The Harmony Institute Bookstore
Environment
When we realize our interconnectedness with everything in the Universe, it is logical that we become concerned about the Earth and the environment, and that we want to preserve it. This involves reducing pollution, and the use of renewable energy. These books contain valuable information on how to make it happen.
From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuelby Joshua Tickell
Any Diesel engine can run on vegetable oil, this book tells you how. In From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank, expert Joshua Tickell unveils the problems with our fossil fuel dependency and offers a surprisingly simple solution: cheap, clean-burning vegetable oil. From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank provides concise, easy to understand instructions for running a Diesel engine on vegetable oil. Three methods for running a Diesel engine on vegetable oil are described in detail, including how to make biodiesel from used cooking oil and how to run a Diesel engine on straight vegetable oil. From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank also includes instructions for building a biodiesel processor and growing and processing oilseed crops. With over 130 photographs, graphs, and diagrams, this book is the definitive guide to using vegetable oil as an alternative fuel. From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank contains all of the information you need to become independent of fossil fuels forever.
The Solar Living Sourcebookby the Real Goods Technical Staff
It is arguably a form of cultural insanity that industrial civilizations constantly bathed by free and clean energy from the sky (the sun and the wind) continue to depend upon dirty and limited chemical fuels that poison the people, their foods, and the land upon which they depend.
Happily, this comprehensive sourcebook provides those of you with foresight a way out of this madness; it includes products ranging from simple energy-saving devices such as compact fluorescent lights to home-scale energy-harvesting systems that utilize the sun, wind, and water to make electricity for people living "off-the-grid." Chapters focus on Independent Living, Land, Shelter, Harvesting Energy, Managing Energy Systems, Heating and Cooling, Water, Energy Conservation, the Nontoxic Home, Home and Market Gardening, Mobility and Electric Vehicles, and Livelihood and Learning. Committed to selling only products that promote environmental responsibility at an honest value, The Real Goods Trading Company is one of the fastest-growing companies in America. Many of the products listed in another of our favorites, the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog, can be purchased by mail from Real Goods. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
I was a contributor to the 7th and 8th editions of this book. Although it's been re-edited and updated a few times since then, a few of my articles remain. This book is probably the most comprehensive and useful source of information on renewable energy because it not only discusses the technology in theoretical terms, it also shows you the products that are available.
The Solar Electric House : Energy for the Environmentally-Responsive, Energy-Independent Homeby Steven J. Strong
I'm amazed at how many people still believe that "solar energy doesn't work." The truth is not only does it work, but thousands of people are using solar to create their own energy and live off the grid. This book shows examples and also demonstrates how to design your own system.
The Passive Solar Houseby James Kachadorian
Did you know that if you follow a few simple concepts when designing your house that you can cut your heating and cooling bills in half? Read this book and find out how.
Hydrogen : Its Production and Energy Usesby Committee on Science and Technology
There is growing awareness in the public and scientific communities that hydrogen may be a fuel with many useful applications in transporting and storing energy derived from solar, hydro, nuclear, or coal systems. For example, if hydrogen can be economically produced by using one of these plentiful supplies to cleave water, it is one of the most exciting fuels for the future – infinitely abundant, transportable, storagle, and completely clean, the only products of reaction being water and energy.
Can you imagine a car with ZERO pollution? Or how about instead of using coal, nuclear, and gas to power our country, using an energy source whose only byproduct is water vapor? The answer is hydrogen. It's the most abundant molecule in the universe and the more we learn to use it for energy, the closer we come to energy independence and sustainability.
Wind Energy Basics : A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systemsby Karen Perez, Paul Gipe
More coming soon!
= Gary Beckwith's comments
= This book was suggested by a Friend of the Harmony Institute.