We heard of Pavegen, now it's a solar powered bike-path

A recent two-day Melbourne event, All-Energy Australia 2014, featured a talk by the founder and CEO of Britain’s Pavegen, Laurence Kemball-Cook.

Laurence brought to the expo news about his company’s development of an exciting concept through which electrical power is created simply by walking on tiles.

The tile-concept has been used as a trial on a soccer field where the running of the players helped generate power to charge batteries that ran the field’s lighting at night.

Pavegen’s tiles had been used to power parts of a London railway station during the 2012 city’s Olympic Games and they had been used on parts of London roadways, particularly on traffic control features such as speed humps.

And now the ABC tells us that a variation on the theme is being used to create a solar powered bike path in the Netherlands.

The story headed: “The Netherlands unveils world's first solar bicycle path” tells readers that the so-called SolaRoad bike path is made of concrete modules each measuring 2.5 by 3.5 metres, embedded with solar panels covered in tempered glass.

Carnival-like atmosphere denies real reason for exhibition/conference

The carnival-like atmosphere denied its reason.

All-Energy Australia 2014 was at base about mitigating climate change, but a walk through is associated expo told a wholly different story.

The Industrial Revolution and the legacy is has bequeathed humanity has proceeded unabated and that was obvious amid the plethora of expo product displays.

Climate change is real, and pressing, and yet that reality appears to have been dispatched to another room.

Thoughts of Albert Einstein’s comment that “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them," were unavoidable as the sweep of 21^st century technology left little room for alternate ideas.

Intoxicated by the idea that technology will make the world habitable for humans we remain mesmerized by that chimera and so intellectually unable to see that the solution lies in social and structural change, rather than in our inventions.

No, that is incorrect for almost instinctively we know what we must do, but it is a change of such dimension that we dare not speak its name.



This rather plush display was about LED
lighting at the All-Energy Australia 2014 expo.

Yes, we simply need to consume vastly less (not something being encouraged at the Melbourne energy expo); live in a constrained way; significantly cut our energy use in every way; and live in a “10-minute world” – that is everything important to daily living is within a 10-minute walk/cycling distance. Those ideas were not apparent on the expo floor.

be an unspoken agreement that all was needed, was to take some advice from the top floor and then after spending enthusiastically at the expo, the energy troubles facing humanity would just evaporate. They won’.t

The issue is how we live, but it was an issue not really addressed at All-Energy Australia, and until we have the courage to honestly consider that behaviour, a behaviour exemplified at the conference, our trajectory will not change.

Beneath the Wisteria on the move

Beneath the Wisteria will be held this Saturday, October 19, at 11:30am.

We will gather, on this occasion beneath and umbrella at the Shepparton Show Me Expo at the Shepparton Showgrounds.

The actual gathering itself is free, but as we are within the confines of the expo, each of us will be required to pay a $10 entrance fee.

Sadly agreement to gather at the expo had been reached before the charge became apparent, but it was agreed that being at the expo was an excellent opportunity to reach a different array of people.

The topic for Saturday will be “Private wants and public needs”; something that has many applications, among them private vehicles compared to public transport and the private desire to shape your land, such as removing all the trees, with no regard for the public need of those same trees.

Fortunately the organizers of the expo will arrange for the umbrella and at least 20 chairs, ending the need for us to bring along our own folding chairs.

The umbrella and chairs will be arranged just outside the large building at the eastern end of the showgrounds, adjacent to Archer Street.

Any questions can be directed to the convenor, Robert McLean, on 0400 502 199.

Expo can help show the way to a secure future

Farming, depending on how it’s approached, can rescue or condemn us to somewhat difficult times.

Activities engaged in by farmers, or by their industrialized counterparts who claim to be farmers, but which are little more than corporations that desire nothing but financial wealth, play key roles in worsening or improving our climate.

Alternatives open to the farming sector can be seen over three days at the Seymour Alternative Farming Expo that begins on Friday, February 17.

The expo is an outdoor supermarket for leading edge farm machinery, products and services from Australia and around the world and showcases Australia's unique engineered and technical solutions to the challenges of farming on one of the world's driest continents.

Technology at Seymour Expo focuses on advances in alternative livestock, cropping enterprises, small to medium farm machinery, implements and building systems (home and farm).

“The Expo,” the organizers say, “has a strong lifestyle focus including food growing and preparation, animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and backyard chooks.

“Regular event features include the Snake Show, Chainsaw Carving, Working Sheep Dogs, Country Cook Off and the Butchers Shop, Gourmet Food Marquee, The Owner Builder Lectures, Agricultural Society Lectures and the NMIT Ag Zone Lectures,” the say.
The expo is set up at Kings park in Tallarook St, Seymour.