.”

Duval also plans to install a pyramid of solar panels on the roof.

Vertical axis wind turbines are a growing segment of the wind turbine industry. Mercedes Benz recently installed one at one of its facilities in Great Britain.

The company said that the 20m-high turbine, developed by wind energy company Quiet Revolution, was one of only six in operation in the UK and had been designed to work quietly and efficiently in urban environments where the wind direction changes frequently.

Mercedes-Benz plans to use the energy generated to power electric cars and has installed three charging points next to the turbine. It estimated that the installation will generate enough power for 30,000 miles of driving a year using its electric Smart fortwo cars, equivalent to the electricity needed to power two average homes. Wilfried Steffen, president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz in the UK, said that the installation was part of a project to ultimately generate 10 per cent of the company’s energy onsite through a combination of wind energy, ground-source heat pumps and solar water heating.

From London to New Zealand, vertical axis wind turbines appear to be gaining popularity as a way for just about any business to get in on the generation of power from the wind

:}

And they look so cool:

mill2.jpg

http://www.bluenergy-ag.net/English/products_wind.html

 mill31.jpg

Bluenergy Solar-Wind-Turbine

BSWT is a vertical wind turbine based on sailing engineering. The wind rotor is rotated by two spiral-formed vanes. For best performance, these vanes are covered in solar cells, so that sun and wind produce electricity as one element. The BSWT installation costs relatively little, produces no noise or significant shadowing, can be easily maintained from ground level, and is an attractive addition to any home.

:}

It doesn’t get any sexier then that.

Even Jay Leno has one:

 http://www.ecorazzi.com/2007/05/29/jay-lenos-garage-gets-a-vertical-wind-turbine/

Jay Leno’s Garage Gets A Vertical Wind Turbine

Filed under: green and famous, transport — michael @ 2:37 pm

Popular Mechanics and Jay Leno have been working together on a project to take Jay’s car garage and turn it into a model of sustainability. We covered Jay’s ownership of some of the first electric cars last month and now we’re happy to report that a vertical wind turbine will shortly be joining the solar panels on the roof of his garage.  From the article,

“[The Turbine] can produce 10 kw at around 28 mph and has a cut-in wind speed of 6 mph. These turbines don’t need a braking mechanism and can self-start at very low wind speeds—something similar designs in the past could never do. They take up very little space, they’re virtually silent, and multiple units can be placed within feet of one another. Delta II units can also be stacked vertically up to 50 kW.”

Vertical wind turbines are a sort of “Holy Grail” for wind energy because they tend to alleviate some of the environmental concerns associated with large scale blade turbines. While Jay’s turbine is still considered small, the design is holding promise for commercial farms. The 500-watt unit Pacwind dropped by his garage with costs just under $3K. For his 17,000-sq-ft. garage, however, a more powerful 10kw version called the Delta II will most likely do the job. This unit comes in at $20K — but with the proper rebates will most likely fall closer to $12K. Granted, Jay’s probably not too concerned with counting pennies. 

You can take a look at Jay’s progress on his green garage by visiting the Popular Mechanics site here. Of course, we’ll keep you updated on the latest as it zooms into our laps.


16th Annual Earth Awareness Fair – April 26 10am-3pm

Posted on by
Reply

Springfield, IL is holding their 16th annual Earth Awareness Fair at a new site this year – Lincoln Park, near Nelson Center.  Lincoln Park is at 6th and Sangamon, near the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Just a sampling of the educational activities and environmental information:

Flyer for the event – PDF 926kb
Get Adobe Reader

Wind Electrical Generation In Illinois – #1 in 2007

Posted on by
1

We installed the most generation capacity in the nation in 2007! Yahoo

http://www.illinoiswind.org/news/index.asp

wind.gif

News

Section 9006 Program Funds for Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements
Posted 3/7/2008 1:56:33 PMThis message is from Molly Hammond, USDA Rural Development- Illinois, April 7,2008USDA published a notice yesterday (4/6/08)in the Federal Register announcing it is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2008 to purchase renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements for agriculture producers and rural small businesses in eligible rural areas. Funding will be available in the form of grants, guaranteed loans, and combined guaranteed loans and grant applications. For FY 2008 there is approximately $15.9 million in funding for competitive grants and $205 million in authority for guaranteed loans. Funding for grant and loan combination packages will be funded from the same allocation as loan guarantees.I have attached the Federal Register document to this email. Please read it carefully. Pay particular attention to the mention of the Environmental Assessment. The environmental process should begin right away. Please contact me for information on environmental requirements for specific projects. This year there will be two competitive grant cycles. The first deadline is April 15, 2008. Applications that are not funded in the first competition will automatically be considered under the second competition. Grant applications in the second cycle are due no later than June 16, 2008. Loan applications and grant/loan combination applications will be evaluated on a bi-weekly basis until June 16. These will be funded on a first-come first-serve basis. I would suggest submitting a combination application as soon as possible. Please note that combination applications must score at least 84 points to remain eligible.

Please see the following websites for more information on the program:

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/farmbill/index.html – Section 9006 website

A copy of the regulation can be found at the above website, but a more reader-friendly version is available at this link: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/regs/regs/pdf/4280b.pdf

Application templates and other useful items can be found at the Environmental Law and Policy Center website. Please note that this is not a USDA Rural Development website.

www.farmenergy.org

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/provider_search.asp – Link to a list of grant writers.

I look forward to working with you, and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Molly K. Hammond
USDA Rural Development – Illinois
Business Cooperative Specialist
Phone: 217-403-6210
Fax: 217-403-6215

But Illinois is not without resistance.

Rail splitter project may

 `

be caught in turbulence

By TIM LANDIS

BUSINESS EDITOR

tim.landis @sj-r.com

One of the nation’s largest developers of wind energy hopes to have 67 turbines churn­ing out electricity by the end of this year along a stretch of interstate highway about 50 miles north of Springfield.

The $175 million to $200 million Rail Split­ter Wind Farm would produce enough power to meet the annual needs of 30,000 homes.

“Assuming we get approval, we hope to begin construction in May and to have the project online by the end of this year,” Bill Whitlock, a project manager for Horizon Wind Energy, said Wednesday.

Whitlock said the company plans to file for a construction permit in Logan County or,-Monday, and already has filed in Tazewell County for the right to build on 11,000 acres of farmland shared by the two counties.

The site is on both sides of Interstate 155 near the community of Delavan, between Lin­coln and Peoria. Whitlock said 38 of the 380-to 390-foot towers — the state Capitol, by com­parison, is 361 feet to the top of the dome — would be in Tazewell County and 29 would be in Logan County.

Whitlock said the company also continues to negotiate leases with farmers whose land is needed and is exploring markets for the power.

Horizon Energy’s first major project in cen­tral Illinois, the 240-turbine Twin Groves Wind Farm near Bloomington, ran into a va­riety of legal challenges, including from landowners, before it began producing elec­tricity last year.  The U.S. Department of Energy r nois at 16 among the top 20 states for wind-energy potential.

But the head of the Illinois Wind Working Group — a consortium of utilities, rural elec­tric cooperatives, farm organizations and eco­nomic development agencies — said Wednes­day he expects commercial wind farms to re­main controversial.

“There are probably going to be lawsuits, and counties really have to be careful to make sure they follow legal procedures,” said David Loomis, who also is an associate professor of economics at Illinois State University in Nor­mal.

Even on a residential scale, wind turbines can be a touchy subject with neighbors, ac­cording to Bill Fabian, owner of Midstate Re­newable Energy Services in Champaign. The home-based business has sold about a dozen residential turbines the past two years.

“You always have the proximity issue with neighbors who may not be as enthused about wind power as you are,” Fabian said.

He said the typical home unit costs $15,000 to $19,000. The tower is usually 60 feet, tall enough to get above most treetops.

“I think it’s going to remain mostly a niche market for residents who can not only afford it, but have the commitment to make it work,” he said.

Officials in Logan County have estimated the Rail Splitter project could generate about $234,000 in tax revenue the first year. The Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals has set three public hearings in April on the pro­posal.

GateHouse News Service contributed to this report. Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.
:}

But Sangamon County? The leader in all things innovative? Not so much…

Flat ground won’t work

By TIM LANDIS

BUSINESS EDITOR

tim.landis@sj-r.com

It isn’t for a lack of wind. But Sangamon County is considered too flat in most spots when it comes to commercial wind development.

Nearly a year and a half since the county approved rules for wind-tur­bine construction, exactly two per­mits have been approved. Both were for what amounted to do-it-yourself home projects in the wind industry.

“It was for two mini-systems,” said county zoning and building ad­ministrator Randy Armstrong.

The wind rules were approved in the fall of 2006 after a commercial developer approached the county about the possibility of a local wind firm. After the initial inquiry, noth­ing more was heard, Armstrong said.

“They said they were interested, so we thought maybe we’d better get something on the books,” he said.

The director of the Illinois Wind Working Group at Illinois State University explained that potential turbine sites are graded ,m a scale of 1 to 7. The higher the number, the more suitable the area for com­mercial wind development.

“Most of Illinois is a class 3-plus or a 4. Usually, a class 3 or 4 is the minimum they’d consider to be commercially viable,” David Loomis said.

Loomis said Illinois also has the advantage of large population cen­ters that make it financially feasible to build projects at lower wind speeds compared to sparsely popu­lated states such as North Dakota that rank at a “6” or higher.

But he said the suitability of ter­rain varies considerably, even from county to county.

“If you look at McLean County (Bloomington-Normai), you’d say, ‘Gee, it’s as flat as Sangamon County. But in reality, there’s a slow rise upward, and it ends in a ridge on the eastern side of our county,” he said.

The Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, based in Auburn, is waiting for equipment to begin con­struction of a single wind turbine on a reclaimed coal-mine site about 30 miles south of Springfield, along Interstate 55 at Farmersville.

The turbine would supply about 500 homes.

Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.

:}

Juche – a simple name for a nasty idea. Kim Il Sungism

Posted on by
Reply

Jodie Foster, Pregnant Man, Iran, Prince Philip, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, American Idol, Obama, China, Beyonce, Rolling Stones. (sorry for the deception but please read below)

Normally I wouldn’t bother to cover this but since it’s on the list I felt I needed to “dis” it as much as I could. I even took the time to get Buzzes top searches for the week to punch it up a bit. I even checked every category Energy Tough Love has to publicize this human indignity. The list of “Religions” that I used to start this meditation on the relationship between Religion and the Environment placed Juche well down on the list but with 18 million adherents that still alot of folks. I had never heard of it before and I even asked a couple of people if they had heard of it. Imagine my suprise when I typed it into a search engine and up popped this Prick who claimed he was god:

www.dictatorofthemonth.com

kim.jpg

During his lifetime he forced millions of people in North Korea to worship him. Can you imagine anything more degrading or disgusting then a man who points a loaded gun at your head and demands that you treat him like a god. You must pray to him. Oh most Divine Leader. Makes me want to puke. But then he is followed by this buffoon:

www.beconfused.com

jong.jpg

Now they are “worshiping” something no better than a trained monkey. If they had an ENVIRONMENTAL group in North Korea, I wish them the best of luck but I ain’t gonna publish it. I ain’t even gona type it into a search engine. If anybody ever deserved to get a nuke shoved up his poop shoot. This would be it.

As a bonus Austin Arensberg also lists a group of Chinese Energy Advocate Groups

Posted on by
Reply

WOOHOO I love this guy now if he would just cover the Sikhs, the Jains and all the rest that I have as yet to do…

http://www.austinarensberg.com/?page_id=313

China Energy Conservation Association

Gansu Province Solar Home System Project

http://www.nrel.gov/international/china/gansu_pilot_project.html
South-North Institute for Sustainable Development
http://www.snisd.org.cn
Global Village Beijing
http://www.gvbchina.org/
Energy Foundation
http://www.efchina.org
BP-Tsinghua Clean Energy Centre
Shangde Solar Energy Power Company
BECon – The Beijing Energy Efficiency Center
http://www.beconchina.org/
Shanghai Energy Conservation Science and Technology Center
Alliance to Save Energy China Program
http://www.ase.org/section/program/eeip
China Energy Group
http://china.lbl.gov/
Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association
http://www.creia.net/

Chinese Traditonal Religion Operates An Environmental Group? How do I write about this and avoid racism?

Posted on by
Reply

If you go back and look at the original list of the WORLD’S RELIGIONS there are roughly 1.5 billion people that fall into 2 pretty blurry categories. Easiest to deal with are th 1.1 billion,

Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion

>

Because I write about them everyday when I am not writing directly about Energy Issues, I am not going to do a post here.. The Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and most of the other environmental nonprofits are of this group. Much harder to discuss though are religions like those of mainland China.

>

Chinese traditional religion: 394 million

Chinese Traditional Religion causes clouds in westerner’s minds. I mean it would be so easy to get all New Earthy here with cliches and stuff. Or make rude references to the television program Kung FU and  being like a “grasshopper” or make fun of Shanghai Knights and Jackie Chan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_folk_religion

Western views

The absence of a proper name for this religion, associated with the absence of any canonical literature, have for a long time caused Chinese folk religion to be viewed by Westerners as a popularized version of an “authentic” religion, in the same way that the cult of the saints is viewed. Both in China and outside, adherents often describe themselves, or are described by others, as followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or a mix among these.

http://www.blurtit.com/q738169.html

Blurtit expands on this definition:

“Worship of animals, the sun, moon, earth, the heavens and stars has been a tradition of this religion. Various devotions in celebration of legends, festivals, folk gods and goddesses has been part of the Chinese culture for centuries. Mythical figures, “saints,” immortals, and demigods are part of the Chinese tradition.”

The real problem for many of the world’s religions from a Jewish/Christian/Islam perspective is that they lack a Messianic Character (Christ); they are largely oral and interpretive in nature; and they are not monetheistic. This is true of a post already put up that dealt with Hinduism, but even more true of Jainism and some others.

Yet many of these religions directly address the environment as being much more important than the current leaders of the food chain, and caution against the over use of resources such as energy.

I rarely ever get lucky, but on this topic I did. a guy named Austin Arensberg put together this enormous list of groups, mostly local NGOs, working on environmental issues in China and sharing a traditional perspective.


A partial list includes:

Green Earth Volunteers

http://www.virtualfoundation.org/about/consortium/greenearth.html

Green Watershed
http://www.greenwatershed.org

Green River
http://www.green-river.org/


Nu River Project
http://www.nujiang.ngo.cn

China Rivers Network
http://www.chinarivers.ngo.cn

Wild China
http://www.wildchina.com

Han Hai Sha: Volunteer Website Dedicated to Desertification in China
http://www.desert.org.cn

China Green Foundation

Green Camel
http://www.greencamel.ngo.cn/

Perspectives plateau

www.plateauperspectives.org
Contact: Marc Foggin
Phone: +86 0 976 889 2104
Email: marc_foggin@hotmail.com

Green Khampa
Contact: Mr. Ding Xiaotao
Phone: +(86) (0) 836 283 9119
gzdingxiaotao@vip.sina.com

Friends of Grasslands
Contact: Mr. DA Lintai
Phone: +(86) (0) 471 4312480
steppecl@eyou.com

Green Campbell – Lanzhou Grasslands Research Institute

Gansu Grassland Ecological Research Institute
Contact: Dr. Liang Tiangang
Phone: + (86) (0) 0931 8662047, Fax: 86 0931 8497314
ggeri@public.lz.gs.cn
Address: P.O. Box 61, 730020, Lanzhou, Gansu Province

Snowland Great Rivers Environmental Protection Association
www.snowland-great-rivers.org
Contact: Gara Sandrup Rokai
Phone: + (86) (0) 971 6116 843, 0976 882 9088
Fax: 0976-8829099
uyohata@sina.com ,

okphone2001@yahoo.com

Upper Yangtze Conservation Development Organisation
China Vetiver Network

China Biodiversity Conservation Foundation
Fujian Bird-watching Society
Fujian Fire Bird?
HongKong Bird-Watching Society
Xiamen Bird-Watching Society
Shenzhen Bird-Watching Society
Wetland of the Dongting Lake?

Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge
(http://www.cbik.org/)
Siberian Tiger Park
Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Conservation Foundation
China Wildlife Conservation Association
Nature and Culture Conservation Club

Green Dalian
Friends of Nature


And a 2006 Worldwatch Institute article makes this point:


http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3870

In this 2006 article by Lila Buckley, titled:

Maturing Environmental Movement Takes Uniquely Chinese Approach

“While many of their issues are familiar to activists around the world, environmentalists in China recognize that they must forge their own path. Speaking at the NGO Forum, Mei Yue, media director for Greenpeace China, explained how her organization tries to take advantage of environmental principles embedded in Chinese culture and philosophy. “Thinking locally in China involves traditional ideas of humanity in harmony with nature,” she said, noting that environmentalists need to stress more broadly the notion that this harmony is out of balance. “Then we can come up with uniquely Chinese understandings of new terms like ‘ecology’ and ‘sustainable development’ in order to solve our problems,” Mei explained.”

Unfortunately hindsight paints a less than hopeful Picture. The main point of the article is that Chinese Environmentalist are ready to dig in and fight. This last year brought global warming to China producing the first Heavey snowstorms during their New Year and ruining everyone’s holidays. The drought continued in the west and their deserts expanded and they drove the price of oil up over a 100$$$ per barrel.

And as usual the pretty pictures too:

indexpicture1.jpg

Buddhist Environmental Groups? You would just bet that that was the case

Posted on by
2

Given the nature of the religion, more accurately called a way of life, you would think that there would be a lot of groups with this point of view. I found a few:

http://www.dharmanet.org/engaged.html

Environment / ecology

  • Dharma Gaia Trust -The mission is to nurture awareness of the complementarity of Buddhism and ecology through generating funds for Buddhist-inspired ecological projects in Asia and the developing world.
  • Earth Sangha [U.S.] – Founded in 1998 as a nonsectarian, nonprofit Buddhist environmental organization, our mission is to encourage the practice of Buddhism as an answer to the global environmental crisis, and to do practical conservation work of a kind that expresses the Buddhist ideal of compassion for all beings.
  • Zen Environmental Studies Center[U.S.] – Formed in 1992 to coordinate Zen Mountain Monastery’s activities in the areas of environmental eduation, recreation, research, and protection.

I apologize for the link to the Dharma Gaia Trust above, I am using a new editing system because of problems with my Internet Explorer. I tried twice to get it right because the source text is not an accurate link but I failed. So here it is:

http://teknozen.igc.org/dgt/

As with the Muslims, Harvard appears to have become a leader in the link between religion and the Environment. Maybe they can shame the world into stopping BURNING the world up! As always the link between burning fossil fuels and the Environment is absolute.

http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/religion/buddhism/projects/alliance_religion.html

field.jpg
>

Environmentalists always have pretty pictures.
Buddhist Engaged Projects

Alliance of Religion and Conservation (ARC)

The Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) is a secular group that helps the world’s major religions develop their own environmental programs based on their core teachings, beliefs, and practices. ARC links religions with key environmental organizations, creating powerful alliances between religious communities and conservation groups. The Alliance works with eleven major religions (Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism) as well as the key traditions or denominations within each tradition. ARC recognizes the crucial role that the world’s religions play in addressing the environmental crisis: the eleven religions participating in the Alliance own seven percent of the habitable surface of the planet; if they invested together, they would be the world’s third largest identifiable block of holders of stocks and shares. Combined, these religions reach out to every village and town, have the trust of more people than any other national or international group, and their followers constitute at least two-thirds of the world’s population. By drawing on holy books, sacred sites, traditional farming, education networks, media, and the assets of the religions, ARC helps create environmental projects such as forest management, organic farming, alternative energy, socially responsible investing, educational projects, sacred nature reserves, urban planning, and professional development. Current ARC projects include the founding of an International Interfaith Investment Group (3iG) with the intention of working with the investment arms of religions to create models for positive investment. The aim of this project is for each religion to assess its portfolios with due regard to its beliefs, values, the environment, and human rights “so that all life on Earth can benefit.” Another major initiative, the Asian-Buddhist Network, enables Buddhists from all corners of Asia to share their experiences with environmental projects within their communities.

Other Buddhist Environmental Resources and Links

Nuclear Guardianship Project (NGP): General Information
Nuclear Guardianship Project (NGP): Library
Pitaka: Academic Buddhist Resources
Shin Dharmanet

On to Weird Bird Friday>>>>>

Peace Be With You