Renewable Energy Round-up

Last weekend John and I went to Fredericksburg for a renewable energy expo. We enjoyed checking out all the booths and brainstorming on what we can do specifically to/in our travel trailer to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption and waste.

The best part of the weekend was the plethora of interesting and informative talks. Some highlights included:

* Learning about biodiesel and how we can use it right now in our truck without any modifications to it

* A talk about permaculture as a vast improvement to agriculture (but good luck with any sweeping changes anytime soon)

* Hearing about international projects in Latin America and Afghanistan that bring solar power and water to developing countries

* Different approaches to rainwater collection systems, including a cheap manual way to capture rainwater for drinking

* One talk that tried to promote the benefits of living in a smaller space/smaller footprint, which didn't come anywhere close to our floorplan in Howie (150 ft2), so I mostly just laughed at this one

* Good info on photovoltaic (PV) solar systems that we might be able to adapt for our use

* An amazing, inspiration talk by the mayor of Greensburg, KS. His town was mostly wiped out by a tornado in 2007; the town decided to rebuild as "green" as possible, included LEED-rated municipal buildings, bike and walking lanes, energy efficient homes, solar and wind power, and LED streetlights. Would be an interesting place to visit!

All-in-all, an excellent weekend for us.

A solar powered bubble-blower: :)