According to EcoRenovator, the US is now the biggest wind power generating country:

http://ecorenovator.org/biggest-wind-power-generating-country/

An article in the Arizona Republic about our own Farmer Greg:

Phoenix Resident Shares His Green Philosophy – 1/2/2009 Arizona Republic

Wildlife. No not the ‘party’ kind of wildlife.

The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources has developed the West Virginia Wild Yards Program to recognize the efforts of backyard wildlife landscapers. Approved properties will be entered into the WV Wild Yards Registry maintained by the WDP. The property owner will receive a certificate and a sign that can be placed within the backyard habitat to let everyone know that the area is part of a statewide network of WV Wild Yards.

Read More Here

EcoGeek brings us news of a new billboard is going up in the middle of Times Square that will be powered with 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels instead of the usual electricity. When it’s windy and sunny, the billboard will be able to generate enough electricity to light up.

Click Here to read the article.

According to AZSustainability.com, Dan Rees, owner of AZ Biodiesel says:

You told us…………”appointments are lame”

So………….no more appointments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the map to our Gilbert location for you to get fuel:

http://azbiodiesel.com/contact.htm

And just to celebrate……..biodiesel now $2.50 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!!!!! lower methanol prices allowed us to lower our price again!!!

Thanks everyone!
Dan

Saturday November 1 marked the re-opening of Tonopah Rob’s Farm Stand.

While the automobile manufacturers struggle, restaurant tables go empty, and banks are having trouble keeping their doors open, there is no recession at Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm. Arrive early for best selections.

Visit Rob’s Blog for more information.

There is a great article in the Toronto National Post about the growing movement to repeal laws prohibiting the raising of livestock and poultry in urban areas.

Red, Ramona and Daisy, three 18-month-old hens, spend their nights in the enclosure and their days nibbling and digging in the yard. They eat a mixture of chicken feed, grass and kitchen scraps (the house’s green bin goes out nearly empty) and provide their owners Chris and Cara (who asked that their last names not be used) with three humongous brown eggs almost every day. His hens utter the occasional cluck, but their poop fertilizes the lawn and the neighbours, far from offended, show up at Chris and Cara’s front door with empty cartons.

There’s just one problem: the hens are illegal.

Eletta Purdy, manager for Toronto Animal Services admits: “We do need to look at our bylaw. We’d like to update it to address the current day’s needs.” She says the city may review rules for chickens and exotic pets next year.

Click Here to read the article.

An extension of the production and investment tax credits for solar energy were approved by Congress as part of the $700 billion bail-out package for the financial industry.

The House of Representatives passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by a vote of 263 to 171, and less than two hours later, President George W. Bush signed it into law. The Senate passed it on Wednesday.

The tax credit package will extend the renewable energy production tax credit for one year and the investment tax credit for eight years. The extensions will be partly paid for by a change in the tax code for the oil and gas industry.

The one year production tax credit extension also applies to other energy sources such as geothermal; closed-loop biomass; hydropower; landfill gas; and trash combustion facilities.

It also creates a tax credit for a new energy production category – marine renewable – which is energy derived from waves, tides, and currents.

The bill creates a new limitation on the amount of credits that can be claimed with respect to property placed in service after 2009.

The measure increases the tax credit limitation for fuel cells from $500 to $1,500 per half kilowatt of capacity.

The bill provides tax credits for advanced coal electricity projects with highest priority given to projects with the greatest separation and sequestration percentage of total carbon dioxide emissions at a cost of $1.4 billion over 10 years.

The $2,000 monetary cap for residential solar electric installations is eliminated and so is the prohibition on utilities from benefiting from the credit.

It also authorizes $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities, including solar.

MINNEAPOLIS, Sep 12, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — freEner-g (”free energy”) LLC, a residential solar leasing company, announced today they are seeking homeowners in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area for a new solar energy program. The new program is based on a leasing, installation and service package for a monthly fee and will allow residents to lease solar-generated electricity for the first time.

“Our goal is to make solar electricity available for all consumers who want to use renewable energy, but may not be comfortable with the upfront cost of solar,” said Gerardo Ruiz, founder and CEO of freEner-g. “We are reaching out to Twin Cities’ residents who are committed to a sustainable lifestyle. The homeowners in the freEner-g program will definitely be the pioneers for residential solar leasing in this country.”

The new program from freEner-g requires no up-front installation costs for homeowners, who instead pay a deposit and monthly fee proportional to the number of solar panels they lease. The costs of installing solar energy capability for residential homes can be $50,000 or more, making it difficult to justify for many homeowners. The solar energy leasing program is a way for Twin Cities’ residents to utilize solar energy for electricity without incurring large initial fees for materials and services.
freEner-g is encouraging interested Twin Cities’ homeowners to complete a form expressing interest in solar energy at www.mysolarlease.com. Based on home site inspections, the company will select approximately 50 qualified homes for the pilot project. freEner-g plans to begin installing solar systems on approved homes in October of this year.

The freEner-g pilot program will last approximately fifteen months. Once 280 KW capacity of solar generation is installed, the pilot program will be completed. However, freEner-g will continue maintaining the installed systems and will begin delivering more solar home systems to a wider group of homeowners in Minnesota and elsewhere.

The above pilot project is made possible in part by a $1.48 million grant from Xcel Energy’s Renewable Development Fund (RDF) that was recently awarded to freEner-g. In addition, freEner-g has entered into a long term partnership agreement with Abengoa Solar to ensure the long term viability and growth of the company in the residential and commercial solar PV markets.

About freEner-g

freEner-g is a Minnesota eco-venture with a triple bottom line of people, planet and profits. Its vision is tomake solar electricity financially accessible to all, manifest a downward trend in solar electricity costs, and help perpetuate a positive change in the environment. More information is available at www.mysolarlease.com

About Abengoa Solar

Abengoa Solar develops and applies technologies to generate clean energy from the sun. Abengoa is a technology company that applies innovative solutions to sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors. It is a publically listed companyand it currently has a presence in more than 70 countries in which it operates with its five business groups: Solar, Bio-Energy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies, and Industrial Construction and Engineering. More information is available at www.abengoa.com

Plastic has been sacked at the registers at the Real Food Market in Helena Montana.

As of last Friday, customers no longer have a choice between paper and plastic when having their groceries bagged.

Instead, customers can pay between a nickel and 15 cents for a paper bag (of varying size), or bring their own bags and get a modest discount at the register — a dime a bag, or 1 percent off your bill if you’re using a Real Food reusable sack. Cardboard boxes are also available.

Click Here to read the article.

A couple of days ago on Tonopah Rob’s blog he mentioned that November 1 marks the start of the new season for his farm stand. Mark that date on your calendar!

Northeastern Indiana’s large Amish community is starting to embrace wind and solar energy to power their homes’ lights, refrigerators and other equipment.

Click Here to read the article.

WOW!

There was a great article this week in the Wall Street Journal about Urban Farming in West Oakland, CA:

“..amidst the snaking freeways and dilapidated buildings, a bit of green is growing. Since 2001, more than 80 urban farms have been cultivated in the backyards and vacant lots of West Oakland. Produce from zucchini to watermelon is grown for consumption by local residents; goats and chickens are raised on some farms. Last year, more than 10,000 pounds of produce was harvested, according to Oakland’s City Slicker Farms, which is at the epicenter of the neighborhood’s urban-farm push.”

Click Here to read the article.

I found this great article on the Harvesting Rainwater blog about a guy in Tucson who irrigates his urban farm using only runoff from surrounding lots and streets.

Click Here to read it.

lies Pescadero, California. Who would have thought that adjacent to the high-tech, fast-paced home of companies like Apple Computer and HP you would find farms.

Real Farms.

You would think that the pressure to sell out to land developers would be unbearable. But a small band of farmers is thriving, thanks to goats, pies, and hard work.

Most of these farms sell there bounty at farm stands and local farmers markets. Harley Farms is a goat dairy and sells their award-winning goat cheese in the farm’s cheese shop.

Many of these farms have their own websites. A google search for “Pescadero farm” turns up these and several others:

HarleyFarms.com
pieranch.org
BlueHouseFarm.org
GreenOaksCreek.com
JacobsFarm.com

I found this great article in the online edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

One thing of note in the article was how farmers markets are becoming an integral part of a city’s soul:

“Markets build community, help revitalize urban neighborhoods and incubate new businesses,” says Crenshaw, whose personal fortune and sense of civic altruism intertwine in a perfect helix of positive energy.

Read Entire Article

What does a farmer do when developers look at the land and see mini-malls, tract houses – and dollar signs? Joe Johnston, a farmer in Gilbert, Arizona, decided to keep his 160 acres (thank you very much) and create his own community, one where he wanted to continue living and working. Thus begat Agritopia.

The Agritopia Project is an effort to design and build a neighborly community around an urban farm. The project is under construction and is being built in the Town of Gilbert on a farm owned by the Johnston family. Driven by principle rather than economics alone, the project attempts to solve several problems common in current development neighborhoods lacking character and livability and the complete elimination of Arizona’s agricultural heritage.

(via Poptech)

Twenty-three years ago, almost no one outside The Ukraine had even heard of Chernobyl. On April 26, 1986 that changed. Reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, killing two people ans causing the eventual evacuation and resettlement of 336,000 people.

Today a 30km Exclusion Zone exists around the site and within it, all residential, civil or business activities are legally prohibited. You’re probably thinking moonscape. Your wrong. The Exclusion Zone is teaming with wildlife.

Cosmos Magazine has this great article that talks about how the very reactor core itself is teaming with life: fungal life. These fungi aren’t just tolerating the severe radiation, researchers believe they are actually harnessing its energy to thrive.

Read More

George Irwin builds green structures for a living, but his latest project aspires to rebuild lives. This summer, Irwin is donating a vertical urban farm for residents of Los Angeles’ graffiti-scarred Central City East.

Read More…

You’ve heard of The Pickens Plan. What about The Texas Plan?

Texas regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project, providing a major lift to the development of wind energy in the state.

The planned web of transmission lines will carry electricity from remote western parts of the state to major population centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The lines can handle 18,500 megawatts of power, enough for 3.7 million homes on a hot day when air-conditioners are running.

Click Here to read more.