Living Off The Grid

One of the surest ways you can go about reducing your carbon footprint is to aim to live off the grid. What this actually means is to live without the reliance on public utilities such as electricity and water.

One might wonder, then how to live off grid and the first step may well be to start producing your own electricity. Two simple domestic options are available to you. The first is solar panels installed on the roof of your house or other structure that enjoys full sun for a majority of the day. The second might be a wind turbine. Essentially you must generate more electricity than you use.

However you go about living off the grid, your energy consumption is going to have to be tightly managed and the electrical gadgets you use will be cut to a minimum. Unless you're already used to living a frugal lifestyle there are going to have to be some major lifestyle changes made.

One thing is for certain, if you make the choice to live off-grid you will soon develop a special affinity to the environment, perhaps appreciating the taste of organically grown vegetables on your own property. Living off-grid is one of the steps towards self-sufficiency and could be the source of major carbon footprint reductions for you and your family.

Consider DIY Wind Power

We’re all keen to reduce our carbon footprint but some of us may be running out of ways to lower carbon emissions. You may already have switched from traditional light bulbs to LED, you may no longer leave your DVD player or television on stab-by when you go out. You may even have converted to solar hot water and have a photovoltaic panel on the roof of your house.

What’s left to try? Why not consider making your own wind power? Even if you already make enough electricity from renewable resources through your solar electricity, you may be able to produce electricity to sell back into the grid. Not only will you be lowering your carbon footprint but you will be helping out others and lowering the carbon footprint of the country.

Residential wind power is not all that prevalent yet, but it’s an aspect of self sufficiency that is growing in popularity, is becoming more affordable and will continue to pay for itself in the years to come. It’s certainly something worth thinking about.

An Alternative Wind Power Source

The push to find alternative energy sources continue with governments around the world looking at viable alternatives for generating clean electricity from renewable sources. Just about every developed country in the world have announced some sort of renewable energy target to, at the very least, reduce the dependence on fossil fuels if not for climate change reasons then for pollution reasons.

Wind power continues to grow as a reliable supplier of electricity although the number of sites available for wind farm construction is falling for a number of reasons. One of the chief reasons that construction is delayed and projects have difficulty gaining government approval stems from local groups who oppose projects on the grounds that the wind turbines make too much noise or are ugly. (They always seem to ignore the fact that their present source of electricity, which is invariable a coal-burning power plant, is a much uglier and unhealthy alternative).

Increasingly, the answer to this opposition is to locate the wind farms offshore, beyond hearing and seeing distance of local residents. Given the vast expanse of oceans suitable for constructing giant wind farms, the potential power that might be generated is enormous. Currently the offshore wind power industry is still pretty much in its infancy, but projects are being proposed and funding is being secured at an increasing rate. Costs are still high and there are many more contingencies to be considered when constructing the wind farms and then connecting them to electricity grids.

For more information about planned projects as well as projects already in commercial operation you can visit this offshore wind power page.