Info, news & debate
Green electricity
Should electric vehicles be a Lowimpact.org topic?
Some of the topics on our site are problematic – i.e. it’s questionable as to whether they’re truly low-impact or ‘convivial’ (a term coined by Ivan Illich, meaning controlled by and beneficial to communities) – and top of the list of problematic topics is electric vehicles.
The transition to renewable energy will not / cannot happen within the current economy
This is the first of a two-part conversation, about whether we can transition to renewable energy within the current system, or whether we need system change.
Energy loss is single biggest component of today’s electricity system
Major energy loss is a huge issue in our electrical system.
£3.3 trillion fossil fuels subsidies by G20 countries since Paris Climate Agreement
All governments, including the UK, are telling us that they’re laser-focused on reducing carbon emissions. How are they doing? The chart above shows how they’re doing (source: Our World in Data). There’s a tiny flatline around 2020, but that’s because of the Covid lockdowns.
Jon Hallé: Introducing the Big Solar Co-op, and how you can help renewables and the co-op sector
Today I’m speaking with Jon Hallé. We go back about 20 years. You ran courses on how to make biodiesel for Lowimpact, back in the early noughties, and you authored a book for us about making biodiesel, that sold about 15k copies in the first year. It caught the zeitgeist then, but of course diesel …
Be part of keeping UK community-owned wind power alive
From launching Scotland’s first 100% co-operatively-owned wind turbine to supporting community solar and hydro-electricity projects across the country, Sharenergy are working hard to keep UK community-owned wind power and more alive in the UK.
The Human Power Plant experiment: how many hours of power generation a day?
In this latest update on the Human Power Plant experiment, we learn just what a daily power generation schedule might involve when it comes to 750 students of Utrecht University literally producing their very own electricity.
Join our new online community Living Low Impact
We’re excited to introduce our new Facebook group Living Low Impact – and you’re invited!
SuperHomes: free open-house events for you to have a look at homes with renewable and energy-saving technologies
This year marks the 10th year of SuperHomes, the innovative and multi-award winning national network of over 200 homes which have all reduced their carbon footprint by a minimum of 60%. There’s a record 100 free Open House events occurring across all parts of UK
Resilient networks: building a low-tech internet
A solution to the absence of high-speed wireless networks across some developing countries and increasingly appearing in the form of WiFi based community networks in numerous countries in Europe, building a low-tech internet could have benefits for all. With excerpts from an original Low-tech Magazine article by Kris De Decker, we explore how a less resource-intensive and more energy-efficient …
Low-impact & the city 1: introduction – how possible is it to live in a sustainable, non-corporate way in a city?
I lived at Redfield Community for 13 years – it’s where Lowimpact.org was born – but now I live in London, and so I’m assessing my options for living as low-impact a life as I can.