OK, I might not have mentioned this before, but I'm an advocate of renewable energy. I'd actually love to take my house off the national grid and produce our own power. Last time I looked though, it would take almost ten years for a viable system to start paying for itself.

With an oil crisis looming, and no sign of the middle east settling down any time soon, companies around the world are finally taking renewable sources of energy seriously. This report on harnessing wave-power is interesting.

Closer to home, here's a few links I've had lying around for a bit:

• The Rainbow Trading Posts's online booklet catalogue: Full of instructions for building small-scale environmentally friendly projects, including a wind-powered battery charger and a welding kit using car parts.

• The FINCA Forum: Really for people trying to live the simple life in Spain and Portugal, but it's got a good section on self sufficiency, including this article on how to make a wind turbine out of an alternator and an advertising board.

• The news section of the National Energy Foundation's website: Especially this article on how most of our homes could be heated from our back gardens.

• And a place I'm dying to visit, the Centre for Alterative Technology in Machynlleth.