Monday, March 12, 2007

GOOD VIBRATIONS

An article by Adrian G. Uribarri in the LA Times (10 March, 2007) discusses a project on the Isle of Islay, Scotland, in which a science teacher is obtaining electricity from waves. Ray Husthwaite is simply taking energy that is abundant in nature, as we all ought to do. On the other side of the world, Californians are also exploring this, with Pacific Gas & Electric becoming the first utility in that state to file for permits to farm the ocean for energy. In Hawaii, the US Navy is working on similar projects, and back in Europe the Portuguese are working on their own water generated electricity. Centuries ago, the same waves were the power behind empires, so ironic that today they can regenerate them once more.

At present, certain empires are built on oil, and they are destructive as hell. Time we got some better vibes and stopped using all that goo.

Soon we may all be surfing ocean waves to source the electricity we use to surf the net. Speaking of surfing, environmentally conscious surfers, such as Simon Jennings, the 'Irish surfer', are getting into hemp for their boards. At present, blanks are made from plastics (more power to the oil empire), but they are starting to make some from hemp and other biomass.

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