Benjamin Nead

I'm actually optimistic that we're going to get to a renewable energy grid in the not too distant future, since the sheer economics of solar with batteries defeat everything else. Everything on the consumption side has also already been invented. Nostalgia for fossil fuel is the only real enemy.

There's a lot of literature from that period that tried to nail down a time frame for peak oil. We are actually going to run out of the stuff someday. But fracking tech simply added another 10 to 15 years to the calendar. What the FF industry is doing right now is nothing short of criminal.

So true! After you have finished with this unnamed book from the early 2000s, I highly recommend Saul Griffith's 2020 volume, Electrify. It should still be a relevant guide in 2030

What happened is, in addition to improvements in energy efficiency, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale really came into its own in around 2008. So, any book written much before that predicts a big economic downturn when all the oil runs out, since renewables were so expensive back then.

The "conference" area at the opposite end of the carport overlooking my backyard and a view of the Mexican border, just about 5 miles away. A 6.3kWh Bluetti AC200L/B210 system assembled there is more than capable of handling another Bonbowl induction hob and a Panasonic FlashXpress micro oven. These are actually the most often used components in my 120V kitchen.

A trio of Renogy 115W bifacial PV panels on the cement pad in the backyard photographed just after a light rain shower passed through the area. Until recently, a rickety metal shed lived out there. Now, the pad is a testing area for quickly-deployable solar arrays.

Just off the carport entrance to the house is an enclosed back porch, which currently houses my Samsung closed loop heat pump 120V washer/dryer. Also just inside the backdoor is a Reencle kitchen composter. An Iceco 12V portable dual zone refrigerator/freezer in my kitchen is yet another highly efficient small scale consumer device that's perfect for efficient but comfortable solo living.

While I didn't get high foot traffic, that was more than made up by the handful of knowledgeable and enthusiastic locals who appreciated what I was showing and had stories of their own to share. Long time off-grider Steve Austin and independent energy analyst Kevin McArthur were among those who stopped by to compare notes on everything from home battery backup systems to renewables on the grid.

Part 2 of photos documenting my Sun Day In Tucson event . . .

A self portrait by yours truly at the end of a very satisfying first-ever Sun Day in Bisbee 2025.

A rainbow appears over Old Town Bisbee, just about 5 miles to the northwest, as I was in the process of packing up for the day. The shaded carport proved to be the ideal setting for this event, which witnessed mostly sunny skies getting punctuated by a welcomed late afternoon seasonal monsoon rain shower: a perfect day in the high Arizona desert.

The 3rd and final photo album for my Sun Day in Bisbee event. Click each of the photos for a narrative . . .

The carport entrance to my home in Bisbee, viewed due south by southeast, and showing repurposed signage from my Tucson days. The 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is now proving to be excellent for regional rural travel, will be celebrating it's 10th anniversary with me later this fall.

The lead display table shows a collection equipment common to do-it-yourself solar projects: Some Victron MPPT controlers, A Giandel inverter, a Battle Born LFP battery, a 100W HQST monocrystalline PV panel and a 100W BougeRV CIGS flex PV panel. Will Prowse's Mobile Solar Power how-to book and a small solar generator - a Bluetii EB3A - are also shown.

Portable induction hobs can instantly allow you to retire your gas cooktop. Because induction cooks with magnetism, it's a natural for cast iron pans and skillets. Joining the larger Duxtop units is the diminutive BonBowl, with it's latex-wrapped magnetic stainless steel vessel: super efficient (535W) and convenient for flame-free single-person cooking.

Renewable energy activism, science and history are acknowledge with books, charts and posters. The green pool noodle wedged into the frame of the sliding glass window allows for weather/insect sealing of a robust interior outlet used for 120V EV charging. Also on the table - next to yet another EB3A - are various low voltage energy harvesting technologies, including an EcoFlow solar hat.

Here's part 1 in a series of photos detailing my Sun Day In Bisbee event. Click each of the photos to read individual narratives . . .

YouTube video by Fossil Free Media The Light Won't Dim | Solar Power & Clean Energy Documentary

I had a marvelous time hosting a Sun Day this past weekend. This is the promotional documentary film, The Light Won't Dim, that was produced by the Third Act organizers. Really beautifully done . . . www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDK-...

YouTube video by Just Have a Think The UNSTOPPABLE rise of AMERICAN renewable energy.

A Sun Day preview from one of my favorite climate-aware energy/tech analysts, David Borlace, on Just Have A Think . . . www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYSU...

YouTube video by Democracy Now! Bill McKibben on Renewable Energy, "Sun Day" & the "Last Chance" for Climate

Sun Day in the press, via a recent Democracy Now! interview with Bill McKibben . . . www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb2_...

Sun Day is a global day of action on Sunday, September 21st, 2025: a celebration of the unstoppable rise of clean energy. Sun Day is being presented nationally by Third Act: a community of Americans over 60 founded by activist and author Bill McKibben, focused on climate and democracy. Bisbee joins a growing number Arizona cities - including Tucson, Tempe and Flagstaff - hosting a Sun Day event. Hundreds of communities across the United States and counting - and internationally - will be participating. My shaded carport - come rain or shine - will be set up to display a variety of interesting and affordable devices that will help you move away from a dependency on fossil fuels . . . solar panels, storage battery systems, induction cooking tech, heat pumps and the like. And, yes, because it's my carport, my electric car will also be there . . . probably plugged in and charging when you arrive. I'd like to have one-on-one conversations with my neighbors, here in Bisbee and in surrounding communities, on how we might be able to ditch our gas stoves and furnaces for good, consider an EV for your next car and go with solar, whether that's a traditional grid-connected rooftop system or one of the new modular/portable ones. There are efficient devices and energy harvesting technologies available today to match virtually any price point or budget. Those of us who are concerned about climate change - and I hope that's everyone reading this - will be reminded that electrifying your life is one of the most effective ways to make a positive impact in this capacity, even if the politicians aren't currently paying attention. When a sane national energy policy returns, even the smallest the investments you make today will allow you be ready for the more expansive - and less expensive - cleaner energy world of the future. No suffering or sacrifice needed along the way. Just a little perseverance. Benjamin Nead https://actionnetwork.org/events/sun-day-in-bisbee-3

I'm hosting a Sun Day event on Sunday, September 21, at my
home. Specifically, it's a "rain or shine" event under my carport.

Explore the interactive map at sunday.earth/events
and look for the star at the southeastern corner of Arizona, which would be Bisbee. Click the below graphic as well.

Oh, Hell yes. The other one that bothers me is people - and news organizations - who can't figure out that overbuilding solar and having "too much" electrical generation on sunny days is a problem. Build water desalination plants and run them full tilt when it's sunny, and don't when it isn't.

Why don't they just build water desalinization infrastructure - which is very energy intensive - and operate it at full tilt on those days when there's "too much" solar capacity? This seems like a good problem too have.

YouTube video by Brian Tyler Cohen 🚨 Trump gets SHUT DOWN by Scottish lawmaker in Scotland

We need more journalists in America like Brian Tyler Cohen and politicians everywhere like Scottish Parliament member Patrick Harvie. Climate topics are on cue here, with a reminder of what's at stake everywhere . . . www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zYs...

YouTube video by Just Have a Think How GRID FORMING INVERTERS are paving the way for 100% renewable energy.

I'm always impressed how David Borlace can take a technical topic, like grid forming inverters in renewable energy grid settings, and explain it in understandable layman's terms, as he does in this week's Just Have A Think . . .
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SOq...

I just heard the Freakonomics Radio Network interview on Youtube. Your book is on my short list now. Thanks.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 4 of 6.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 5 of 6.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 6 of 6.

We had a nice turnout for our Bisbee, Arizona, Good Trouble Lives On mobilization. About 80 of us, all told, assembling in Grassy Park. Thanks to all who joined us and lent their voices. Photo set 2.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 1 of 6.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 2 of 6.

Good Trouble Lives On. Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bisbee, Arizona. 3 of 6.

We had a nice turnout for our Bisbee, Arizona, Good Trouble Lives On mobilization. About 80 of us, all told, assembling in Grassy Park. Thanks to all who joined us and lent their voices. Photo set 1.

Grassy Park · John Lewis Actions Good Trouble Lives On, staged on this fifth year since the passing of Civil Rights pioneer and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the ongoing attacks pos...

Please add Bisbee . . .

www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-a...

Grassy Park · John Lewis Actions Good Trouble Lives On, staged on this fifth year since the passing of Civil Rights pioneer and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the ongoing attacks pos...

I should also mention that you can electronically register for the Bisbee event here . . .

www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-a...

Find an event near you on the interactive map (scroll down after the page opens, scroll down and check out the international activity) . . .

goodtroubleliveson.org

Good Trouble Lives On, staged on this fifth year since the passing of Civil Rights pioneer and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the ongoing attacks posed on our liberties by the Trump Administration. Pertaining to what John Lewis fought for and against all his life, we are now witnessing the expansion of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) into nothing short of a Gestapo-like paramilitary that is now prepared - and now officially funded by congress - to round up sizable portions of the U.S. population and confine them to remote and inhuman Gulags with perverse names like Alligator Alcatraz. Closer to home, this ongoing militarized anti-immigrant and racist agenda will manifest itself as unnecessary border wall construction resuming, with the negative ramifications there also encompassing a threat to the wildlife ecosystem and even more ground water depletion. Meanwhile, the funding cuts to federal services to pay for us becoming a police state, along with the ham-fisted attempts by Trump himself to manipulate world markets for personal gain, will mean the eventual closing of things like rural hospitals and the elimination of social services that will particularly impact those on the lowest economic rungs. Everything you and I buy at the store becomes more expensive in the coming months and years, unless you're an oligarchy class insider. Don't like any of this? Maybe you've got the wrong skin color or tattoos, or you've submitted the wrong essay to a local newspaper. You may find yourself joining the other "undesirables" in confinement without legal due process. This is not a drill. Bisbee is aligning nationally on Thursday, July 17, from 5:00PM to Sundown (approximately 7:30PM) for our contribution to Good Trouble Lives On. Our location will be in the old town at Grassy Park, adjacent to the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum. See you there.

Bisbee will be participating in Good Trouble Lives On: a non-violent mobilization in tribute to Civil Rights pioneer and Congressman John Lewis, on Thursday, July 17, 5PM to 7:30PM. Our location is Grassy Park in the old town. Click the illustration for more details.

Other interesting prospects for affordable and sensibly-sized EVs for the North American market include the relaunch of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Slate EV Truck. I drive a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which was the original subcompact electric when introduced here. I bought mine used in 2015.

It was a pleasure to get to talk with you and hear you discuss the issues, Deja, this past Saturday in Bisbee. Wherever your pursuits take you, please stay in touch with us down here. Always about 10° cooler than Tucson on any given day, incidentally.

I really like David Bolace's weekly Just Have A Think segments. He's a journalist, not a manufacturer, so his coverage of complex subject explained clearly feels genuine. Simon Clark is another Brit who does an excellent job covering these topics.

A couple more shots from Bisbee on No Kings Day, courtesy of Deja Foxx on her Bluesky page . . . https://bsky.app/profile/dejafoxx.bsky.social

A couple more shots from Bisbee on No Kings Day, courtesy of Deja Foxx on her Bluesky page . . . https://bsky.app/profile/dejafoxx.bsky.social

A couple more shots from Bisbee on No Kings Day, courtesy of Deja Foxx on her Bluesky page . . . bsky.app/profile/deja...

Interesting. Thanks. With current MAGA trends to essentially erase all that was good in the Inflation Reduction Act, it's important to keep these topics front and center. Manganese mine in Patagonia? How about, instead, getting a 97% yield from thousands of old dead cell phone batteries?

YouTube video by Just Have a Think Recycling Lithium batteries in 15 minutes. How do they do that?

Recycling of lithium ion batteries is not only getting more efficient, it's becoming a far less environmentally caustic process. More of this and less of talking about new mining projects here in southern Arizona . . . www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_v-...

YouTube video by Louis Rossmann The US military might as well be dealing with the genius bar...

The very plain spoken (F-bombs in video alert) Louis Rossmann details how Right To Repair and Right To Own is an essential element in so many aspects of our daily lives, whether it's the cell phone you bought last or a f*cking (sorry) oven on an aircraft carrier. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNg4...

Just want to add that 3 of the Democrats running in the special CD7 election - Michael Hernandez, Adelita Grijalva and Deja Foxx - were part of an after-parade meet & greet at the Bisbee Royale Theater. The primary is July 15, with the general contest on September 23rd.

We were part of No Kings Day yesterday in Bisbee. Ours was a significant element of a larger Pride Day parade . . . which, in turn, is part of a big day-long annual celebration down here. So, even though we weren't an official dot on the national map, we did the deed. Good times were had by all.

We were part of No Kings Day yesterday in Bisbee. Ours was a significant element of a larger Pride Day parade . . . which, in turn, is part of a big day-long annual celebration down here. So, even though we weren't an official dot on the national map, we did the deed. Good times were had by all.