Make children !

Translation from the French version of Star of the Sailor at https://etoiledumarin.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/faites-des-gosses/ .

When I hear French or Spanish telling me that they don't want children because "Bla bla bla, the crisis...", it makes me laugh out loud ! In Africa, the people are very poor, but they make children !

Children are positive, sincere, brave, full of energy... We need that freshness !

It's true that children are ignorant, but adults are all pirates and old are all zombies ! Well then, I accept my 6 years old mental age :-p .

It's better a void head than a head full of bullshit. It's up to you to fill it with your heart ;-) .

If you are an activist, instead of breaking your mind to have an argument with a fascist, make children ! They will be much more receptive :-D .

Don't do like in Idiocracy, where the intelligent couple waits eternally whereas the stupid jerks copulate like rabbits ! Find a kind person with who you will bind for a love for life, make children and give them the best education.

Behave like a responsible person ! Make children !

And if you are the super green of service, make 2 and give them the best !

I've published this article in the category Philosophy, on one side, because I am a strong defender of positivity and optimism, and on the other side, because it's much deeper than it looks !

I was 10 years old when the Pokemon went out. If you are part of this generation, just one click and welcome back.

What is the difference between old and ancient ?

It's a fact that the young have positive energy and the old have negative energy. However, old people are sometimes described as ancients, but I think there is a difference between that.

Look at the previous graph. On one side, the people who keep their positive energy up (I personnaly use energy drinks for that, but love is obviously the best) remain curious and accumulate experience. They are in a creative, ingenuous dynamics. On the other side, the people who lack positive energy tend to close themselves and lose experience. The first ones will become the ancients, the wises, whereas the second ones will become the old mad, the old.

I can't stand old people because they are mad, they don't listen to anything, they are fascist, racist, dirty, don't take care of their body, in other words, because they are evil.

I am interested in open-minded people, who are curious about all things of the world, the animals, the plants, the minerals, humans, societies, cultures, languages, music, painting... Those people are often more worth than the closed people, they are mentally healthier in my opinion.

If you want to become an ancient, you must remain curious all your life. As long as you keep your positive energy, you can become a wise person.

Coronavirus : we want freedom !

What's the meaning of keeping people closed in their house, with nothing interesting to do ?! We cannot meet people, we cannot kiss people, we cannot hug people... Who is the fucking bastard who invented the confinement ?!

We want freedom !

The coronavirus only threatens the weakest ! And Nature eliminates the weakest, making the population stronger. Who cares about seeing 13 % (my father says 1 or 2 %) of the oldest die, whereas it's time for them to do ? Whereas they are evil ?

Leave our youth free ! Let us make the revolution of love, to bring the human heat and the light we need now.

Sources of electrical energy : solar power

Solar electricity is clean and renewable. The Earth receives from the Sun more than 10,000 times the energy that humanity consumes. It makes solar electricity clean, renewable and abundant, not far from the ideal of an affordable, renewable and clean electricity.

I How solar electricity works
II Advantages and drawbacks of solar electricity

I How solar electricity works

Solar electricity comes from photovoltaic modules, that are mostly made with silicon.

Photovoltaic modules.

How do they produce electricity ?

They use the photovoltaic effect.

Photovoltaic effect = photoelectric effect + voltage

The photoelectric effect occurs in semi-conductors and transforms the photons, particles of light, into free electrons.

How then are the free electrons converted into electrical current ?

Silicon Si has the ability of being converted into a semiconductor with more or less electrons than Si. The lack of an electron is called a hole and allows movement of the electrical fluid.

PN junction figure. We can notice that at equilibrium, the free electrons of N (like negative, because the electron has a negative charge) and the holes from P (positive, because the hole has a positive charge), make a stable voltage, that will push the free electrons of Si into one way.

This is how a photovoltaic module works.

II Advantages and drawbacks of solar electricity

+ Renewable
+ Clean
+ Abundant
+ Cheap

Yes, I say cheap because today with global warming, we have a lot of sunny dry days, at least in Europe, and it's likely that solar electricity has become cheaper than coal or nuclear electricity.

Solar power is definetely the energy of the future, because hydraulic power is not enough for dense populations like today, but solar power is clean, renewable, abundant and available everywhere on the Earth. If CAES (Compressed Air Electrical Storage, a technology of electrical storage up to 85 % efficiency) is one day applied to tanks in houses, everyone will be able to store the excess of electrical energy of the summer to use it in the winter.

Sources of electricity : wind power

The wind is able to move things, like the branches of trees, fabric of boats, even more at high speeds. It comes from a difference of pressure in the air.

Let me introduce you to wind power. First, we will see how it works. Second, we will see the advantages and drawbacks of wind electricity.

I How a wind turbine works
II Advantages and drawbacks of wind electricity

I How a wind turbine works

The wind activates the wind turbine blades by a mechanism of forces.

The wind force F1 exerces a repell force F2, that produces another force F3 with F1 = F2 + F3. F3 makes the blade turn around the wheel.

The wheel turns and activates a gear box, that activate a generator, that makes electricity.

Sketch of the inside of a wind turbine.

Let's focus on the following formula :

p = 1/2 x ρ x S x v³ x C_p

In this formula,

• p is the power, in Watts, produced by the wind turbine ;
• ρ is the volumic mass of air ;
• S is the area of the wind turbine ;
• v is the speed of the wind turbine ;
• C_p is the coefficient of performance, a corrective parameter between 0 and 1.

We notice that the power produced by the wind turbine is proportional to v³. It means that the production of a wind turbine is highly sensitive to the speed of wind. If the wind goes 2 times faster, the production is 2 x 2 x 2, that is 8 times higher. If the wind goes 3 times faster, the production is 3 x 3 x 3, that is 27 times higher.

Classical Danish wind turbines.

Actually, the classical Danish wind turbines stop at high speeds. But it's possible, with flexible blades, to make wind turbines that work at high speeds.

In 1955, the CIAMO (Compagnie Industrielle des AéroMOteurs) made the FP5 and FP7 wind turbines, that work in cyclonic conditions. They were working from 3 m/s to 90 m/s. In my opinion, they made the most powerful wind turbines in the history of wind energy.

II Advantages and drawbacks of wind electricity

+ Renewable ;
+ Clean ;
- Produces enough only on mountain tops or sea coast ;
- Only works when there is wind.

I don't talk about the birds, 99 % of the time they avoid the blades, and only stupid birds die, it's not a problem to get rid of them.
I don't talk about the noise, it's likely the same as cars, which are largely accepted. I think it's possible to get used to it.

As a renewable source of energy, wind electricity is a solid alternative to depletable energies like fossil fuels or nuclear, which meet difficulties and high cost of damage in the long term. Fossil fuels burn the planet, which suffers from more droughts and a loss of food production, and the Fukushima catastrophe cost 210,000,000,000 $ of damage and ruined a country. On the contrary, renewable energies like wind electricity are long-term efficient, and are compatible with sustainable development :-) .

Sources of electrical energy : hydraulic power

The essence of water is love. This is why hydraulic power has so many advantages.

Historically, the first electrical powerplants were made with hydraulic. They are the base of the electrical network as they are able to store and release electrical energy.

First, I will explain you how works a hydraulic powerplant. Then, I will explain you the advantages and drawbacks of this source of energy.

I How a hydraulic powerplant works
II Advantages and drawbacks of hydraulic powerplants

I How a hydraulic powerplant works

The principle is to take a relief in the moutains, to build a wall a block the water so that rises a lake with a much higher pressure. If the relief doesn't exist, it's possible to make it by "mountainization", a new technology I have imagined which consists of digging a lake to make a mountain.

A hydraulic dam retaining water and making a lake, offering higher pressure at the bottom.

The pressure offered by the depth of the lake is a source of power for water turbines, because when a part of the water is released from the dam, the water flows faster and it gives higher kinetic energy.

Kinetic energy of a fluid equals

1/2 x ρ x v²

where ρ is the volumic mass of the fluid and v the speed of the fluid.

High speed water activates the turbines with a high power.

After, the turbine activates a generator, that makes electricity.

According to Bernoulli's law, the decrease of pressure in the fluid means a rise in speed. This is why dams offer a lot of electrical power, up to 10-20 GW for big dams like Itaipu or Three Gorges. Those powerplants, with their huge lake, are the most powerful electrical powerplants in the world.

It's possible, with the basin up and the basin down, to store electrical energy up to 85 % efficiency and at a large scale. The PSP (Pumping Storage Powerplants) consist of two basins, one up and one down. When electrical energy is in excess, we pump the water up to have more pressure. When electrical energy is missing, we let the water flow down to activate the turbines, that will activate a generator, that will make electricity.

Okinawa's PSP.

Luddington PSP, made with an artificial relief, moutainization.

What about fish migration ?

It's possible to make another river with a fish ladder, to allow the fish like salmon to move up and make their migration.

A fish ladder.

II Advantages and drawbacks of hydraulic powerplants

+ Cheapest electrical energy (even for water wheels)
+ Renewable source of electricity
+ Clean source of electricity
+ Abundant source of energy
+ Possibility to store and release electrical energy with PSP
+ Creates a lake
- Destroys the land

In the end, even though a part of the land is sacrificed, hydraulic power offers more advantages than drawbacks.

Sources of electrical energy : presentation

Hi everyone,

I wanted to make a series of articles about the advantages and drawbacks of all sources of electricity, and also explain you how it works. Today I have a master in solar power, so it's a subject I know quite well :-) .

The sources of electricity I will talk about will be :

• Hydraulic electricity
• Wind electricity
• Solar electricity
• Geothermal electricity
• Biomass electricity
• Fossil fuels electricity
• Nuclear electricity

I will not talk about magnetic energy and nuclear fusion, because those technologies don't work.

I wish you a nice reading.

Corentin CHAROUSSET

Autonomous building : conclusion

I have not made my autonomous house yet. But one thing is sure : this is hard. The literature asserts that we are never prepared enough, and that the human side is more important than the technical one.

An autonomous house is made together, with your family, with your friends, with your neighbors. We are all tired from urban life : loneliness in the crowd, everyday stress, sadness of the grey architecture... At some point, you need to be brave and move to the green countryside.

According to The autonomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE, 1975, Universe books :

"The autonomous house is not simply a romantic vision of "back to the land", with life assuming a rural pace and every person dependent upon himself or herself and the immediate environment for survival. Instead, it shows a different direction for society to take.".

Like an adventure, an autonomous house is a spiritual quest. You don't know what you are looking for. Is it love ? Paradise ? Nature ? Wilderness ? Or just yourself ?

You can make it. Millions of humans have built their home themselves in the past. By doing so, you will become a true human.

Bibliography :

• Handbook of mathematical functions, Abramowitz et al. : Tired of calculating functions or integrals ? This book is for you. There are all the results of the functions and integrals you can imagine. Like a calculator, it's a good mathematical tool ;
• Kleine grüne Archen, Claudia LORENZ-LADENER : The greenhouse dealt in depth, with a lot of technical details and beautiful pictures ;
• Petit manuel de l'habitat bio-climatique, François TANGUAY : A Quebecker book about green architecture. Very complete, documenting various fields : photovoltaic, bathroom, straw insulation, atmosphere of the house... Published in 1988, the standards remain higher than today's urbanism. This book is in my heart because it's sincere ;
• The autonomomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE : the first historical book to consider autonomous building as a field. Published in 1975, this book is actually timeless, and could be considered today as visionary.

Autonomous building : the electrical system

The Electricity Fairy has given us the light. Both material light, that makes us feel secure in the night, and the psychic light, the knowledge of the Internet that crosses borders.

The Internet was a huge technological revolution. It's considered as one of the major technological revolutions, after writing and agriculture.

The Internet was first described as a source of information. It has reached its golden age in 2006. After this time, it has slowly been replaced by stupid TV uses, and from 2019, the Internet has become a system of oppression, with, on one side, the bad people who spy on people's lives and want to sell their shit, and on the other side, the stupid people who tell about their lives and buy this shit. Good people like me are an old minority, and maybe in the future we will find our happiness in the Wood Wide Web.

Besides, it seems obvious that some countries cannot get on well with each other, leading to a divergence of several informatic networks. This can already be seen in dictatorships, that do not allow access to the network of "democratic" countries.

All children are curious, so there is hope ! Children are positive, sincere, brave, full of energy, logical... They have everything, except experience ! When the elders give their experience to the children and when the children give their youth to the elders, we have the best exchange between old and young ! :-)

We shall make electricity with the energies of the sky : the water, the sun, and the wind. They are all clean and renewable.

1- Source

1) Water

Water is the cheapest way to make electricity. Let's look at some data from Global Chance ¹Pour la science (French magazine), April 2012, pp. 32-33.

• Hydraulic electricity : 30 €/MWh ;
• Nuclear electricity : 49 €/MWh ;
• Fossil electricity : 60 €/MWh ;
• Earth wind electricity : 80 €/MWh ;
• Biomass electricity : 150 €/MWh ;
• Ocean wind electricity : 180 €/MWh ;
• Photovoltaic electricity : 300 €/MWh.

From this data, hydro-electricity appears as the cheapest.

Fossil and nuclear electricity are not compatible with autonomous building.

We could think that hydro-electricity is cheap only in large dams that destroy the territory. It's not the case.

In Auvergne, the Brauchli micro-hydraulic powerplants ²http://www.hydro-ber.com/about cumulate 539 kW of electricity, for an investment of 25,000 €. Your autonomous house will need 200 W of electricity if you listen to my tips. It would mean an investment of 11 $ (!) if just proportional.

You get it, water electricity is cheap, even at a small scale. If you settle close to a river and manage to protect your house from floods, you are making a nice choice for both the hydraulic and the electricity systems.

The water makes the water wheel rotate, that makes the generator rotate, that makes the cheapest electricity. And the fishes have their space ! :-)

2) Sun

The Earth receives from sunlight more than 10,000 times the energy that humanity consumes ³http://www.photovoltaique.info/-Le-soleil-source-d-energie-.html. In sunny countries, solar electricity has become cheaper than conventional electricity.

If you don't make hydro-electricity, look at the local meteorological data. There's a lot of sun, regularly throughout the year ? Make solar electricity. There's a lot of wind, regularly throughout the year ? Make wind electricity.

The best way to make electricity from the Sun is photovoltaic.

Photovoltaic modules. They transform sunlight into electricity.

Classical photovoltaic is made of silicon. They can be monocrystalline, polycristalline, or amorphous.

In terms of quality, monocrystalline > polycrystalline > amorphous. Monocrystalline is the best. It has the biggest crystals, allowing more resistance and better efficiency.

If you are interested in price, please consider cadmium-telluride (CdTe) technology. CdTe photovoltaic modules offer the cheapest solar electricity. However, cadmium is a hazard for chemists, tellurium is very rare, and you will need a higher surface.

How much photovoltaic area do you need ? It's given by the formula

A= 1.6 (P/η) cos L

where

• A is the area you need. You can express it in m² ;
• 1.6 is an sizing factor you need to balance the losses (20 % losses with aging, 15 % losses from temperature, 5 % losses from the inverter) ;
• P is your annual mean electrical consumption.  You can express it in Watts. We are talking about the power, the energy flow in Watts, not about the static energy in Joules, Calories or kWh ;
• I is the annual mean horizontal irradiance. It's the average power of sunlight received by a horizontal area. You can express it in W/m² ;

η is the efficiency of your PV modules. It can be 21 % for a good monocrystalline system, 11 % for a CdTe system ;
cos L is an annual bonus you earn by placing your modules not horizontally, but at the right angle. If you live at 43° N, you have to place them 43° from the horizontal towards the South. It's called the latitude rule.

Think about the roof. On one side, photovoltaic needs to catch the most sunlight, on the other side, photothermic needs to avoid overheating in summer. Therefore, they have different angle requirements.

How to find the efficiency ? They just show the peak power !

... Yes, that's a common problem -_- . The peak power is the power you would get with 1000 W/m² of laboratory AM1,5 simulated sunlight at 25 °C  ⁴Installations photovoltaïques, Labouret and Villoz, Dunod, 2012, p. 51, that is, in other words, the maximum power !

You will just not have the peak power. We should rather talk about mean power, based on the local meteorology, the efficiency, and the surface.

The lifetime is very important. If your system lasts 2 times longer, your electricity costs 2 times less. Good engineers can improve it, but a big hail can destroy it anytime. You need to understand that meteorology is fundamental in autonomous building.

3) Wind

Wind power is a complement to solar power. Why ? Because there is more sun in summer, and more wind in winter. According to  ⁵L'énergie éolienne, Rapin and Noël, Dunod, 2014, p. 241, there are faster winds in France in winter.

First, ask yourself. Is the location windy enough ? The coast is windy, with regular winds. A hilltop is also windy, with gusts.

As you can see in this diagram from The autonomous house, choosing a hilltop instead of a plain, can increase by more than 80 % the wind speed, offering a bonus of more than 480 % in power. Yes, you can be the king of the mountain.

Wait a minute ?! A bonus of 80 % in speed giving a bonus of 480 % in power ? Yes, and I'll explain you why.

The power generated by a wind turbine is determined by the formula ⁶Le tour du monde des énergies, JC Lattès, 2009, p. 147.

P=(1/2) ρ A x v³ x C_p

where

• P is the power generated ;
• ρ is the density of the fluid ;
• A is the area of the blades ;
• v is the speed of the wind ;
• C_p is a coefficient of performance depending on the machine.

You see the v³ term ? This one is crucial. It means that the power is very sensitive to the speed of the wind.
For example, if you multiply the speed by 2, you multiply the power by 2³, that is 8. If you multiply the speed by 3, you multiply the power by 3³, that is 27.

Today, the classical wind turbines are Danish. They are made with thin blades, in order to start at slow winds. But they are made with three blades, in order to get the maximum coefficient of performance ⁷L'énergie éolienne, Rapin and Noël, Dunod, 2014, p. 116.

Classical Danish wind turbines.
But I guess that two blades are actually more performant to catch fast winds. Why ? Look at the figure below.

Two blades reach a nice coefficient of performance, nearly the best. And it happens at higher specific speeds, which seem likely to the wind speeds in the literature. Maybe two blades can produce more power, catching the peaks of fast winds.

It's impossible to make a wind turbine that works at fast speeds.

(Really ?)

Actually, the CIAMO (Compagnie Industrielle des AéroMOteurs), founded in 1955, went into adventure. They have developed the FP5 and FP7 wind turbines, designed to work in cyclonic conditions. They were working from 3 m/s to 90 m/s ⁸L'énergie éolienne, Rapin and Noël, Dunod, 2014, p. 52. In my opinion, they have made the most powerful system of history of wind power.

Most garden wind turbines are used in wind-poor places, or undersized. I suggest you invest in a large Danish system. Before you pay, ask to the manufacturer for the curve of power ouput depending on wind speed, and find out the local annual mean speed of the wind. Read the graphic and see if your system is undersized or oversized. Ask them.

Manufacturers of wind turbines should always give this power curve. Remember the power of a wind turbine always depends on the wind speed.

Let's talk about the noise. Actually, wind turbines are like women : the more they turn, the better !
Seriously. In the city of Freiburg in Germany, there's a hill called Rosskopf, in the East, that has four wind turbines. They turn slowly, in order to avoid hurting the bats. I went there, and they were making less noise than the song of the birds in the forest.

You can avoid blackout thanks to the storage of electrical energy.

2- Storage

If you store the excess of production, and use it in time of need, then you will know no intermittence.

Actually, we can store electrical energy. This can be done by transforming electricity into another form of energy, then transform it again into electricity. A part of the energy will be lost.

The superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) has 95 % efficiency, however, it can be used only at extremely cold temperatures.
The pumped-storage powerplant (PSP), a hydraulic system, can store electrical energy with up to 85 % efficiency. However, this system doesn't suit for an autonomous house.
The compressed air energy storage system (CAES) allows a similar efficiency, and this could be done with a tank in your garden ⁹Xavier PY, lessons of thermal storage, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 2016.

The most common system is the batteries.

Lead batteries are the ones used for off-grid electricity systems, because we can measure their state of charge.

The batteries allow you to store electricity for 1 day, maybe 1 week. They are too expensive for an annual storage. If you want an annual storage, then you have to ask to the companies of CAES to do it for your household.

3- Consumption
The electricity consumption can be reduced without decreasing the standard of life.

How ?

First, you should get rid of all electrical machines you don't need. You can put your TV to the waste center, an autonomous house doesn't need it. It would be like entering a church with a bikini : you will not stay long.

Second, you can make a magic trick by separating the electrical and the thermal system. If you do so, you divide your electricity consumption by 6 !

As you can see from this diagram, 84 % of the consumption of electricity in a household in France comes from electrical heating. A huge lack of energy efficiency that needs a revolution : thinking thermics for itself.

Third, prefer low consumption devices, like LED lamps, that consume 1-5 W instead of the 60 W of incandescent lamps.

Fourth, switch off the systems you don't use, naturally.

Fifth, invite the fairies in your garden. What do I mean ?

Solar lanterns catch the light from the Sun during the day and release light during the night. They exist in sedentary and nomad models, and also in rainbow lights !

Autonomous building : the agriculture system

Peasant is the most useful job. Like leader or architect, this is a general job. In poor countries, peasants are good-for-everything in the countryside environment. They build their own house without an architect, but thanks to the solidarity of family, neighbors and friends.

Peasant is a very physical job. For this reason, it has often been regarded a negative way, pushing them into negativity. On the contrary, I think it should invite us to even more respect.

In Africa, when animals drink in a river, nobody kills nobody. But when they go in the savannah, predators will eat their prey (the worst being dry desert). Polemic texts are always the longest, this is why this introduction is so long. Holy shit.

Buddha was shocked to discover the relationship between eater and eaten, proving that reality was not perfect. I wish deep inside me that the Universe were only filled with love !

I shall not write about the meat systems, because this text is addressed to a green audience. I shall neither write about the wild systems, because they belong to a higher level.

I shall write about the agriculture system. And it has to be organic, naturally.

Why ?

On one side, industrial agriculture has a better individual efficiency. However, industrial farmers are always fucked by the system, because they lose money.
Industrial farmers have debts, even if they do their best. The system fucks them every day. There have been a lot of suicides in India, because farmers could not make both ends meet. An Indian farmer was the winner of all industrial agriculture competitions, but he said : "I was a loser.". Because he was losing money. He has solved this problem by going into organic agriculture ¹Solutions locales pour un désordre global, Coline SERREAU, 2010.
Industrial agriculture abuses of pesticides, that kill the microscopic creatures that naturally fertilize the soil. Then it abuses fertilizers. They are made with petroleum. Once petroleum is finished (around 2050), game over ²Solutions locales pour un désordre global, Coline SERREAU, 2010. They will just fall in their own trap.

On the other side, organic agriculture has a better surface efficiency ³Demain (movie), Cyril DION and Mélanie LAURENT, 2015. It suits well to autonomous living. You need to understand that the world is made of affinity systems. The city and the countryside are opposite systems, each one with its own affinities.

Organic agriculture is the only one that is sustainable.

It will be hard to replace money by natural resources. However, you will eventually win. Because the crisis will hit stronger in the city. Geronimo, a native American chief, said :

"Only when the last tree will be cut down, only when the last animal will be killed, only when the last fish will be caught, only when the last river will be poisoned, only then will you know that money cannot be eaten.".

Our ancestors honored the work of the earth, of female essence, and the rain from the sky, of male essence. They were impressed by the abundance and the fertility of their agriculture work, if successful. They were all doing organic agriculture.

In my opinion, the part about autonomous agriculture is the one that deserves the most development. I shall write only about very basic stuff.

Hang on. Organic agriculture is hard word. But this is the price you pay for your freedom.

1- Seeds

Wild seeds are a natural treasure. Imagine. 1 seed grows a plant that makes 10 seeds. The next generation, these 10 seeds make 100 seeds. The next generation, these 100 seeds make 1,000 seeds. This is an explosion of fertility.

Let's do some math. Let r (like ratio) be the mean production of seeds in 1 generation by 1 seed. Let n be the number of generations. Let s_n be the number of seeds at n.

s_n = s₀ x rⁿ.

This is a geometrical sequence.

Actually, such a thing only occurs in free space, with an infinity of resources, without any competition.

GMO seeds make no seed the next generation. For this reason, industrial farmers always have to buy them to the labs. You will not fall in that trap.

Organic seeds are fertile. They cost little money, and produce a lot. One of the best investment you can make in your life.

2 - Fertilizer

The best fertilizer is not the one you expect. It's made with urine and excrements.

And it doesn't stink ! You just need to add sawdust.

The most modern toilets are actually compost toilets.
They are dry, in order to save water ²Construire des toilettes sèches à compost, Patricia BEUCHER, Ulmer, 2017, p. 10, but also to avoid polluting the water downstream.
They separate excrements and urine. When excrements are mixed with sawdust, there is no bad smell, but a slow reaction that makes compost, a natural fertilizer. About urine, when mixed with water, you have an efficient fertilizer ³Construire des toilettes sèches à compost, Patricia BEUCHER, Ulmer, 2017, p. 104. This fertilizer is so powerful that you should use it only on a well grown plant, otherwise it will destroy it. Besides, pure urine is a natural herbicide ⁴Construire des toilettes sèches à compost, Patricia BEUCHER, Ulmer, 2017, p. 103.

When farmers get autonomous in seeds and fertilizers, things become much easier ⁴Solutions locales pour un désordre global, Coline SERREAU, 2010.

3 - Space and time

1) Space

Agroforestry is an advanced form of organic agriculture. It's based on the idea of mixing trees with other cultures. The trees produce leaves that fertilize the soil. I suggest you avoid conifers because they attract bad species like pine processionary, but also because they play a selfish game, acidifying the soil with a kind of slime, allowing no tree except conifers.

The idea is to use the maximum of space-time. Mixing small cultures like potatoes, medium cultures like beans, and tall cultures like trees, takes fully advantage of the space.

Different species should be mixed, to put natural barriers to predators. Organic agriculture prefers the harmony of polyculture, with no predator proliferation, to the uniformity of monoculture, offering free space to a specific predator and requiring the use of pesticides.

Do you understand ?

I am a scientist, I know things are clearer with a good figure :-) .

Monoculture offers a free space for your crop's predators. They will proliferate, and eventually, you have to use pesticides, otherwise they eat everything.

Polyculture makes a diversity of crops, and uses refined knowledge to make them solidary. In every case, the diversity will put natural barriers to your crops' predators and offer little losses, without pesticides.

You also need to understand that melliferous flowers ARE productive crops. They contribute to attract bees, butterflies, that will pollinate your crops and help them to fully develop. Not roses, because pollinating insects prefer simple flowers ⁵Le petit Larousse des Abeilles & de l'apiculture, Fergus CHADWICK et al., Larousse, 2016, p. 79.

If you combine agroforestry with space optimization, polyculture, melliferous flowers and irrigation, you can get the following geometrical organization.

An agroforestry architecture centered on the tree. The tree fertilizes the soil with its leaves every fall. The tall tree, the medium plants on poles and the small plants use all the levels of the space. The diversity of crops limits the predation on your crops, without pesticides. The melliferous flowers around and the pool of water in the center attract pollinating insects all over the crop. On one side is the sun, on the other side is the irrigation system.

The best use of space combines with the best use of time.

2) Time

Sometimes we are tempted to let Nature do. Actually, the plants grow on their own, so do we really need to work so much ? If all plants of the garden are replaced by organic productive plants, is most of the work done ?

There should never be naked soil on your garden. Each crop, once harvested, should be replaced by a new one.

For example, first, you make carrots. Then, you make potatoes. Then, you make cabbage. This is possible within one year.

Remember to store resources to pass the winter.

This article has been published thanks to the Internet. If you want to have the Internet, you need an electricity system.

Autonomous building : the thermal system

Heat is more important than light. The creatures of the abyss live without light, but close to volcanic chimneys. The development of the embryo starts by the heart, the brain comes after. It follows a path on the tree of life, a path of the evolution.

What's the use of having a lot of knowledge, if you lack love ? Cruel experiments have shown that a baby raised without affection is condemned to die.

It has been proven that the hotter the air, the faster the heart rate. The traveller who has gone in hot and cold countries knows it from experience. People in hot countries are hot, people in cold countries are cold. Without a surprise, it has been proved that sexual arousal is associated with fast heart rate.

It's natural you wish the human heat of somebody else in your house. Living in family, or in community, makes you warm. Abandoning the cold, distant relationship of telecoms, allows you to experience the neben-leben, the human heat of a real person.

The thermal system is a question for the air, for the water, and for cooking. Now, let's see how to get the nice temperature.

1- Air

Life only exists between 0 °C and 60 °C, where water is liquid. The temperature of the human body is 37 °C, but we feel comfortable around 20 °C for the air.

There are several techniques to reach the ideal temperature.

1) Thermal insulation

1) Thermal insulation

Why is thermal insulation so important ? Because a well insulated building consumes up to 10 times less heat than a bad insulated building ¹Changeons d'énergies, Association Négawatt, Actes Sud, 2013, p. 45.

Industrial buildings were made thin, in order to save money. We noticed then that they needed renovation, because they were bad insulated. In the past, people used to make houses with thick stone walls, that were well insulated from the beginning ²Xavier PY, lessons of thermal storage, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 2016.

A traditional stone house with a thick wall.

It's cheaper to build than to renovate, especially if you want the house of your dreams. A good tabula rasa allows you a great freedom. I suggest you build your autonomous house from scratch.

There are plenty of thermal insulating materials. But their effectiveness are similar, and differ from 1 or 2 cm of thickness. The first criterion will be the price ³Régis OLIVÈS, lessons of sustainable development, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 2016.

Straw is cheap and natural. I suggest you go into straw, or soil.

2) Termite mound system

Biomimicry is the science that imitates nature to make new technologies. Social insects are a good inspiration in terms of efficiency. Termites are perfectionist builders, making towers up to 10 m high. That would be a 2 km high skyscraper for us.

The advantages of the termite mound system are :

• Cheaper construction, because you dig the local soil and build your house with it ;
• Cool air in the summer, mild air in the winter. Actually, it takes the air from the underground that is always at the annual mean temperature of the surface ⁴According to Claudia LORENZ-LADENER in Construire une serre, Ulmer, 2013, p. 36, at 12 m underground, the temperature equals the annual mean of the surface. ;
• The solar chimney ⁵https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar\_chimney and the badgir ⁶https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher spontaneously take the air from the underground, offering a natural ventilation.

The air flowing horizontally outside sucks the air from the underground by Venturi effect. Besides, the sunlight warms the tower, that warms the air of the chimney, and goes up with the air from the underground.

This system suits best with hot countries, because the annual mean temperature is comfortable.

The termites are social insects, who have evolved into a model of efficiency. Some people will try to sell you expensive, electrical air conditioning systems. You are intelligent. Don't buy their shit.

Remember : the more ecological the house, the cheaper it is ⁷Petit manuel de l'habitat bioclimatique, François TANGUAY, Éditions de Mortagne, 1988, p. 22. Why ? Because ecology is the natural economy ⁸Petit manuel de l'habitat bioclimatique, François TANGUAY, Éditions de Mortagne, 1988, p. 60. When you replace ego by eco, you save a lot of money :-) .

3) Black wall

In cold countries, we want to catch the most sunlight as possible. Therefore, painting an outside house wall in black offers more heat in the house.

A house in Norway with a black wall.

4) White wall

On the other side, in hot countries, we want to reject sunlight to make the inside cool. Therefore, painting an outside house wall in white offers more coolness in the house.

A church in Santorini with a white wall.

5) Solar glass

Solar glass and solar mask are part of what is known as passive architecture. It corresponds to zero energy buildings.

Active architecture is a process of production. It corresponds to plus energy buildings, that produce more energy than they consume.

I think that plus energy buildings are superior to zero energy buildings. However, passive architecture offers good sense tips that may be forgotten in a debauchery of energy. Therefore, we should use both the technologies of active and passive architecture.

A picture window allows sunlight to enter your house, and provides a significant amount of heat. Ancient Romans commonly used them in their \textit{thermae} to take a hot bath. You can do it with your bathroom.

 

A picture window.

The window can be made of glass, or plexiglas. Plexiglas is cheaper, more resistant, but also uglier, and tends to yellowish with UV unless treated. If you want aesthetic, make the choice of glass. In both cases, the materials need to be double-glazed, and the joints must be carefully made in order to avoid thermal losses.

6) Solar mask

When the Sun gets close to the zenith, the house may overheat. This can be avoided with a solar mask.

The Heliodome is made such a way that shadow occurs in summer, whereas sunshine is welcome in winter.

The idea is to get shadow in summer, and sunshine in winter. A roof, leaf trees, can be solar masks.

7) Thermal storage

When sunset arrives, the time of the night has come. It's becoming colder. Have you stored the heat from the previous day ? You can do it thanks to two natural materials : stone and water.

It's easy to find stone and water in the countryside.

A floor, a wall made of stone, can store the heat. The darker the stone, the more efficient the thermal storage.

Another method is to use water. Water is the best material for thermics. Historically used in steam machines, water remains a sure value as far as heat is concerned.

On a shelf, exposed to the sun, put large water bottles. Paint them in black, in order to catch the calories. Add salt, this is an efficient antifreeze. Water is more efficient than brick to store heat ⁸Construire une serre, Claudia LORENZ-LADENER, Ulmer, 2013, p. 17.

8) Wood

Wood is a renewable source of energy. Burning wood releases CO₂, but a new tree absorbs this CO₂. Therefore,

The forests are growing. <=> CO₂ in the atmosphere is decreasing.

, even if wood is burnt.

Wood is the fuel of 3/4 of humanity ⁹Petit manuel de l'habitat bioclimatique, François TANGUAY, Éditions de Mortagne, 1988, p. 80. The consumption of wood should be diminished, and solar power should be preferred in order to decrease the pressure on the forests, and save them.

A closed wood stove is much more efficient than a chimney ¹⁰Petit manuel de l'habitat bioclimatique, François TANGUAY, Éditions de Mortagne, 1988, p. 62. Besides, a pipe system can move the heat to every part of the house. You should make plans of your water, heat and electricity networks to allow them a real place.

Quebeckers often say that the efficiency of a wood stove depends mostly on the person who uses  ¹¹Petit manuel de l'habitat bioclimatique, François TANGUAY, Éditions de Mortagne, 1988, p. 85.

Actually, the life in cold countries is not so bad. A friend of mine has been in Finland, the country of saunas, and I have been in Iceland, a volcanic country of ice and fire. We both have felt a calm background.

Another friend has also told me that Vikings were actually quiet farmers. By the way, Vikings means pirates, they were not calling themselves like this.

These countries have a nice economic situation, because the cold orders the psychic energy, and makes it work.

Nobody wants to go in cold countries, so cold makes you safe. I have seen a woman who came from Cambodgia, a terrible dictatorship, and that was living in Iceland. Icelandics are not racist, they are 300,000 people on a big island and this is so little that they always need to see their family trees in order to avoid blood relations... So strangers may be welcome in Iceland.

2- Water

In the bathroom, the ideal temperature of the water is 37 °C, the temperature of the human body. It's different from the air because water is a better thermal conductor.

There are several techniques to reach the ideal temperature.

1) Photothermic

Solar energy is clean and renewable.

Hot water can be provided by photothermic modules. They transform sunlight into hot water, and have a temperature of affinity of 80 °C.

A photothermic module.

Photothermic modules should not face the annual mean position of the Sun, to avoid overheating. They should be oriented more towards the horizon. For example, in Perpignan, 43° North, the photothermic modules should not be oriented to the South at a 43° angle from the zenith, but rather 70°, to avoid overheating in summer and catch the calories in winter.

Think about the roof. On one side, photovoltaic needs to catch the most sunlight, on the other side, photothermic needs to avoid overheating in summer. Therefore, they have different angle requirements.

Freezing can destroy your pipes with ice expansion. To avoid freezing, you must add salt to the water, that is a good antifreeze, close the circuit, and allow heat to be transferred with a heat exchanger.

To move the water to your hot water tank, I suggest you use the double gradient solar thermosiphon. The name is complicated ? Who cares ! The technology is simple.

In each photothermic module, the water expands. 2 photothermic modules will push more than 1. By connecting the pipes like in the figure, you take advantage of this asymetry and establish a spontaneous flow in your circuit.

Watch out with the geometry ! This last technique is not compatible with some geometries, like serpentine.

It has been suggested that water tanks painted in black could replace photothermic modules.

2) Volcanic bath

In saunas and vapor baths, stones are used to store and release heat. This technology is known since Ancient times.

How to take a volcanic bath ? Make a fire, fill your bath with cold water. Put volcanic stones, like granite or basalt in the fire ¹²Comment survivre avec une pierre à feu, Joël BARRAL, Marabout, 2013, p. 96. Definetely volcanic, otherwise they will explode. Once the stones are full of heat, take them with metallic pincers, a fabric protecting your hands, and put them into the water. The stones will release heat slowly, for a long lasting pleasure.

Another thing. Before Japanese take a bath, they take a shower, so that the water of the bath is clean, and the pleasure is pure ¹³Petit manuel de l'habitat bioclimatique, François TANGUAY, Éditions de Mortagne, 1988, p. 119. Logical.

A word about hot springs. Consider them as a free source of hot water. Volcanic geothermy is a subject I know little, due to the absence of this resource in France. If you are interested in that field, I suggest you ask to a specialist.

3) Wood

If sunlight is missing, you have to use wood. As I shall explain later, the electrical and the thermal systems should be separated, to get an important system efficiency. Fossil fuels have been banned because they cannot be found on your own. We must stop fossil fuels once for all, otherwise the climate will become a nightmare of extremes.

3- Cooking

Cooking requires temperatures that cannot be reached with photothermic modules. We need to focus the sunlight in order to achieve higher temperatures, and it can be done thanks to the solar parabola.

1) Solar parabola

Mirrors or lenses can focus sunlight. The higher the concentration, the higher the temperature.

A solar parabola in a garden.

A cooking solar parabola can reach 200 °C, that is enough to cook. The Odeillo's solar furnace, the largest in the world, focuses the sunlight up to more than 10,000 times and can reach temperatures up to more than 3,500 °C. No material resists, even diamond melts. It gives the vision of a futuristic metallurgy, using a clean and renewable source of energy.

Watch out with the clouds ! Because a solar parabola doesn't work when clouds hide the Sun.

2) Wood

When the sky is cloudy, you cannot use a solar parabola. Once again, wood is your friend.

You should have a large garden, with a lot of trees, to provide you with wood. And the trees can also provide you food.

Are you hungry ? The next part of this text will deal about what will be your new work : cultivating the earth.

Autonomous building : the water system

Water is the source of life. Its essence is love, and this is why this material has miraculous properties. It is the most useful material in the world, and also the cheapest.

The thermal system, the agriculture system, require water.

The electrical system works best with water.

Everybody in rich countries knows the magic of the water that falls from a tap when desired. Now, let's learn to reproduce this magic in an autonomous house.

1- Source

When you are into autonomous building, your first choice is the place to settle in. Avoid dry areas, because they lack water. Moreover, you should avoid industrialized areas, because they provide a water full of pesticides, heavy metals... that we prefer to avoid.

A fertile countryside is the best choice. A sunny hill top, a slope diving into a river, or the into the ocean, is a nice choice. Just take a few meters security against the floods, otherwise you will regret it in a big tear bath ;-) .

The sources of water can be a well, a river, the rain, and also the ocean.

1) Well

2) River

3) Rain

4) Ocean

1) Well

Before the industrial era, people used to use wells. They had the advantage of never freezing thanks to the underground, and to offer a bonus supply of water, to overcome the droughts.

They suited well, because the water used to be unpolluted. Logically, they are still a good way to store water, under the condition that this water is later purified. You need to remove large dirt particles, bacterias and chemicals.

2) River

Running through the landscape scenery, a river is a good source of water. It's also the best way to make electricity.

Once again, watch out with the industry. If you think that people reject bad things in the upstream river, don't hesitate and choose the most efficient method of purification. You need to remove large dirt particles, bacterias and chemicals.

3) Rain

Rain water is pure. It's so pure that it lacks vital minerals. Pure and toxic. You got it ? It means you need to mineralize this water after.

To collect rain water, you need a large surface of roof. Check that the roof and everything before storage has no heavy metal, like ¹ The autonomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE, Universe books, 1975, p. 139. Then, make your calculation.

Provided there is no loss, the area of roof you need is given by the formula

A=C/R

where

• A is the needed area ;
• C is the annual mean consumption of water in the household ;
• R is the annual mean rainfall.

Always write the units. 10 m = 1,000 cm, but 10 does not equal 1,000 ! Do it, otherwise you have a high risk of false result.

You need to find the metorogical data for the sites you consider. Find out, and calculate.

For instance, the individual German water consumption in 2016 was 312 cubic meters. Other countries statistics can be seen at https://www.statista.com/statistics/263156/water-consumption-in-selected-countries/. In the city of Freiburg, the annual mean rainfall is 930 mm.

312 m^3/930 mm= 335 m².

The metric system rocks ! But as you can see, the required surface is huge, and this case was optimistic... Think about building a greenhouse to increase this surface.

You need to remove large dirt particles and bacterias.

4) Ocean

Ocean water receives all the pollution from the ground and deserves the highest purification. You need to remove large dirt particles, bacterias and chemicals.

2- Transport

One of the first success of civilization was to build irrigation systems. This kind of system can be divided in two parts : moving up and moving down.

1) Moving up

I'll tell you straight : move your fucking ass and move this water up by the strength of your arms !

But if you are smart, you notice that a water pump consumes 20 W and realize it's reasonable, so the pump becomes your best friend !

 

An electrical pump.

However, in case of blackout, you have no pump. If you use a water tower, you can pump once for several months of water, so you don't need to pump every time.

2) Moving down

I am of the opinion that channels digged in soil are the most efficient way to move water down. Make a plan and remain simple in geometry. There is beauty in simplicity, but also efficiency :-) .

3- Storage

1) Well

Large dirt particles, chemicals and bacterias can float on the surface of a well water. If you want to use it as your only container, you have to filter, remove chemicals and bacterias each time you use the water. As we will see after, this can be done only with a special well.

2) Water tower

The water tower allows you to store water, and also to have pressure for your taps. You need to pump a good time, then you can benefit from the tap water without the use of a pump, thanks to gravitational energy :-) .

The water doesn't freeze as long as you use it.

The bacterias should be removed before sealing by cleaning the water tower with chlorinated water. In France, a specialist told me that the tap water has 0.3 mg/L of chlorine, to kill bacterias.

The water gets mineralized if the water tower is built with rock or concrete.

It's possible to take the rock from the well to build the water tower.

The height of an industrial water tower is 20-30 m, to reach 2-3 bars. But in practice, 1 bar is used by some houses, so you don't need to make such a big building in your garden.

To know the good height, make an experiment. Use a plastic pipe. Make holes of the diameter of your tap. Block them with gum. Close one end, fill with water and put it vertically. Remove the gums. You see how it flows ? Choose what you like.

4- Purification

Why purifying water ?

Water needs to be purified for three reasons.

First, removing the large dirt particles. Typical large dirt particles : leaves, soil.

Second, removing the harmful bacterias. Typical harmful bacterias : Salmonella, responsible of salmonellosis, especially in hot countries.

Third, removing the chemicals. Typical chemicals : heavy metals, lead. Some minerals like NaCl, cooking salt, are welcome in small quantities, because they are necessary for life.

Just another thing. Chemicals include pesticides from industrial agriculture. They have a disastreous effect, even indirectly, when eating industrial food. The boys who eat pesticides keep a little penis. This is no joke. Pesticides are known to cause hormone trouble. Watch out with the pesticides !

There are several techniques to achieve purification.

1) Solar still

Solar energy is clean and renewable. The Earth receives from the light of the Sun more than 10,000 times the energy that humanity consumes ²http://www.photovoltaique.info/-Le-soleil-source-d-energie-.html.

How does a solar still work ?. Under the sunlight, the water evaporates, then condenses in another place. This technology removes all the chemicals, but not bacterias.

A solar still. The system is underground to prevent temperature extremes, especially freezing. The water from the outer recipient evaporates and condenses on the plastic, the dew moves downwards and fall into the inner recipient, now free from chemicals. Watch out with the plastic, for the drops may fall on a bad place.

The surface needed depends on the annual mean solar insulation of the location. The more sunshine, the less surface needed. Remember that clouds decrease the insulation by 80-90 \%, and that the angle of the Sun, that is not facing the surface, is a major source of decrease in power.

Don't worry about intermittence. Your water is in the underground, stored in safety.

When you need your solar purified water, pump. Look at the figure again. You see the U-tube ? It helps you pumping.

2) Filter candle

Ceramic was widely used in Ancient history. Today, you can remove bacterias thanks to filter candles, that are made of ceramic. Cheap, you just need to fix them to your tap. The inside must be changed every two years 2The autonomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE, Universe books, 1975, p. 153.

A filter candle.

Actually, you don't need to purify all the water. In the UK in 1975, only 3 \% of house water was used for drinking and cooking ³The autonomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE, Universe books, 1975, p. 137}. So, a single filter candle in the kitchen may be enough.

However, children can drink the water from the bathroom. Think about it.

3) Boiling

So, you want to kill bacterias ? There is another method, more radical.

Boiling the water during 5 minutes kills the bacterias ⁴The autonomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE, Universe books, 1975, p. 152. In poor countries, people use this method to purify water, then shake the water to oxygenize it, otherwise the water is not good. ⁵Xavier PY, lessons of thermal storage, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 2016

Boiling the water is traditionally made with wood, but this method causes forest destruction. In sunny countries, it's being replaced by concentrated solar power.

The compound parobolic collector focuses the light of the Sun onto a transparent pipe. It can boil running water. This system needs no tracker. It only works with direct sunshine, without clouds.

The solar parabola focuses the light of the Sun onto a receiver. This system needs a tracker to face the Sun. It only works with direct sunshine, without clouds.

4) Chlorine

Ah, chlorine. My dear industrial friend. You fuck my nose every time I go to the swimming pool, this is why I prefer to go with my naked friends in the Nature ! No, the vision of nudity has nothing sexual ! :-D

OK, then. 0.3 mg of chlorine per liter. No more. 4 drops of bleach per liter ⁵https://www.wikihow.com/Purify-Water. It kills bacterias.

5) Waste stabilization pond

Let's talk about downstream. Altruism towards people downstream leads you to use a waste stabilization pond.

Without, the water gets eutrophized, lacks oxygen, and water lenses will kill every other forms of life. No fish, no frog, nothing, but water lenses.

Water lenses invasion.

This phenomenom of eutrophization comes from an excess of nitrates NO₃^- and phosphates PO₄^3-. They are the materials required for fertilizers.

So, if you make a pond before your neighbors downstream, you can make this process happen before and save the ecosystem. Bacterial degradation of those chemicals happens in the pond. You need to remove the large dirt particles at the surface.

 A waste stabilization pond.

There is an aesthetical, French variation of this system : la phytoépuration (vegetal epuration).

Some plants, like Phragmites australis reed, can absorb and accumulate lead. This is bioaccumulation.

The use of vegetals enhances bacterial degradation of nitrates and phosphates. Many plants can take part in vegetal epuration, but Phragmites australis, an invading plant, is the most efficient for this purpose.

Phragmites australis loves the water.

Remember that vegetal epuration is mainly aesthetical. People who advocate for it ask you to bring your chemical waste to the waste La Maison écologique (French magazine), February-March 2018}, proving that this system is not efficient enough for the people downstream. Nevertheless, it's an expression of a quest of harmony.

6) Filtering

Soil, leaves, making the water dirt. Ugh. It's better using a filter before.

The magic of coffee also needs a filter. Honestly, you should abuse of it because it makes efficient :-) .

Don't forget to clean the filter sometimes. Every part of an autonomous house needs maintenance.

5- How to save water ?

Let's come to a big question : how to save water ?

Take a look at the following data.

UK and USA water consumption.

31 % of the water consumption in the UK is for the toilets. You can save this water by using dry toilets.

28 % of the water consumption in the UK is for the personal hygiene. You can save a part of this water with several methods. First, taking baths less often. Second, using an atomizer for the washbasin. Third, make the dishes by filling a bowl with a little warm water, add dish liquid and use it with your sponge, then cleanse in a basin of cold water.

9 % of the water consumption in the UK is for the laundry. Maybe you can save a part of this water using an ultrasound washing machine ⁶The autonomous house, Brenda and Robert VALE, Universe books, 1975, p. 159.

6 % of the water consumption in the UK is for the garden and the car. But an autonomous house needs far more water for the garden, because you need to grow your own food.

3 \% of the water consumption in the UK is for drinking and cooking. I suggest you drink a lot of water, and avoid junk food. This water is vital, you should make no sacrifice with it.

A word about toilets. Modern Japanese toilets use a flush of water to cleanse the asshole. You feel like being fucked by an Asian, but it lets your ass all clean ! The feeling of cleanness is incredible. You cannot know if you have not experienced.\\

For your wellness, I suggest you use a bidet with an atomizer, and dry with a little towel.

Water is your first material need. I have not written about air, because I assumed an autonomous house would be far from the air nightmares like the city of Tokyo. Ventilation will be dealt in the following part : the thermal system.