Derek Markham

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Profile: Derek Markham is a father, writer, and social media butterfly based in New Mexico, with a passion for all things sustainable. For the last ten years, he's worked in the natural foods industry, most recently running a small co-operative grocery store. In his personal time, he loves to ride his bike (an 80s Trek singlespeed), go bouldering and slacklining, and he can usually be found in the middle of about ten different books. You can also find him on other sites including Twitter and Natural Papa.

Waste for Life: Alleviating Poverty with Waste

Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Derek Markham.

Turning trash into resources and helping to alleviate poverty at the same time is an audacious goal, but an organization called Waste for Life has taken it on. The group has been working in Lesotho, South Africa, and Argentina to transform discarded materials, chiefly non-recycled plastic waste, into both domestic products and building materials. [...]

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Kenya’s Biggest Geothermal Project Planned: 280 MW

Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by Derek Markham.

For a country which can only supply electricity to about 10 percent of its citizens, Kenya has been able to do rather well as far as using renewable energy for its power. Some 90 percent of Kenya’s electricity is produced with hydroelectric dams, which are susceptible to droughts, and its current geothermal plants only produce about 200 MW of power. But a new $1.3 billion, 280 MW, geothermal project could help the country meet more of the growing demand for electricity. [...]

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All Fuel External Combustion Engine to Challenge Land Steam Speed Record

Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by Derek Markham.

Imagine an engine that can run on any fuel, has lower emissions and cooler exhaust than an internal combustion engine, uses no oil, and is virtually noise-free. Imagine that it also has less parts to maintain, can develop 2.5 hp per cubic inch of displacement, and needs no transmission or oil pump system. Introducing the Cyclone: the steam engine soon to challenge the Land Steam Speed Record, which currently stands at 148.308 mph. [...]

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Home Wind Power for Half the Price, Over the Counter

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by Derek Markham.

For commercial renewable energy enthusiasts, there’s no shortage of eye candy among industrial sized wind installations, but for the homeowner, the closest they get to feeling like they’re really generating clean energy might be the ‘Powered by the Wind’ sticker they get from their local utility when purchasing the wind power option for electricity. But that could change very soon, because a major retail store, Ace Hardware, will soon be selling a very cool new home wind turbine at half the installed price of a traditional turbine. [...]

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Can Bio Coal Turn Coal Power Plants into Green Energy Producers?

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by Derek Markham.

Is it possible to turn coal power plants into renewable energy producers? According to the supporters of bio coal, the answer is yes – coal plants can burn bio coal, created from biomass, without retooling their storage, handling, or burning systems. [...]