When the BioMass Hits the Wind Turbine

The electrical grid has not changed much since the days of Edison and Tesla. The electrical system in your home has largely remained the same since screw-in fuses were replaced by circuit breakers in the 1960s. But all that is about to change. Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion of how distributed energy (wind and solar) is changing how power is delivered to your home a...

Former congressman Zack Space (OH) joins Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for this milestone 100th episode of When the BioMass Hits the Wind Turbine.  Congressman Space's experience in working within the US Congress as well as president of Sunday Creek Horizons - a strategic communications, issue advocacy and business development consulting firm - provides a unique perspective on the poss...

It's easy to get the impression that everything and everyone around you is either crazy or in the process of going crazy. This is largely because it's true. Mental health is the number one illness or complaint facing those living in our soul-sick society. So how can you deal with and cope with the mental stresses of everyday life? What are some of the things you can do to try to stay sane in an in...

The search for energy has largely been a search for light.  We have evolved from huddling around campfires, to burning candles made of animal fat, to hunting whales on the oceans, to refining oil and ultimately the electric light.   This is a journey filled with adventure, fortunes, misfortunes - but mostly lies and lawyers.   Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion of sust...

How do you construct a home or cottage from straw bales?  Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion of sustainable living and alternative housing options.

You can't fix the system because it ain't broken.  Sustainability is political.  Join Annie and Jay Warmke from Blue Rock Station for a discussion of the realities of sustainability in this culture we live within.

More and more corporations are promoting their net-zero or carbon-neutral goals. Is this more corporate greenwashing, or is it a real thing? Can the profit-driven corporate structure really shift to embrace a long-term impact-neutral process? And what does net zero really mean? Join Annie and Jay Warmke from Blue Rock Station for a discussion about the impact of a truly net zero society.

Over one-third of American workers are employed in what has come to be called the Gig Economy.  If you are between 18-35 years of age, more than half those working (53%) do not have a steady paycheck. Gig workers get no sick leave, no medical, no paid vacations.  Yet the vast majority claim they would not trade the freedom this work situation provides for 'traditional' employment. Join Jay and Ann...

What is it like to live in an Earthship (a home made of tires, bottles, mud and assorted garbage)?  Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion of the serious topic of sustainable living - without taking ourselves too seriously. You can take a free virtual tour at www.bluerockstation.com

Probably the most important scientist that you have never heard of.   It can be claimed (and we will claim it) that William Murdoch was involved in creating or perfecting most of the major inventions that brought us through the Industrial Revolution to the modern age.  From the steam engine to the locomotive, to the automobile to the steam boat - he even invented the pneumatic tube (that thing tha...

We are all going to die someday.  So how would you like to go?  Many people are opting to reject the industrialized death machine that has gradually emerged in our society - one that makes those who love you spectators rather than participants in what is, after all, a natural and inevitable end to being a part of this world.  Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station as they speak with Donna...

Lithium and specifically lithium batteries promise to be the “oil” of the coming decades. But like oil, it comes at a price. There has already been a military coup of a democratically elected government (applauded by the US govt, sound familiar?) over control of this resource. Mining practices are wreaking havoc on some regions of the world – and the transition to lithium is just beginning. But is...

So you want to change the world. We know the political and social structures that helped make that possible in the past are deaf and/or broken. So how can you begin to create effective change from where you are... with the resources you have available? Join Jay and Annie Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion on how not to feel helpless and hopeless in a world that often feels overwhelming a...

After WWII the US Department of Defense decided it would be a good idea to refine Uranium for nuclear bombs in the small southern Ohio town of Piketon.  Over the decades the released vast amounts of radioactive material into the region, elevating death rates to twice the national average, causing schools to be closed due to high radioactive measurements and resulting in more than $1 billion in wor...

Appalachia is a region that seems perpetually stuck in recession, followed by depression, followed by recession. What are some of the causes of this chronic cycle of poverty and how can the region emerge economically. Jay and Annie Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Natalia Rudiak of Reimagine Appalachia and Ted Boettner of the Ohio River Valley Institute for a discussion of these and other...

According to a United Nation's study, the planet has only about 60 years of soil left. The nutrients in our soil have been so depleted that today you must eat 8 oranges to get the same vitamins that your grandparents got by eating just one. So what are the issues and what can we do about them?   Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Heather Kabler and Chitra Iyer of the Isha Foun...

Cooking with the sun. Not only is it a practical solution to deforestation in third-world nations, keeping smoke and ash out of poorly ventilated buildings and causing women to risk their health and safety by walking miles for fire wood – but is also a great alternative here at home as well. Join perhaps the nation's leading expert on solar cookers, Luther Krueger, as he discusses the art and scie...

As the song goes... "we all want to change the world..." but how to go about it? The old tropes, call your congressman, write a letter, protest... it just seems that absolutely no one in power is listening.  So how can we, each of us, change our little part of the world. Join Annie and Jay Warmke from Blue Rock Station for a discussion on how to make "good trouble."

In case you hadn't noticed, the climate is changing and plants are dying. How can homesteaders cope with extreme weather events and a changing ecology. Well, one way is to create an environment for their garden that they can control to a certain extent. This is where high tunnels come in. A high tunnel, or hoop house is a greenhouse like structure where plants can be cultivated and raised under mo...

The world is teetering on the edge of disaster. The Great Depression – the Cold War – 9-11 – Katrina – the 2008 Economic Meltdown – Covid... Doesn't it make sense to build yourself a bunker, stock it with beans and ammunition, and wait out the Zombie Apocalypse? Is that what it means to be a “prepper.” Or is it just a common sense approach to have the skills and supplies on hand to deal with whate...

Huge amounts of money have been allocated by the government under the Infrastructure Law as well as the Inflation Reduction Act. So how do local recipients ensure that the funds actually benefit the local community – and not just provide wages for out-of-town workers who swoop in to build a project and then move on to follow the money? Community Benefit Agreements are one tool to make sure these f...

s amazing as it might seem, there is a move by some corporations (and of course the government is enacting laws to support them) to prohibit customers from repairing the products they buy – forcing them to buy new things when the old may only need a bit of upkeep. And some groups are fighting back.   Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discussion of the issues and implications of c...

Solar is already the cheapest form of energy available – bar none. And the government, through a number of recent incentive programs, has just put it on sale. You almost cannot afford NOT to put solar on your home or business.   Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discussion of the various tax credits and grants that are now available to make solar even more affordable and will lea...

It seems that the Appalachian region is always in a state of recession. When times are good nationwide – nothing seems to change in Appalachia. When the nation is struggling, Appalachia feels it first and longest. Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Natalia Rudiak, special projects director at Reimagine Appalachia in a discussion of the challenges facing the Appalachian region...

We are living through transformative times. Not since the Industrial Revolution has the energy system that powers our society changed in such profound ways. But we are too close to it to see it clearly. Over the next three years, wind and solar will make up 90% of all new energy sources. Coal is dead. Nuclear is dead. Natural gas is dying. Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discus...