Inflatable wind turbines!!!

A company in Canada called Magenn Power have developed a lighter than air inflatable wind turbine called MARS (Magenn Air Rotor System). I love conventional wind turbines and hope to see many more spring up across the country (especially outsde the homes of countryside alliance members). However they are not exactly portable. The Magenn system would allow a 4KW turbine to be packed into the boot of a family hatchback and be deployed anywhere with speed and ease. They are planning version capable of 1-2MW. These can be used for anything from the supply for a small town to power for emergency aid locations. They also have little or no chance of killing birds because they have no long blades and they are bouncy. Magenn's website is here.

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Solar powered sausages

Spring has arrived with a vengance and summer is clearly not far behind. With such wonderful weather many people are starting to have barbeques. While I will gladly admit that charcoal and gas powered barbeques are not that important in the grand scheme of planetary climate change it is still possible to take the green option. The technology for solar cookers is not new or complicated and has been used in countries around the world. This is useful in places where firewood is scarce and it also removes smoke from cooking fires which kills millions every year. However this is the first time I have seen a solar cooker targetted at the European barbeque market. A Swiss company have prduce a solar grill based on a simple parabolic mirror. It requires no gas, wood or charcoal only a reasonably sunny day (which we get even in the UK). It is also reasonably priced (about £120 plus postage and packing). You can find out more and order here.

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Lightbulbs

Looks like the government is on the right track on this one - they are proposing a lower rate of VAT for energy efficient products. Here's the response to the on-line petition regarding low energy lightbulbs