The recently launched Devon CAN! site (Climate Action Network) was set up by Carl Munson to start campaigning about climate change, provide an ideas platform, and “raise morale and reinvigorate ourselves”.

It contains details of events in the local area and the wider UK such as the irresistible Zero Carbon Britain Seminar 31st March organised by the Centre of Alternative Technology in Powys, Wales. The seminar is to be held in their Straw Bale Theatre and you get a free vegetarian buffet and a glass of wine if you can make the trek to mid-Wales by green transport.

If people know of other local pro-active social network sites for climate change action, please leave the details in the comments section.

A new climate change film by Franny Armstrong will have its world premiere in London on March 15th and then be released in UK cinemas on March 20th, followed by other countries.

The Age of Stupid is an independent film featuring Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at “archive” footage from 2007 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

‘Team Stupid’ avoided the banks and went straight to individuals and groups for money, using the idea of “crowd-funding”. The first £50,000 was raised in a London bar and the £530,000 raised so far has come from 228 people who have each invested between £500 and £35,000. There are still seven £10,000 shares available. The investors will get their money back if the film takes £1m. “Our lawyer said it was the most original film-funding scheme he’d seen,” says Armstrong.

In addition to the innovative funding model, Team Stupid is a first when it comes to translation – relying on volunteers to do the job in more than 30 languages.

Mark Lynas, author of “Six Degrees has said of The Age of Stupid “The most powerful piece of cultural discourse on climate change ever produced.” George Monbiot, journalist & author said “It is a captivating and constantly surprising film: the first successful dramatisation of climate change to reach the big screen”.

Visit the The Age of Stupid website to check out a screening near you.

The Koru foundation works on a world wide-basis and has a web page devoted to its projects ranging from micro hydro projects in Peru to wind energy projects in Nepal. A board of trustees guides the organisation and is drawn from the renewables industry, the international development and the ecology and educational sectors.

There are some rather more questionable not for profit organisations and charities out there. The You Tube video below promotes small scale wind energy for Rowanda villages. It is noted however that the promoter seems completely tied to one technology – wind energy and one wind turbine manufacturer. The wind turbine design looks suspiciously ineffective with numerous small blades and the manufacturer website comment that ‘2 or 3 bladed propeller type wind turbine design is kind of world war II aircraft — slow speed and less powerful’. This information is untrue as is well recognised in the industry. Wikipedia gives a good explanation:

‘Wind turbines developed over the last 50 years have almost universally used either two or three blades. Aerodynamic efficiency increases with number of blades but with diminishing return. Increasing the number of blades from one to two yields a six percent increase in aerodynamic efficiency, whereas increasing the blade count from two to three yields only an additional three percent in efficiency. Further increasing the blade count yields minimal improvements in aerodynamic efficiency and sacrifices too much in blade stiffness as the blades become thinner.”

2 or 3 blades provides the optimum energy capture for most turbines in most locations. If a 2 or 3 bladed machine does not work you may be better off looking at other technologies such as solar energy.

Koru looks like a much more credible organisation due to its website explanation about it’s structure, projects and values, but it also has some credible wind energy companies supporting it such as Airtricity. Practical Action also looks like a good charity. If people know of any others – please add them in a comment.

If you’d like to know my overall thoughts you can skip to the conclusion at the end.

What is the Ebook About and Who is it For?

This ebook is about empowering you to build your own solar panels or wind turbines or both. Explaining how solar and wind energy technology works and giving you detailed step by step advice this ebook takes you through the solar panel and wind turbine construction process. This ebook is for the practical green enthusiast who has good DIY skills and is not turned off by the thought of using a metal grinder or connecting up batteries.

Organisation and Overview

This practical and political ebook author is keen to point out why self sufficient renewable energy technology is so important to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The main thrust is teaching you how to make your own solar generator, solar panels and wind turbines.

A range of interesting but randomly linked topics are also included from a small section on hydro-electric power to whether ethanol is a viable alternative to gasoline for running our cars.

Content

The dangers of using fossil fuels and our social responsibility to do something about this form the introduction and ebook context. The author poses the question – is there anything you can do as an individual to make a difference? The author urges simple actions – use energy efficient light bulbs and turn off appliances. The key message is, use energy efficiently first and then generate the energy you do need cleanly.

Solar Energy

The next chapter tells you what’s required to build your own solar energy device. The instructions and diagrams are clear and help you to understand how all the components work together.

Each components role is clearly explained and tips for obtaining free or cheap parts such as batteries are particularly useful.

Be ready to get your hands dirty building the solar panels in chapter 4. The author includes photographs and diagrams for connecting cells in rows with wiring, however it is difficult to explain through words and static pictures alone so a video is available on the Earth4Energy members area which you have access to if you purchase the ebook. There are also some useful tips on how to maintain the solar panels once built. The only thing missing is some advice on the best places to locate your solar panels.

Wind Energy

The second part of the ebook moves on to wind energy and identifies the basic components of a wind turbine. Chapter 6 claims that you can buy a turbine for under $6000 which can reduce your utility bill by 50-90%. The turbine would pay for itself after 8-15 years.

This reflects our experience in the UK with a commonly cited payback period of around 10 years for domestic scale wind turbines. A key piece of advice is given at this stage; in order for a wind turbine to be effective, you need a wind speed of at least 10mph (4.4 metres per second). It does not say at what height this should be measured (presumably roof height) or how you might go about finding the information.

Through my own experience wind speed measuring devices (anemometers) for your roof can be obtained on ebay for around £70. Alternatively you can buy handheld devices, however their accuracy is questionable.

The instructions for building your own wind turbine for as little as $200 occasionally left me confused, how big should the alloy hub be? Advice on reconditioning batteries could make your project substantially cheaper if you are seriously committed. Parts can all generally be bought from ebay. You may end up spending more than you want to if you end up needing help from an electrician wiring everything together which seems tricky.

The Rest of the Book

The remainder of the ebook is devoted to a random selection of renewable energy topics. Running your car on vegetable oil through grease powered conversion kits and other ideas for reducing your dependence on oil are included for those who want to go that extra mile. No information is given however on how much they are or where to get them from or how easy they are to convert.

One of the final chapters touches on how to create a self powered home off-grid giving references for information but is not enlightening in itself.

The high cost of small-scale renewables means they are largely out of reach for the majority of the world’s population, however this cost will come down according to the author. The key message being – if Governments put more money in the pot, then he cost of renewables will come down almost immediately.

Whether we can run our cars on ethanol instead gasoline is discussed as is large scale hydro-electricity which appears out of context. Off the wall future technologies such as solar power from space, floating wind farms and nano technology also have their own chapters. Whilst interesting, they are not relevant to the core idea of the ebook and appear as space fillers.

Conclusion

This book is great if you are serious about embarking on a build your own solar panel or wind turbine project. There are some great tips on sourcing parts cheaply and good diagrams and pictures with a downloadable video showing you how it is done. There are quite a few pages on renewable energy politics and generic renewable energy technology information which is interesting but not key for building your own solar or wind turbine project.

This book is not worth investing in you are only interested in the theory and you are wary about taking on a potentially time-consuming and tricky DIY project. However if you are itching to get your jigsaw out it is great value for money.

Find out more about earth4energy (affiliate link)

Pros

- Information on how solar and wind energy devices work
- Empowers you to build your own solar panels or wind turbines
- Tips for obtaining cheap or free parts
- Free video for support

Cons

- Only suitable for someone with good DIY and electrical skills
- May end up costing more if electrician/ other professional help needed

Find out more about earth4energy (affiliate link)