Toolbox for a future - 1 - Electricity and transport

As I stated before I'm not a strong believer in the unknown God. The future is going to be made up of things we know now, known tools, known solutions and known limits. It's going to be a real cold turkey getting out of the carbon addiction to paraphrase late president Bush. But the important thing to remember is that there IS solutions, there is a way.
The way may not the smooth and easy way we want it to be - but there IS a way.

What is the toolbox of the future?

• Electricity and electric transport.
  
• Permaculture
• Electronics (Open hardware and DIY)
• Open communication technology
  
• Community

These tool can be made sustainable - that mean they can earn back there investment. As a plus these tools are also good for the environment.
Each of the points are major undertaking. And we are to undertake these big, costly projects when resources becomes less available.
Lets take them from the top.

Why electricity?
I have read A LOT about alternatives to oil. Hydrogen, palm-oil, ethanol (1st and second generation technology) and biogas to name some. One of the true wonders of oil is that it is highly compact and storable - meaning it can be put in a car. It sits there for 6 month until you decide to drive 500 km - that i truly amazing. And furthermore oil has the highest energy density next to uranium. Then we just have to make some more oil now don't we.. and sure sure we can "make" oil - the easiest way is to let plants do it (killing whales is another great way since whales are mostly fat) there is just a little catch there. Making food takes up farmland where we other-ways could grow food and modern agriculture has become VERY oil-consuming (1 cal food uses ~ 10 cal oil to produce). Neither does it produce very much oil for the work - In fact if you are to produce oil in the most part of world the you would need more oil for machinery and tools and pesticide and fertilizer than oil produced - the same goes for ethanol except some contryies like Brazil that have LOTS of sun and water and cheap labor, then you can make it work (ERoEI > 1). USA is in fact starving the 3. world by subsidizing Ethanol production with ERoEI less than 1 (and that just plain stupid and horrendous).
Hydrogen isnt better - the only reasonable way to make (in terms of ERoEI) is to convert oil to hydrogen..
Palmoil isn't a silver bullet either...
Biogas has also some problems in terms of scalability that does it very hard to see as an alternative to oil - but small scale biogas is here to stay - as it has been around for 2000 years. But from idea to powering all cars in eg. the UK or Sweden there is a long way to go. And to produce the amount of biogas needed to power all road transportation is doubtful, but trucks and buses seems feasible... but what about me and my car? What is that gonna run on?? Electricity!
The only real alternative to oil in terms of transportation is electricity. The only ones that have a problem of seeing that is the special interest groups. When you get down to the numbers - the electric car is realy a thing of the future.

To sum it up.
Cars - electricity
Trains - electricity
Trucks - biogas
Ships - ships has been sailing before - they can do it again.
Planes - no. There is no real future for transport by air unless some enormous scientific breakthrough.
Then there is all the wonderful thing you can do if you have electricity, like living in 21. century. The electric grid is one of the great wonder of our time that will live on in the post carbon world, the product of a true genius who all to few knows about - Nikola Tesla.
With the grid (we already have) we can power our (electric) cars. We can power machines and electronics. Electricity is THE game-changer making a modern future possible. Its either that or back to 1850 (after some adjustments).

More about permaculture next.

Grid 2.0 (smart grid) - why we need a new power grid.

How the power-grid works today (in principle).

• The grid operator provide power to the grid - with a steady output of 220 volts and 50Hz in EU (110 volt 60Hz USA).
• You turn on eg. a washing machine and draws power from the grid. The onset in power-consumption make the Volt level drop on the grid (very little, but still).
• The grid operator monitors the Volt-drop and orders more output. That increases the voltage to 50Hz again.
• When you turn off the washing machine, the grid voltage rises (very little) and the grid operator adjust the power-output a little down to get 50Hz again.

Thats the way it works very basically and how it have worked since the grid was invented. This way of regulating the grid is working but is really not very efficient. The grid is always counter-reacting to a changes in the grid. The grid is NOT adjusting to the current power-output. That wouldn't be a problem if power-production had a flat-rate cost regardless of the production level or how fast it has to react to changes. But power-production is organized into different categories dependent on how fast it have to (and can) contribute to regulation of grid.

• Basepower output - Do not change output.
• Medium changing power output - Changes output within minutes.
• Eminently changing power output - Changes output within seconds.

Reacting power-production can cost a 100 times more than base power production, so grid-operators go to great length in trying to predict what to power-consumption in the near future in order to be able to count in the biggest changes in power-demand, thereby save money. They look at past statistic, look at the weather forecast, read the TV schedule and predicts the coming need of power to a hight degree - but the are still reacting to changes. That is called regulating by swing-producer.
Power consumption is not ever over the day. Very little power is used nighttime and then BANG - 7.00 - we get up and turn on every kind of electronics we have and use a lot of power. Then it wobbles a bit during the day until we starts preparing dinner in the afternoon (putting on the stove and oven and dishing-machine and washing-machine all within minutes), then turns it all of and goes to sleep.
That means that most of the power-production is idling a large part of the day and that is not very efficient. It also means that grid operator have to be able to call in power supplies to meet demand - something that is not possible with eg. wind power (therefore there is put a cap on how much wind power that grid operators will accept in the total power production). A novel idea is to get demand to react to production - that is called Grid 2.0 or Smart grid.

In a grid 2.0 the grid-operators communicates to the consumer that now is a really good or really bad idea to turn on electronics. The electronics can be made to automatically react to power output or tell the the consumer how the situation are on the grid. A monetary incitement can be given to the consumer to adjust power consumption - cheaper electricity when there is low demand and high when there is high demand. To make this possible communication capabilities has to be build into the washing machine, the freeze, the heating system and so on.

Grid 2.0 will make it possible to produce electricity in a more efficient way. It also make it possible to include more wind power in the total power production.
Denmark is the country with the highest degree of wind power in the power production - 30% of Denmark's electricity is produced with wind power, but Denmark is unlikely to expand that number until a new way or regulating the grid is deployed. 30% - thats it - stop. The rest of the danish electricity is produced by gas and coal power-stations and this a problem Denmark shares with the majority of countries in the world. A sustainable electricity is not possible until the problem of regulation of the grid is solved. Grid 2.0 is one of the solutions and the technology has been there for several years now. Its a question of communication capabilities and (cheap) microcomputers. Communication can be via; GPRS, 3G, Broadband, VHF and direct via the electric cables. And then there has to be a standard and will to implement the technology. I'm pretty sure the biggest problem is the later. Power production has been privatized in most of EU and the Enron case showed clearly that more money can be made from chaos than order. Now Enron did create disorder in order to make money - the private electricity marked is only benefiting from the current faulty market model and statuesque. A Grid 2.0 is a smaller marked - fewer can do the same amount of power with the less disorder in the grid. To let it up to the market to solve this structural problem is irresponsible of the state. A stable and working power-grid for the future is a question of national security not to be taken lightly and left to (friends in) the big companies.
This transition to 2.0 is big and will take many years - it's a huge investment and we should get it started today rather than tomorrow.

Read more about Grid 2.0

PO -& Global warming (or why not just make it easy for your self?)

Why all this talk about Peak oil? Why not say Global warming? - then everybody knows what we talk about.
The cure is the same for PO (Peak Oil) and GW (Global Warming) - use less energy.
So what is the problem (why do you always have to be so difficult (and gloomy))?
My view on GW is this: First things first - Its like triage. Solve the most pressing problems first and GW isn't the most pressing global problem. For me it is not a question about for or against GW. It is not about if GW is real or not. GW is just not the most pressing problem - PO is. The consequences of GW is maybe 50 years away - PO is here and will have severe consequences within 20 years. That makes it easy to prioritize.
And if we solve PO, we have solved GW - even better.

Again if you don't believe me - fine, okay, sure - please prove me wrong.
More info on Peak oil:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
http://www.peakoil.net/
http://www.theoildrum.com/

Praying to an unknown God

This summer i read "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable" (The Black Swan theory here). Its a tragic story about human deficits when it comes to the seldom seen - It seems like we tend to be optimistic about most aspects in life - these days especially when it comes to technology. For the secularized European God has taken a new form - A total believe in progress; Every aspect of life IS going to become better. Anyone who challenges this believe is met, not with a stone, but with a smile and eyes that shows pity for you the backward, who hasn't seen the light. Progress is measured in BNP and new technology. We WILL become richer and we WILL find a technological solution to every problem vi encounter.
I love technology I do! But lately I have been looking harder at the technology we have around us - Is it helping us? Is it really new? How do we use it? What is value, what have a real value? When I began to look into how I could make energy (and I looked in every corner of the beautiful net of an Internet) - and became very very disappointed. It turns out we really hasn't come up with any new working energy PRODUCING technology the last 56 years. The newest kid on the block is the photovoltaic cell 1954. Any other deployed technology is older and I stress the word deployed. Any other new energy producing technology is still in the making - marked "promising". That includes Fusion, Cold fusion, wave power, green algae.. and for the true believer "Zero point energy".
Any other deployed technology since 1954 has all in common - they use energy. Said in other words - we have invented many many new ways to use energy but very few that generate power.
But here comes the the scary part - That doesn't seems to rock our firm believe that a new solution will come to the rescue. Its either "somewhere someone will come up with a solution" or "the oil company's has the recipe for turning water to oil in the safe - you'll see..". This is a fundamentalist religious believe and when discussing with "them" I have to prove that the invisible "God" doesn't exist and thats difficult - needless to say no prof is necessary regarding the ever evading "God".
The faithful believe do not transcend every part of western society - Most people has an insurance thought nothing has happened, believe we must have a defense without a war, have a fire-department without a fire. But technology is going to save us... Maybe it is this one that is going to save us.. or this one, or this??
You don't believe me? ask Helga..

A open hardware DIY motor (electric and with neodymium magnets).

One of the first true revolutions that took us from the traditional agricultural society was the motor - first steam, then oil or electricity. Having a power source in agriculture other than horse or man was huge. A farmer was often worn out before the age of 50 mainly because of hard bodily labor. A 100w electric motor is doing the work of a hardworking man.
Later years we have seen the coming of the PM electric motor (Permanent neodymium magnets). The introduction of the neodymium magnets was a revolution in terms of efficiency and reliability. Its a simpler motor in construction with no slip-rings. It will run till the roller bearings is worn out - truly a amazing machine. The only problem with the PM motor is the need for a ESC (Electronic Speed Controller). The ESC is a pretty complicated piece of electronics, but in the overall picture I state that this trade-off is worth it. More about the ESC below. And btw. A PM motor IS a PMG (permanent magnet generator or PM alternator for in-lighted. More about the PMG later.
Link to some very simple high performing DIY PM motors here.

A open hardware DIY ESC (Electronic Speed Controller).

In order to control the electric motor of the future one needs a ESC. This principal is pretty simple - current is pulsed to stator at the right time thereby repelling or attracting the permanent magnets - motor moves. But in order to make the motor the timing has to be pretty good and there is the small problem of determine where the Permanent magnets has moved since last injection - this is done through EMF or a HAL-effect sensor. A PIC then keeps track and fire the coils lets say a 100,000 times a sec. ESC are expensive today but this don't have to be the case for eternity. China has proved it can make ESC for hobby planes and cars pretty cheap and prices are coming down, but off-course the are small and glued together. The power in an ESC is handled by MOSFETS. If the ESC breaks down it surely to be a dead MOSFET - and I would off-course be preferable to be able to change this part without to much hassle (not having a microscope and surgeon hands). Another problem with todays consumer ESC is that they can be reprogrammed (some can, but that comes with a hefty price tag). If you can program your ESC and chose size of MOSFETs you can fit it to practically any PM 3 phase motor independent of size - from 10W to 100KW - the PIC and the logic is the same.
There are a few DIY ESC projects out there - focused on PM motors for RC cars and planes. Thats all very well but a ESC for a RC has to be small (very small) and light, so the projects goes in the direction of miniaturization.
What is needed is a generic open hardware ESC - this is sure to be a project to go down in history.

The open hardware DIY CNC (computer numerical controlled machine).

There are several DIY CNC projects out there - in many different sizes and shapes and material and with different PICs and program languages. It seems like the hole grail for the DIY savvy - I would not know where to begin or even choose between the projects.
The reason I think there is a reel need for a open hardware CNC is found in the fact of the idiotic ways we come to depend on small pieces of plastic and metal in the machines that we are so ever depending upon. When a consumer product breaks down today the first place to look is often the movable parts - made of plastic. These parts are small and are impossible to repair or remake unless you happens to have a.. CNC or a RepRap (more about the RepRap later). The curse of the plastic button is fund in everything from exspencive cars to hand-tools to radios to.. the list is endless and we are going to live with this crap for generations (especially when we no longer can to through away otherwise perfectly working machines - beside for the broken plastic part that render it useless). Repair will come back into fashion (not because it is funny - but it can become that important). I admire those who can go through a Dumpster and come up with a raygun but the true masters is found in Cuba.
When I visited Cuba in 2004 I was confronted with new car models I did not know (boy nerd thing - don't try to understand). It turned out that the "new" cars was homemade. In Cuba - if you really wants a car, you have to build it yourself.
I would love to see the generic open hardware CNC.

Links to some DIY CNC sites:
http://diylilcnc.org/
http://buildyourcnc.com/
http://www.thebackshed.com/cnc/

The RepRap (a Rapid prototyping machine).

The RepRap. The reason for the need of an open hardware rapid prototyping machine is basicly the same as the reasons mentioned above for the CNC machine. Some parts can be made by CNC others cant - they have to be casted.. or made by eg. a RepRap. Why don't I write there is a need for a open hardware Rapid prototyping machine? because the RepRap IS open hardware - and its beautiful. I hope I get the possibility to get/make a RepRap in the near future, but judging from the website there is some way to go before this project is matured - but I like what I see.

The global component translator

(maybe this exist - I haven't found it - maybe im to stupid to see it when I surf by it, but I need it).
A 7805 - A standard 5 volt current regulator commonly known as 7805 is called I think exactly everything else if you look for it. L7508C, L7508CV, LM78M05, LM314, LP38691 and the list go on. To know that they all can do the job in a simple setup except the one that I also could use in an atom-clock, that is the question. Right there is a complete stop for the uninitiated. A normal scenario is that I find the recipe, at long last, and start looking for the components - only to realize that one of the e.g. chips went out of production 1987 (I might be able to get an ex. from Timbukto for xxx $), but the project is dead in the water - because I don't know that a alternative chip do exist and is called something completely different - Even if I suspect there is an alternative I'll need luck locating that information. My guess is that this is one of the reasons for why it feels completely impossible to begin with electronics. Some have electronics as a hobby - That building electronics is THE thing - not building something you need but just building it. Maybe they started with some of kits for sale out there eg.
- Police siren, "Enter the world of amazing electronic sounds and noises. Create or imitate sirens of all kinds by adjusting 3 trimmers. Powerful sound with a 2W amplifier on the PCB" ((Level 1) even for idiots like me).
I can build: UNIVERSAL START/STOP TIMER, WINDSHIELD WIPER ROBOT OR INTERVAL TIMER, DUAL ELECTRONIC DICE, PINK NOISE GENERATOR (all taken from Velleman). I am a bit unfair, there is some kits that can used for something usefull (ADVERTISEMENT LED DISPLAY WITH GREEN LEDS kit: "..Hello I am a man in need of a life..Hello I am...").
But as soon as I try to think a little myself - I am lost in the wilderness of electronics. That would be sort of okay if it wasn't for the facts that we are totally emerged in electronics, building our life on stuff we (we the majority) don't understand and can't fix. We (the stupid majority) are like kids walking around with machines we regard as small magic boxes that just works (look at this classic video). And it would be kind of funny if it wasn't such a tragedy.. And btw the exact same thing is the case with our relationship to energy (3 years ago I hadn't a clue. I was living happily in oblivion - then I ate that stupid apple (handed to me by a woman) and now I am raving in the streets and cant socialize..
When I understod how few basic electric components that make up the rest of the more complex components I was shocked - WAS THAT IT??? This is not funny, this is a conspiracy - marketing and geeks has succeeded in fooling me into believing electronics to be a great mystery, for years I thought them demigods - HAM geeks are the worst (you need a licenses to say hello). I get that those in the know gets very tired of stupid questions, but I say - help (us, me - the stupid), do it for you own sake - because we will burn down your house in anger the day the grid goes - exposing the false gods. The ravage has already started with the DIY/open hardware movement - It shines a light on what the basis is for electronic industry and there so-called consumer goods.

The open hardware DIY micro wind turbine

There is a pretty big community around DIY wind power - Its getting there. The design is proven and tested. Design descriptions are pretty clear even for the non-born-handyman. Thanks to a movement of literally hillbillies living off-grid in the deep forest of USA (and a scotch living on a small island) doing a lot of trail and error and tinkering and a strong will to communicate, there is a near open hardware micro wind turbine for the greater good. This wind turbine is doing some real good all over the world - and its a godsend in the 3rd world. Yes you might think thats all very good, but i am white and I live in a civilized western democracy - I would never need one of "these" (I might get one to have one the roof to show my neighborers that I am green and hip and handy (if you cant be hansom - at least you can be handy).
But If the grid goes down for some strange reason - we in the civilized west are thrown back to 1930 in seconds - and if this becomes a more permanent state of affairs - we are worse of the the majority living in the so-called third world is today (they are adapted) - or what about if you for some strange reason cant afford electricity (dont worry your job as web-designer, consultant, coach, tour-guide are here to stay forever - Well, do not take my word for it, Go ahead, ask Helga!) - the result is the same.
A modern house in the northern part of west seize function without grid power. If it loses electricity in the wintertime it cant be heated (the pumps and heating system stops) and risks blowing the water pipes running in walls and floors thereby destroying floors and walls - modern houses must not get wet - ever). And since we have the unbelievable trust in our fellow man and the society as a whole, we can pray that the grid will never ever stop working - And they say we have turned from religion.. Maybe a small open hardware wind turbine is not so bad..

The open hardware DIY charge controller

The lead acid battery was invented 1859 - its an old technology, its not even very good, its heavy and its poisonous - but so far there is no real alternative to the lead acid battery and thats a real shame. A truly new and reliable battery technology is desperately needed. It is the missing link in what would be the (true) green revolution, but the revolution is put on hold despite many many many promises of breakthroughs in battery technology. It looks like the lead acid battery is staying with us for years to come. Lithium batteries are good, they really are - but they are expensive and resent news tells that it will stay that way for now. Lithium batteries has another drawback - they need a charge controller pr. cell - in an electric car that means several hundred print-boards. Overcharge a lithium battery and you have a nasty firework.
As stated in this blogpost there is a way to go for the generic open hardware lead acid charge controller.

The open hardware & DIY Inverter.

If you wants to you your homemade (huge investment) electricity - you need an inverter. Inverters are expensive and are sensitive to misuse (I know - I know twice, stupid in square). They are not even very good (square-wave) or very effective (30% loss of top capacity BEFORE you even draws the first watt). Then there is the is the problem of the grid versus homemade electricity. In the perfect case you would use you own electricity first and the top up with the Grid (when you put on the washing machine, the spot welder..) - but that is a no go (or ridiculous expensive if possible). Most grid providers forbids this and they have no interest in loosing this monopoly - this is a technology that will eventually make its way when governments wakes up and that use to take time - a long time. There are some talk about a grid 2.0 and and this inverter would be i part of that new grid. On the forum www.fieldlines.com there are discussions about a open hardware inverter of this sort, but there is a loooong way to go.

The Open hardware/source electric car/cart

The electric "Volkswagen" is not around the corner - as stated above is the batteries the stumbling stone. But even if the electric car is at a distance, electric vehicles is making its way - but smaller and lighter. The electric scooter is here and its smart and efficient. Another problem with the car is maybe not the technology but our expectations on private transportation. A car is one of the most stupid inventions that has spread to every corner of the world. Of 1 liter of gasoline 1% of the energy is actually moving the person in the car (and most cars drives around with 1 passenger most of the time). 90% energy is wasted as heat and 9% is moving the car - leaving 1% for the main purpose of the car. Why its fashion to drive around with min. a 1000 kg. of iron only say something fundamentally stupid about the human nature. Take a look at the picture - this is a 2010 model ford - 2010! When I watch new American TV-series I'm constantly struck by how truly stupid it looks when a person steps in a car and it looks like a child getting behind the wheel. Make a smaller electric "car" weighing 250 kg - with a max speed of 80 km/h and it only need 1/4 of the batteries a "normal" car would need - and could be made for 8,000 Eur, not 32,000 Eur. Some are working on the problem - seeing is believing.

The case off the Open wind turbine controller (Battery Charger) - a reel need

I you have ever considered to go all-green and self-sustainable, producing your own food and energy, then somewhere down that line you will stumble upon lead acid batteries. Then you will pounder over the heavy price tag of the batteries and how short lived they are and how they need to be nurtured like babies - fully charged at all time or face the sulfation death in no time. Then you want to combine wind and solar power - thats doable - with the possibility to expand the system if needed - now you are in trouble.. And maybe charge from the grid If.. Try finding that product (without getting a heart-attack when you see the price-tag and realizing its not a scalable solution). You decide to build it yourself because you think you are pretty smart and have a solder iron (somewhere), can read a manual, have a computer at home and at work and in the cellar - how hard can it be? It turns out to be very hard if unless you realize you had forgotten you had a degree in electrical engineering. Its a whole new world with a new language and you surf the Internet for the most trivial questions. The first time I soldered something and IT WORKED - I was very pleased with myself (though it was very trivial).
My first "product" was a wind turbine controller (as seen in the picture - mine was just not as clean looking). It took me 6 months to finish it WITH help. I ordered components from UK, USA and Sweden - all because it couldn't "speak" the language of electronics. I had no idea specific parts could be change to another part i could be locally. I followed the recipe like a blind - stumbling along. Then came the day when every thing came together and it worked and I had no idea how this miracle had happened.
I learned A LOT from this project - but somehow it was humiliating experience. I am surrounded by electronics - My life is based on electronics - I am very interested in computers and gadgets, and still I could only barely build a very simple charge controller. It was a slap in the face. Today, 3 years later, it would be easier, but nothing I do in my sleep. Since then I have been surfing the net for every kind of DIY (Do It yourself) projects. There is a lot of help out there, but the entry-level is high and its a jungle. When it comes to DIY power production there is several sites worth mentioning:

• The Otherpower and their huge forum Fieldlines.
  The main focus is DIY windpower and building stuff (metalwork, wingprofiles..).
• TheBackshed - An AU site with lots of good info, written in a straight forward language with graphics even I "get".
  The main focus is DIY windpower, electronics, CNC
• Windstuffnow - Mr. Ed Lenz who will go down in history as the Guru of DIY windpower. His Lenz2 turbine is going to be known for eternity.

And speaking of the DIY charger from TheBackshed - It works. It even has a serial out with production values - thats nice - but its a crude charger - ON/OFF. A modern lead acid charger is more than this. Its base level charging and trickle charging and support charging. If there is a wind turbine in the other end of the charger controller then there is several design choices there has to be made (because the common wind-turbine has to be connected/controlled at all time - otherwise it risk running amok self-destructing in mid air throwing splinter hundreds of meters).
Here is an area for much improvement, for a much better, much smarter wind-turbine controller.
I can find a DIY LEGO robot that sets up dominoes, Remote control pellet gun – with scope and Office prank: death from above in 2 min. on the the splendid site Hack a Day - but try to find a DIY small scale wind turbine controller for lead acid batteries (other than the one I linked to). Good luck and I will not rant about what is most needed world wide.
If YOU have found a better solution please comment!

The tech need on a sailboat

I am a sailor since 15 years and sailing has changed my view on technology. When I began sailing a new reality made it self present:
Everything on the boat I cant understand and repair is a liability. If I cant repair it myself, I bring 2 (or 3 in case of the GPS - its that important). Luckily most sailing gear (hardware) is mend to last and be repaired and with good documentation. Un-luckily most sailing gear it very expensive, but Ive learned to appreciate quality over the years of sailing - I have an old boat and I have repaired everything from the engine to the autopilot to the wiring to the hull it self. Its not long ago I changed from Windows to Linux on my boat PC. The PC is the main navigational unit on the boat and reliability is the no. 1 priority. The move to Linux (Ubuntu on a Fit-Pc) gave me just that. The move was made possible solely because of OpenCPN (open source navigation software for Linux and Win32). A big thanks to the OpenCPN team.

Open hardware for a sustainable future

Open hardware is nothing new - go back a 100 year and nearly all hardware (technology) was "open". Not only was it open, but it was meant to last and be repaired - costumers wouldn't dream of investing in technology they could not master/understand/repair. Before cheap credit and "Made in China" - baying a machine (car, tractor, mill, drill you name it) was a investment taken from the household saving - and had to last.
It had to be:

• Durable
• Reliable (here I am talking 50 years if not longer)
• Simple
  
• Repairable (either by the owner or the local blacksmith)
• Supported (spare-parts should be obtainable for years to come)
  

As of now we are in the hands of products with these characteristics:

• short-lived (breaks down for no apparent reason within months of purchase)
  
• Unreliable
• Unnecessarily complex (and glued together)
  
• Unrepairable (unless shipped back to whatever (sweatshop) country it came from, where it is replaced by a new unit totally)
• Supported (until the next model comes out in 6 months time)
  

I convinced the future of technology is going to have the pre-WW2 characteristics. I base this on several reasons:

• No possibility to uphold statuesque consumerism.
  
• No possibility to uphold the complexity in the global market.
  
• possibility to uphold the current growth/Fiat based banking system.
  

If you dont belive me - okay.. watch this or go on living in oblivion


The condensed conclusion of this is the following is that if we wont our (electronic) stuff in the future it has to be: Durable, reliable, repairable and Supported. Put to this cheap and low-energy.

This goal can be achieved in many ways, but I believe the most promising way is the open hardware initiative see eg. this.
Arduino is a very good example of open hardware.
I will in the future try to find good examples of open hardware and give my 2 cents to what open hardware I would like to see.

Idea: Sun blimp

I am listening to BBC world service. Haiti has crumbled (even further). The describe the total chaos especially at night when the lack of electricity plummets the city into total darkness making every relieve effort impossible.

Idea: A sun-blimp.
Fit a "Goodyear" blimp with thousands of LED lamps - thereby creating an artificial sun lighting the area of interest.
The blimp can simultaneously provide WLAN and GSM connections (coordination and communication seems to be a reoccurring problem in the first important days of an relieve operation.
A modern soft-body blimp should have the lift capacity to carry this and can stay in place eg. the 12 hours a night lasts in the tropics. It will also provide a reference point at night (this can sound a little strange, but when a city as Port-au-Price gets devastated as it is now - even those previously living in the city have problems navigating - all known landmarks has changed). I have a background in civil-defence and have climbed around rubles at night - not funny ever with light.

The idea of this blog and some background

My idea of this blog is to write about natural things to come and natural inventions and tools we need to adapt to a changing world - mostly of an electric nature.
When engaging in a discussion we need to establish a common ground (this is where the troubles begin). I am of no illusion that this is possibly any time soon if ever, changes are happening to fast now and we are left far and apart on the path to the future and our experience of the reality we live in differs enormously. I will try to describe where I believe we are in space and time at the moment.

Convictions.
- Energy.
Energy is our lifeblood. We use energy to live and form our life. This is the law of entropy, nothing else. This is a scientific believe. The energy I talk about is the energy of known and usable sorts: Oil, gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar..
- ERoEI (Energy Return of Energy Invested).
- Finity (as opposed to Infinity). There is a FINITE amount of usable resources on the planet earth.
- Peak oil. We have peaked in oil production and If you don't believe me - read thought this site and then come back and state your case - much to much time (years) have been wasted argumentation against the obvious.
- Energy is "the" money - money isn't energy. Money can be invented, energy cant. If you don't have the energy - money is of no use.

Doom and Gloom

I am often seen as dark and gloomy, dreaming of cataclysmic future - Thought it is not so.
I have high hopes for the future, for all of us, after we solve a number of problems that threatens us in ways I can't imagine. By pointing out the natural consequences of natural physics I am often considered to be negative. I am of the strong belief that the future is a product of our work and our decisions and not of hopes and prayers.
We shape our future, invent it, create it based on the physical reality we live in.