Fire damages round house

A unique Jefferson County home (http://www.woodhenge.org), celebrated for its eco-friendly design, was damaged by fire Sunday afternoon.

No one was home at the residence of Jim and Krista Juczak at 14910 Fuller Road in the Town of Adams when the fire was reported to Jefferson County Emergency Dispatch at 1:26 p.m.

The round-shaped home, constructed of concrete and face logs is one of the more famous abodes in the area, having been the subject of various broadcast and print reports as well as host to tours for educational groups.

Mr. Juczak said he believed the blaze originated as a chimney fire and that most of the damage probably resulted from smoke and water. The structure is insured.

Firefighters from Adams, Adams Center and Town of Watertown were at the scene.

Heating and Cooking, on the cheap!

Do you have a small cabin, camp, or just want to be a bit more self sufficient? Here's what we are playing with. The military used to use these tent heaters. They can heat a small space, and be used for cooking. What makes them particularly neat, is that they are multi fuel. They will burn wood or coal, plus they can burn liquid fuels from diesel and kerosene, to gasoline and alcohol. Here's the best news, THEY WILL BURN USED FRYER OIL. Yes, the waste vegetable oil that your Italian or Chinese restaurant throws away after frying your food, is a fuel source. We even use it in our diesel engines. Imagine producing your own electricity in a fryer fueled generator. We do this here at Green-Trust. Learn more about these stoves at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/.

Free Book Download: Much Ado About Almost Nothing

Much Ado About Almost Nothing

A History of Electricity and Electronics

2007, Hans Camenzind

This is the story of the electron. 3,000 years ago the tiny particle caused nothing but fear and superstition whenever it appeared. Its perception by man changed slowly as a few heretics dared to investigate. Then man discovered the "Leyden Jar", a gadget which produced a vicious electrical shock, to the amusement of the experimenters and kings.

Discover a new side of Benjamin Franklin as an unlikely scientist in an unlikely place, who stunned the European establishment by discovering fundamental principles and thus opened the field to other people. People like Luigi Galvani (who drew the wrong conclusions), Alessandro Volta (who corrected him and ruined his life), André Ampere, an emotional mathematician, and Georg Ohm, who discovered the basic law of electricity but presented it so badly that he was ignored.

Read more at:

http://www.historyofelectronics.com/

Happy worms!

We just added 1000 worms to a new worm bin. One hour after spreading them on top of the litter, they disappeared into the bedding to munch away happily on our kitchen scraps. We are thrilled that we are able to keep up our composting indoors, even when it's below 0 (F) outdoors. There is no smell other than an earthy dirt smell right near the bins. We cover all submissions with coconut fiber as we add it. No ants, flies, or smells. This picture was taken as we were adding some old stale tortilla shells and a fresh batch of worms. We can send you 1 lb. of worms, 1 bale of coconut fiber, and a manual on worm composting for $99, delivered. You supply a $8 plastic tote (12 - 15 gallon) and you are in the indoor worm composting business. Just drop us a line at sspence@green-trust.org.

The Homebrew Power CD

After the huge Server Upgrades here at HomeBrewPower we have finally got around to recompiling our CD Rom that was previously available only in hard copy for $20.00 + P&P.

The Entire contents have been recompiled, tweaked and buffered and made available for download for what we think is a VERY fair price of $5.00.

To purchase the package just visit our homepage http://www.homebrewpower.co.uk and click on the purchase link. Your personal download link will be emailed to you soon as funds have landed. (Usually within 10 minutes!)

I know there were quite a few wanting the CD Rom in the past, well now I think you can finally have one.

Kind regards

Andy Mahoney

Home Brew Power

(Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)

www.homebrewpower.co.uk

The Worms Arrive

Our vermiposting red worms arrived today. Now our composting project kicks into high gear. The beds are ready, kitchen craps have been collected, and compost will be ready for spring. Read more at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

Our veggie oil burner also arrived, so the used fryer oil to hot water project begins. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/.

The parts for our home made generator / battery charger arrived today as well. You can read more about that at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/diy_generator/

Heart Breaking Story on eWaste

June is the wet season in Ghana, but here in Accra, the capital, the morning rain has ceased. As the sun heats the humid air, pillars of black smoke begin to rise above the vast Agbogbloshie Market. I follow one plume toward its source, past lettuce and plantain vendors, past stalls of used tires, and through a clanging scrap market where hunched men bash on old alternators and engine blocks. Soon the muddy track is flanked by piles of old TVs, gutted computer cases, and smashed monitors heaped ten feet (three meters) high. Beyond lies a field of fine ash speckled with glints of amber and green—the sharp broken bits of circuit boards. I can see now that the smoke issues not from one fire, but from many small blazes. Dozens of indistinct figures move among the acrid haze, some stirring flames with sticks, others carrying armfuls of brightly colored computer wire. Most are children.

Read the whole article at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-01/high-tech-trash/carroll-text.html.

DIY Generator Project

Our generator project is progressing. We have a 10hp B&S OHV engine, a GM 108 amp alternator, and are awaiting a bracket and pulley to be delivered. We are constructing a 3 stage charger to maintain our deep cycle battery bank, with appropriate instrumentation.

More info at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

Composting Toilet and Recycling System, Ready to Go!

We have developed a complete composting Kitchen and Toilet system for anyone wanting to reduce their water requirements, eliminate sewage, and build soil quality for gardening. Consisting of a manual on worm composting, a collection device (toilet), cover & bedding material (coconut fiber), a worm bin and worms, This system sells for $100 + Shipping, and includes everything you need. See pictures of the components at

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/simplyoffgrid/photos/browse/9dd6?c=

( http://tinyurl.com/2l9osf )

Build your own from the descriptions and parts list, or drop us a line at sspence@green-trust.org for a complete kit delivered to you.

Also recommended:

The Humanure Handbook - http://tinyurl.com/2to3wm

Worms Eat My Garbage (included in kit) - http://tinyurl.com/2p2ze6

Florida's Diesel Electric Hybrid Buses

A buddy of mine, Ron Morrison, grabbed a shot of this Diesel Electric Hybrid bus.

Farther away from the beach I saw this city bus. Hybrid diesel-electric. It was really quiet zooming away from a stoplight & was hitting 40 mph. I had to wait till both of us caught a stoplight for me to hop out of my car to take this picture.

More info can be found at http://www.scgov.net/PublicCommunications/MediaRelations/documents/HybridBusFactSheet8-06.pdf.

Composting Toilets, Homebuilt Generators, and more

We are working on a number of projects today. It's -25F outside, so it's a good day to stay indoors near the wood stoves. Even the generator wouldn't turn over, even with the recoil start. Brought it in next to the wood stove to thaw out. The worm beds are under construction, and we ordered a inexpensive bucket toilet with lid as one of the food sources for the worms. Many folks use sawdust or peat, but we use recycled Coconut fiber. For info on how it works, read about it at http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html

The other project is a rebuild of our propane converted B&S 10hp Generator. We smoked the coils on the alternator, and have decided to rebuild it as a DC battery Bank Charger. We bought a 108 amp GM alternator, and are belt driving it from the 10hp B&S propane powered engine. More pics to come on that project.

Multi Fuel Burner - Heat / Cook with Veggie Oil

We have a bunch of used but good condition 45k btu heaters (Military Surplus M1941) coming in that will burn a multitude of liquid fuels, like kerosene, diesel, used fryer oil, etc. This is a DIY Tinker type item, not a ready to run appliance. Can be installed in an existing wood stove or drum (We have the original wood/coal stove for these oil kit inserts available for $115). These sell for $50 delivered in the USA (lower 48), and we are working out a quantity drop ship to the UK for local delivery. For USA customers, send steve@green-trust.org an email, for EU customers, send a email to andy@homebrewpower.co.uk

We have a digitized manual available at http://www.green-trust.org/Alaskan%20Oil%20Heater/ and a discussion group for this device at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/