For the doubter who obviously does not shop....
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Solar Cooking
The Netherlands, where I am currently working, is unusually sunny and warm. Spain, where I live, is 'famous' for its 'more than 300 days of sunshine a year'. This year I think a rebate is required as there has been little sunshine at all and while I bask in the 27C sunshine my better half is taking cold remedies like they are going out of fashion. There has been a string of bad weather with continual rain (although of course not the 'right' rain as it simply runs off the ground and into the waterways with little benefit to the ground).
For those of you planning your retirement in the 'Florida' of Europe, think again. Resources are already making creaking and moaning sounds as the population increase makes huge demands on limited supplies. The village where we live has seen a major demographic shift in the average age of the population, as well as a major leap in the number of permanent residents over the age of 60/65. Think again about how you wish to live the sunset years of your life.
There are only so many ambulances and hospital places available. Our village has one ambulance and the trip to the nearest hospital is via a windy and steep 16km (10 mile) trip to the nearest major road. To the hospital it is about 35 minutes on a good day and I am not sure what would happen if you get taken ill while the ambulance is taking someone else to the coast and the only people with the skills to treat you are halfway down the mountain.
With that happy thought and relating back to a previous post I made about global warming, I recently spent a wonderful weekend with my friend G in Arnhem. He had asked me to help him with the jigsaw puzzle of a glass house that he had recently purchased and I gladly went along to assist. The night before he was somewhat animated about his latest fun project of solar cooking and he asked me to prepare a meal to be cooked in this way. With the unpredictability of the Dutch weather and the concept of low temperature cooking I opted for a variant of an Indian curry in a chicken dopiaza (do=double/two, piaza=onion) and one of my favourite recipes that I have mentioned before on the blog, Butter Chicken. All this with the knowledge that the onions would cook easily and the chicken could be cut into appropriate sizes to allow adequate time to cook at the lower anticipated temperature. The only real problem I believed would be the tomatoes which can be very slow to cook. So, the night before I marinated the chicken in the spices.
The morning began with a rather unpromising start of an overcast day. Still, projects were lined up and activities planned for the day so we went ahead regardless. I think the pictures tell the story but it is important to understand that a LOT of planning into the optimal setup for the reflectors was based upon some extensive research carried out with heat sensors in the USA. The cooking pot was sourced from a flea market and had originally been a fondue set from the 70's. Note the trendy vibrant bright orange colour.... spray painted black with a culinary (none toxic) paint to add additional absorbtion.
Note the basic setup consists of a flattened cardboard box covered in basic kitchen foil and the transparent cover is an old plastic salad bowl (same flea market). Total cost of setup around $5.
Set up in place, time to build the green house.... occasional visits back to inspect the progress and (most importantly for the none salmonella lovers) the temperature. Now one of the aspects of one of these setups is that there is no need for perfection when it comes to the foil as a too flat surface would simply reflect heat back in straight lines. I believe the idea is to have the rays bouncing back in several directions to the cooking surface. Someone, somewhere is I am sure more proficient in the fine details of this but our fall back on this were it to fail was pizza or a stir fry Thai style. The importance of this whole exercise was the fact that we were doing it, nothing more. Curiosity in this case would, at the worst, result in feeding the cat (or several based upon the quantity). A couple of hours later on a somewhat overcast day (and the really important thing here... in the NETHERLANDS) we checked the thermometer. An important point to note here is that the position of the thermometer would not give us a truly accurate reading as it was placed on the lid of the pot. We could only assume a rough temperature.
IF you can be bothered to look closely at the reading you will note that the reading is at 120C after about 4 hours or so. Now G might correct me here but I believe that the total cooking time was no more than 5.5 hours or so. The end result.....
As they say around here (Served with rice and nan bread of course...) is "Lekker".
Even G was impressed with the cooked state of the tomatoes. So was I. His wife, S, was more concerned over the 'bacteria'. If the blister on my finger was a representation of the heat in the pot I believe those guys left several hours prior to my burning my finger as I lifted the lid. If you want the recipe then let me know. You guys in Oz could do this with one roo behind your back and a possum up your tree.
Now I know that I can achieve the same and more on my roof terrace in Spain... where it is currently raining.
For those of you planning your retirement in the 'Florida' of Europe, think again. Resources are already making creaking and moaning sounds as the population increase makes huge demands on limited supplies. The village where we live has seen a major demographic shift in the average age of the population, as well as a major leap in the number of permanent residents over the age of 60/65. Think again about how you wish to live the sunset years of your life.
There are only so many ambulances and hospital places available. Our village has one ambulance and the trip to the nearest hospital is via a windy and steep 16km (10 mile) trip to the nearest major road. To the hospital it is about 35 minutes on a good day and I am not sure what would happen if you get taken ill while the ambulance is taking someone else to the coast and the only people with the skills to treat you are halfway down the mountain.
With that happy thought and relating back to a previous post I made about global warming, I recently spent a wonderful weekend with my friend G in Arnhem. He had asked me to help him with the jigsaw puzzle of a glass house that he had recently purchased and I gladly went along to assist. The night before he was somewhat animated about his latest fun project of solar cooking and he asked me to prepare a meal to be cooked in this way. With the unpredictability of the Dutch weather and the concept of low temperature cooking I opted for a variant of an Indian curry in a chicken dopiaza (do=double/two, piaza=onion) and one of my favourite recipes that I have mentioned before on the blog, Butter Chicken. All this with the knowledge that the onions would cook easily and the chicken could be cut into appropriate sizes to allow adequate time to cook at the lower anticipated temperature. The only real problem I believed would be the tomatoes which can be very slow to cook. So, the night before I marinated the chicken in the spices.
The morning began with a rather unpromising start of an overcast day. Still, projects were lined up and activities planned for the day so we went ahead regardless. I think the pictures tell the story but it is important to understand that a LOT of planning into the optimal setup for the reflectors was based upon some extensive research carried out with heat sensors in the USA. The cooking pot was sourced from a flea market and had originally been a fondue set from the 70's. Note the trendy vibrant bright orange colour.... spray painted black with a culinary (none toxic) paint to add additional absorbtion.
Note the basic setup consists of a flattened cardboard box covered in basic kitchen foil and the transparent cover is an old plastic salad bowl (same flea market). Total cost of setup around $5.
Set up in place, time to build the green house.... occasional visits back to inspect the progress and (most importantly for the none salmonella lovers) the temperature. Now one of the aspects of one of these setups is that there is no need for perfection when it comes to the foil as a too flat surface would simply reflect heat back in straight lines. I believe the idea is to have the rays bouncing back in several directions to the cooking surface. Someone, somewhere is I am sure more proficient in the fine details of this but our fall back on this were it to fail was pizza or a stir fry Thai style. The importance of this whole exercise was the fact that we were doing it, nothing more. Curiosity in this case would, at the worst, result in feeding the cat (or several based upon the quantity). A couple of hours later on a somewhat overcast day (and the really important thing here... in the NETHERLANDS) we checked the thermometer. An important point to note here is that the position of the thermometer would not give us a truly accurate reading as it was placed on the lid of the pot. We could only assume a rough temperature.
IF you can be bothered to look closely at the reading you will note that the reading is at 120C after about 4 hours or so. Now G might correct me here but I believe that the total cooking time was no more than 5.5 hours or so. The end result.....
As they say around here (Served with rice and nan bread of course...) is "Lekker".Even G was impressed with the cooked state of the tomatoes. So was I. His wife, S, was more concerned over the 'bacteria'. If the blister on my finger was a representation of the heat in the pot I believe those guys left several hours prior to my burning my finger as I lifted the lid. If you want the recipe then let me know. You guys in Oz could do this with one roo behind your back and a possum up your tree.
Now I know that I can achieve the same and more on my roof terrace in Spain... where it is currently raining.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Of Ninjas and global warming
As someone who flies an above average times a year I realise that this has a significant impact on the environment. I have no better option that I can think of on how to get to and from the places I work without it significantly impacting my 'lifestyle'. As an example, I live in Spain and am currently working in the Netherlands. Last year... in Australia. The year before in Pakistan...
I am currently taking a Dutch course and, as a personal exercise, have taken to reading the free newspapers that appear as if by magic in my letterbox. I say 'magic' because they arrive sometimes when I am actually in my apartment and I have yet to see or hear one drop to the floor. I have been conjuring strange images in my mind of ninja paper boys (and not forgetting girls of course) who get to the fourth dan (or whatever it is called) of guerrilla marketing and proudly sport their headband made of a newspaper rubber band or similar. Their art is perfected when, despite the 'No junk mail or free newspapers' sign on the letterbox, they are able to deliver the paper silently with a simple flick of the wrist while leaving no shadow on the door mat. It is the only way I can think that they get there.
Putting this wild thought to one side as I sat on the tram on my way to work (no car so kudos to me on the GW front) I was flicking through the various reports related to the unusual weather that is being experienced here. The front page had a big photo of 'De schoonste stranden van Nederland 2007' (apparently it is NOT Zandvoort on Zee). Someone correct me on this one, but the beach cannot be seen as it is a solid mass of varying degrees of cellulite and beer guts. The report highlights the fact that this is a good beach if you want a good dose of 'eczeem' or (my personal favourite) 'darmklatchen'. Check the latter out on Altavista Babel Fish...
Understand that for the sun to shine in the Netherlands is almost akin to the Second Coming or similar. The novelty of this would appear to be wearing off as I heard one woman complaining that it was too warm at 23C. You instinctively have an umbrella to hand and rain coats are top fashion items. For those who took long Easter vacations to Spain they encountered the equally unusual extended cold and rain that has been the bane of our roof terrace garden. Only recently has the weather improved in Spain although this week has been one of rain showers which have resulted in my better half coming down with a cold.
Back to the newspaper though. Inside there was an article about what you can do as an individual to improve your own personal carbon rating. The top saving can be made by using 'green' gas (not American petrol) at 23%. Not flying 15%. 'Green' electricity is 14%. This would be good for me but for the fact that I fly, I rent my apartment and have no control over the source of my electricity and no gas. So, perhaps I can save by recycling and sorting out the plastics from the paper etc... Nope. This has a rating of 0% as you have already used the plastic and paper (thanks ninjas) and there are carbon costs associated with the whole recovery and recycling processes. You CAN save by bitching to your local supermarkets/shops about the excessive and unnecessary packaging that they have taken to utilising or simply do what I do and remove it in the store and leave it behind. Maybe if you are reading this and you work in a store can explain to me why on earth (for example) it is necessary at all to shrink wrap a carrot. That is correct. I bought a carrot (one of the large 'winter' types) and it was shrink wrapped. Or the mini tomatoes that come in a clear plastic box. Hey Mr. Supersavershopperhypercheap store owner... it is not needed or wanted.
The simplest ways of making savings are the small ones:
1. Energy efficient bulbs - 1%%
2. Switching things from standby to off - 1.5% (that is also 1.5% off your power bill too)
3. Hybrid car - 4%
4. Solar water heating - 2.3%
The list goes on. However, one of THE best ways to be carbon efficient is... to follow a strict vegetarian diet. All of that methane that the cows BELCH would not be released. It got me thinking that perhaps this could be trapped... what a great invention that would be. The alternative would be to attach a similar device to humans. With so many of us, just our physical presence in terms of latent heat and the gases we release is a direct source of GW. That is without the other impact we have with our individual and collective activities.
On a final note, you can save 3% of your emissions quota by just reducing meat consumption by 50% and also not drinking alcohol or coffee. Something that I would find difficult to do. Alternatively, we could all fit adapted models of the cow methane devices. For some people it would be a benefit.
I am currently taking a Dutch course and, as a personal exercise, have taken to reading the free newspapers that appear as if by magic in my letterbox. I say 'magic' because they arrive sometimes when I am actually in my apartment and I have yet to see or hear one drop to the floor. I have been conjuring strange images in my mind of ninja paper boys (and not forgetting girls of course) who get to the fourth dan (or whatever it is called) of guerrilla marketing and proudly sport their headband made of a newspaper rubber band or similar. Their art is perfected when, despite the 'No junk mail or free newspapers' sign on the letterbox, they are able to deliver the paper silently with a simple flick of the wrist while leaving no shadow on the door mat. It is the only way I can think that they get there.
Putting this wild thought to one side as I sat on the tram on my way to work (no car so kudos to me on the GW front) I was flicking through the various reports related to the unusual weather that is being experienced here. The front page had a big photo of 'De schoonste stranden van Nederland 2007' (apparently it is NOT Zandvoort on Zee). Someone correct me on this one, but the beach cannot be seen as it is a solid mass of varying degrees of cellulite and beer guts. The report highlights the fact that this is a good beach if you want a good dose of 'eczeem' or (my personal favourite) 'darmklatchen'. Check the latter out on Altavista Babel Fish...
Understand that for the sun to shine in the Netherlands is almost akin to the Second Coming or similar. The novelty of this would appear to be wearing off as I heard one woman complaining that it was too warm at 23C. You instinctively have an umbrella to hand and rain coats are top fashion items. For those who took long Easter vacations to Spain they encountered the equally unusual extended cold and rain that has been the bane of our roof terrace garden. Only recently has the weather improved in Spain although this week has been one of rain showers which have resulted in my better half coming down with a cold.
Back to the newspaper though. Inside there was an article about what you can do as an individual to improve your own personal carbon rating. The top saving can be made by using 'green' gas (not American petrol) at 23%. Not flying 15%. 'Green' electricity is 14%. This would be good for me but for the fact that I fly, I rent my apartment and have no control over the source of my electricity and no gas. So, perhaps I can save by recycling and sorting out the plastics from the paper etc... Nope. This has a rating of 0% as you have already used the plastic and paper (thanks ninjas) and there are carbon costs associated with the whole recovery and recycling processes. You CAN save by bitching to your local supermarkets/shops about the excessive and unnecessary packaging that they have taken to utilising or simply do what I do and remove it in the store and leave it behind. Maybe if you are reading this and you work in a store can explain to me why on earth (for example) it is necessary at all to shrink wrap a carrot. That is correct. I bought a carrot (one of the large 'winter' types) and it was shrink wrapped. Or the mini tomatoes that come in a clear plastic box. Hey Mr. Supersavershopperhypercheap store owner... it is not needed or wanted.
The simplest ways of making savings are the small ones:
1. Energy efficient bulbs - 1%%
2. Switching things from standby to off - 1.5% (that is also 1.5% off your power bill too)
3. Hybrid car - 4%
4. Solar water heating - 2.3%
The list goes on. However, one of THE best ways to be carbon efficient is... to follow a strict vegetarian diet. All of that methane that the cows BELCH would not be released. It got me thinking that perhaps this could be trapped... what a great invention that would be. The alternative would be to attach a similar device to humans. With so many of us, just our physical presence in terms of latent heat and the gases we release is a direct source of GW. That is without the other impact we have with our individual and collective activities.
On a final note, you can save 3% of your emissions quota by just reducing meat consumption by 50% and also not drinking alcohol or coffee. Something that I would find difficult to do. Alternatively, we could all fit adapted models of the cow methane devices. For some people it would be a benefit.
Competition Update
I have laboured through the many entries and have narrowed it down to the last five. This has been TOUGH going and some entries have made it in and out of the long-short list several times. I will update you soon once I get a good second opinion from my better half.
Maybe it is just me but....
This is soooooooooo... the politically incorrect word escapes me right at the moment.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Mobile Phone Tracking via GPS
I think that this advancement in mobile phone technology is most impressive but one you would not one too many people to know about.
Here.
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