Converting your home to solar energy is one of the best investments you will ever make. You’ve heard that installing solar power reduces the value of your home. Or that your roof will leak if you install solar power. You may even have heard that if solar panels are imperfectly installed, your house will burn down. Don’t believe any of it. They’re just not true.

Most people who are considering off grid living, are those who are wanting to escape the stress and busyness of city life, and enjoy the peace and tranquility of country living. Owning your own property, and providing for your needs with self-sufficiency projects sounds wonderful and fun, but what are the most important self-sufficiency/survival projects, and how do you accomplish them? That is where this book will help.

Are you prepared to face water emergencies head-on? When it comes to survival, having a reliable water source is absolutely crucial. Don't leave your family's safety to chance. Equip yourself with the essential techniques, tools, and tips provided in Water for Survival. Whether you find yourself in the wilderness, facing a natural disaster, or encountering unforeseen water scarcity, this comprehensive guide is your lifeline to ensure you have access to clean water and the peace of mind that comes with it.

Solar power is a great way to reduce your dependence on the grid and save money on your electricity bill, but it can be expensive and confusing to set up a solar system yourself. You might not know where to start or what kind of equipment you need. There are a lot of choices out there and it can be hard to know which one is right for you.

Regarded as one of the brightest young scientists of his generation, Lewis Dartnell proposes that the key to preserving civilization in an apocalyptic scenario is to provide a quickstart guide, adapted to cataclysmic circumstances. The Knowledge describes many of the modern technologies we employ, but first it explains the fundamentals upon which they are built. The Knowledge is a brilliantly original guide to the fundamentals of science and how it built our modern world as well as a thought experiment about the very idea of scientific knowledge itself.

One of the threats facing our nation is the use of an EMP weapon to cause a grid down scenario. There are many bad actors on the international stage capable of terrorism on a massive scale. The list is long, including Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria and now terrorist groups like ISIS. Each is capable of wreaking havoc in the US by shutting down our power grid through the use of an EMP, and enjoying the resulting chaos.

Hydroponics gardening is an ancient practice that has been around for thousands of years and is a great way to grow plants without the soil. It is becoming more prevalent in the modern day, thanks to the desire for many people to grow their own food in an organic system that is entirely natural. With practical information aimed at home DIYers, this book shows just how to build, plant, and maintain a lot of hydroponic systems, some of which cost just a few dollars to make.

Gardening is becoming popular among people who want to try a relatively low-cost and relaxing hobby at the same time. Greenhouse gardening seems to be becoming ever more popular among most of them. That may be due to the fact that managing a greenhouse garden is quite easy for an average individual. Greenhouses provides gardeners with the ability to properly control the conditions such as temperature and humidity within the greenhouse.

Although modern aquaponics is still fairly new, it was used in ancient times. Some of the first examples are thought to be islands where plants raised with water and other materials from the Chinampa canals. The islands, known as Chinampas, were mainly stationary, but some were movable. Also, rice was raised in Thailand and China in paddies, which also contained fish. Other Far Eastern countries also raised fish - swamp eels, regular and crucian carp, and Oriental loach - in rice paddies.

Gone are the days when farming had to be an elaborate, space-occupying and labor- or machine-intensive activity. These days, you can set up a fully self-sustaining garden or farm that has both animals and plants in one place, with all the components relying on each other in some way. If you are wondering how that is even possible, welcome to aquaponics - a form of farming which combines aquaculture (the raising of fish and other aquatic animals) with hydroponics (the growing of plants without soil) in one system that has unparalleled levels of efficiency.

Burn looks beyond renewable biomass or carbon capture energy systems to offer a bigger and bolder vision for the next phase of human progress, moving carbon from wasted sources into soils and agricultural systems to rebalance the carbon, nitrogen, and related cycles; enhance nutrient density in food, rebuild topsoil, and condition urban and agricultural lands to withstand flooding and drought; to cleanse water by carbon filtration and tropic cascades within the world’s rivers, oceans, and wetlands.

With the constant threat of oil shortages facing us and wanting to educate herself about possible alternatives, Gwyneth Cravens skeptically sets out to find for herself the truth about nuclear energy. Her conclusion: It is a totally viable and practical solution to global warming. She enlists the help of Rip Anderson, a leading scientist in the field of risk assessment, and with his tutelage, she travels the country, visiting uranium mines, enrichment centers, reactors, and waste sites.

Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream - the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions.

The near-meltdown of Fukushima, the upheavals in the Middle East, the BP oil rig explosion, and the looming reality of global warming have reminded the president and all U.S. citizens that nothing has more impact on our lives than the supply of and demand for energy. Its procurement dominates our economy and foreign policy more than any other factor. But the "energy question" is more confusing, contentious, and complicated than ever before.

New from best-selling author Mark Shepard! Written as a companion to the best seller Restoration Agriculture, this book will help farmers capture water in areas they want to and avoid having water flow immediately to the low point. The result? Less water expense, healthier crops and livestock, and less erosion...just to name a few.

Harvesting Rainwater for Your Homestead in 9 Days or Less is a complete step-by-step homesteader’s guide to the power of rainwater harvesting.This handbook draws on the brilliant seven-step QuickRain blueprint to help urban, rural, and off-grid homesteaders set up an above-ground, dry rainwater harvesting system with minimal time, budget, and hassle.

Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream - the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with engaging anecdotes. The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions.

Regarded as one of the brightest young scientists of his generation, Lewis Dartnell proposes that the key to preserving civilization in an apocalyptic scenario is to provide a quickstart guide, adapted to cataclysmic circumstances. The Knowledge describes many of the modern technologies we employ, but first it explains the fundamentals upon which they are built. The Knowledge is a brilliantly original guide to the fundamentals of science and how it built our modern world as well as a thought experiment about the very idea of scientific knowledge itself.

With real-world considerations in mind, disaster preparedness consultant David Black shows us how to stay alive when tragedy strikes. His step-by-step actions can help us make it safely through a variety of crises, from catastrophic weather to terrorism to civil unrest. Black presents tailor-made plans for individuals, businesses, organizations, small groups, and communities to follow, in all regions of the country and broken down by type of emergency and environment.

James Wesley Rawles, founder of survivalblog.com, shares with you everything you need to know to be ready for the worst. The book includes information on proper food storage and sanitation, gardening and livestock basics, investment strategies to protect your assets, medical advice, communication techniques, home security, and how to get "outta Dodge" when, in the parlance of the movement, "the shit hits the fan".

From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power

In his earlier bestselling nonfiction book, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, James Wesley, Rawles, outlined the foundations for survivalist living. Now, he details the tools needed to survive anything from a short-term disruption to a long-term, grid-down scenario. Rawles covers tools for every aspect of self sufficient living.

In our daily lives, we're surrounded by wires, pipes, utility poles, cell phone towers, and myriad other infrastructure that facilitates almost everything we do. Even though these systems are essential, when was the last time you gave them much thought? In On the Grid, Scott Huler sets out to understand all of the systems that shape our society - from transportation, water, and garbage to the Internet coming through our cable lines.

Ignition! is the story of the search for a rocket propellant which could be trusted to take man into space. This search was a hazardous enterprise carried out by rival labs who worked against the known laws of nature, with no guarantee of success or safety. John Drury Clark writes with irreverent and eyewitness immediacy about the development of the explosive fuels strong enough to negate the relentless restraints of gravity. The resulting volume is as much a memoir as a work of history, sharing a behind-the-scenes view of an enterprise that eventually took men to the moon.

The Upcycle is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Cradle to Cradle, the most consequential ecological manifesto of our time. Now, drawing on the lessons gained from 10 years of putting the cradle-to-cradle concept into practice with businesses, governments, and ordinary people, William McDonough and Michael Braungart envision the next step in the solution to our ecological crisis: We don't just reuse resources with greater effectiveness, we actually improve them as we use them.

Bill Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Bill Gates explains why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can avoid the most dire effects of the climate crisis. Gates says, "We can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."

Through an unforgettable cast of characters, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes explains how wood gave way to coal and coal made room for oil, as we now turn to natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable energy. Rhodes looks back on five centuries of progress, through such influential figures as Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, Benjamin Franklin, Herman Melville, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford.

In this provocative and optimistic rebuke to the catastrophists, Robert Bryce shows how innovation and the inexorable human desire to make things Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper is providing consumers with Cheaper and more abundant energy, Faster computing, Lighter vehicles, and myriad other goods. That same desire is fostering unprecedented prosperity, greater liberty, and yes, better environmental protection.

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake large enough to knock the earth from its axis sent a massive tsunami speeding toward the Japanese coast and the aging and vulnerable Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power reactors. Over the following weeks, the world watched in horror as a natural disaster became a man-made catastrophe: fail-safes failed, cooling systems shut down, nuclear rods melted.

When you turn on the tap or twist the cap, you might not give a second thought to where your drinking water comes from. But how it gets from the ground to your glass is far more complex than you might think. Is it safe to drink tap water? Should you feel guilty buying bottled water? Is your water vulnerable to terrorist attacks? With springs running dry and reservoirs emptying, where is your water going to come from in the future? In Drinking Water, Duke professor James Salzman shows how drinking water highlights the most pressing issues of our time.