A Solarpunk Place

A place for an unnamed solarpunk novel

[solarpunksolutions]

SolarpunkSolutions

SolarpunkSolutions

Hey guys! I’ve moved my blog to somewhere it’s easier to access for me.

Just setting everything up.

Please go give the new page a follow.

[exclusively-positive-press]

This lamp absorbs 150 times more CO2 than a tree

It’s still in the “so crazy it just might work” stage, but these microalgae-powered lamps, invented by French biochemist Pierre Calleja, could absorb a ton of carbon from the air every year. That’s as much as 150 to 200 trees. [x]

[cal-is-a-cuddlefish]

NEAT

[gelunnucifera]

YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. This is ingenious.

The design is a light bulb surrounded by a glass casing. The glass is filled with (water based) media and microalgae. The top is permeable to gasses so that gas exchange can occur. All of the wiring is linked to the grid underground.

Since the light source is inside, it gets scattered and “dimmed” by the water and algae. This makes it less glaringly bright and scatters the light wider, which is good for a street light. It is not longer white light as well, which helps make it easier on the eyes while still providing light.

At the same time, it provides the light for photosynthesis in the algae, so they are continuously exchanging CO2 for O2, not just in the day. It also provides a source of heat, which helps keep the algae from going dormant during cold weather (as in the snowy picture above).

And notice how I did not specify permeability - that’s because NOx’s (NO and NO2) are also permeable and can be used as nitrogen sources to microalgae. In fact, algae are relatively low maintenance. As autotrophs, they don’t require super complex media, not does it really need to be changed/added to. (I’m actually fairly certain that there would still be algae in these tanks a year later; it may need to be cleaned or something, but there would be some living algae.)

[partlysmith]

solar punk sensibilities with cyber punk aesthetic

[century-of-the-fruitbat]

Swamplamp

[climatepanic]

Windmills

[alpenglw]

mr plant man, bring me a seed

make it the greenest that i’ve ever seen

give it two leaves like roses and clover

and tell it that its weedy nights are over

plant man, i’m so alone

don’t have no garden to call my own

so please turn on your magic bean

mr plant man, bring me a seed

[mindblowingscience]

Germany to phase out coal by 2038 in move away from fossil fuels

"This plan will make it possible to achieve climate change goals set by the German government, but it will also, and this is important, achieve affordable and secure energy supplies if the German government implements our recommendations," said Barbara Praetorius, an environmental professor who served as one of the four leaders of the commission.

Germany should shut down all of its coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest, a government-appointed commission said on Saturday, proposing at least 40 billion euros ($45.7 billion) in aid to regions affected by the planned phase-out.

The commission’s plans are at the center of Germany’s strategy to shift to renewables, which made up more than 40 percent of the energy mix last year, beating coal for the first time.

The proposals of the coal commission, which were finalized after more than 20 hours of last-round talks, will serve as a guideline for the government in its effort to turn the planned exit from coal into law.

Continue Reading.

[amargedom]

“used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.”

— Paul McCartney (via goodreadss)

[futurismnews]

Keep tabs on the quality of the air you breath.

[juniorranger]

Hey if you go to a national park pick up your goddamn trash

[pippenpaddlopsicopolisthethird]

This talk is SUPER IMPORTANT in the discussion of clean/renewable energy. The truth is, the US energy grid can’t rely 100% on renewable energy because it is built to generate electricity The Instant It’s Needed. So if electricity is needed, but the wind isn’t spinning the turbines, you’re screwed. And if the wind IS spinning the turbines, but that electricity isn’t needed, it goes to waste because we have no grid-scale energy storage built into our systems.

This geophysicist proposes a way to build grid-scale clean energy storage into abandoned pit mines that are currently environmental hazards, thus cleaning up the damage to the local environment and creating a way to use renewable energy on a much larger scale in this country than ever before. This could be a game-changer for the USA, guys. Ideas like this give me a spark of hope for the future of our planet.

[colchrishadfield]

‪In a greenhouse the size of a toaster, a small cotton plant is growing on the Moon. Extraterrestrial life. A key step away from Mother Earth. ‬ https://www.instagram.com/p/BssoX3QnpkM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=60c6m9xsgzot

[plantyhamchuk]

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this or not. This is Appropedia, it’s a wiki focused all on sustainability. The whole thing is extremely solarpunk, and for years they’ve had a starter wiki page on solarpunk itself, ported over at one point from wikipedia. The solarpunk entry on wikipedia was deleted some time ago, and I haven’t had the energy/time to deal with the innards of wikipedia politics (honestly I’m hoping someone else will step up, I’m doing so much already, but I digress…)

Anyway I’ve been working on the solarpunk page at Appropedia, slowly learning how to do various basic things there. I highly encourage others to help out! If we want solarpunk to go anywhere, to do accomplish anything, then we’ve all got to roll up our sleeves and help out when and where we can - which is a very different model and mindset from our overall passive consumerist culture. 

Solarpunk is a call to action, and it is the actions too. And if this entry turns out to be a well fleshed out and referenced article, it could one day just be ported back over to wikipedia. 

And for anyone who doesn’t feel like creating a login and messing with this stuff, I’m also open to suggestions for what to add to the page. Copyright appropriate art, your favorite solarpunk fictional passages, your favorite solarpunk essays, your favorite solarpunk music, your favorite solarpunk quotes, etc.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

The Persians invented domed structures called yakhchāls that used evaporation to keep their interior cool enough to store ice without melting, even in the hottest part of the year. The yakhchāls were also used to store other foodstuffs that needed refrigeration.

this is so cool

This is now a Persia appreciation post, submit more cool facts

[zeldazee22]

Windmills and a vanilla sky in Amarillo.

[solarpunksolutions]

Home state wind turbines are the best

[mauricesmall]

I visit the compost bins daily just to say greetings to the workers. I feed them, they feed the plants and the plants feed us.

[libraryreading]

Librarians to the rescue! A brief history of heroic bibliophiles

Whether they’re saving books from censorship, or sheltering their community from danger, there’s nothing new about librarians choosing actions alongside words

[solarpunksolutions]

Maybe I’ll be a heroic librarian one day, but for now I am just a high school library courtesy

[mithrildis]

A new addition! 💫🌿

[dmpictureaday]

2016-06-07 Today in TX - Blowing by the Road