Some Surprises As I Search For "Off Grid" On The Internet


Living "off grid" or independently of the usual power supplier (the "grid") is not an unusual concept, although most of us are still trying to find ways of actually doing it. At least we are thinking about our energy consumption. Perhaps that requires some heavy duty Internet search!

If I use Google.com, I get lots of interesting results for オフグリッド (off grid), including:

offgrid-solar.jp (a do-it-your-self shop website with lots of cool ideas)
Offgrid Q & A (blog by a small company with big ideas)
nextenergy.jp
Ultra Technica (Beautiful visions by Osaka architects longing for off-grid living)
greenz.jp (a crazy entry on a French ad for a certain company about how to get energy from - oranges!)


If your search engine of choice is selective, it will influence your world view - if you use commercial Internet search engines that select what you get in reply to your queries, based on who pays. I worry that even more selective search engines can and may influence a lot of people. On the other hand, even better search engines can help you make important choices.

(Images from Ultra Technica Off Grid Lab)

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