Get Energy Smart! NOW!

This guest post is from Bill McKibben who is the co-founder of the grassroots climate group 350.org, and Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College.
Nothing tests a relationship like home renovation (well, maybe twittering crotch shots, but I mean for ordinary folks). Fixing the kitchen, putting in a new bathroom: “It can bring up core issues [...]

[Read more →]

The hardest challenges for moving to a clean energy future are not technological or engineering … they are cultural and procedural and shifting incentive mechanisms and so many other intangible — but ever so real — barriers.  Breaking through these barriers to enable tangible progress is a necessary, difficult, and often messy task.
Sometimes, this process [...]

[Read more →]

Innovation. It’s the new buzzword. Haven’t you heard.  It’s the rage.  Ten times … The President used the word “innovation” ten times in the State of the Union speech.
The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.  None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be or where [...]

[Read more →]

Since diving into the deep end when it comes to energy issues, almost every day sees new fascinating concepts, approaches, and technologies. Fascinating … exciting … even hope inspiring at times. And, as well, as the passion builds, so many of these are truly Energy COOL.
The concept of Silver Bullet solutions concerns me and [...]

[Read more →]

Every day, I strive to Make Energy CENTS from the Home to the Globe. Whether programming the thermostat to low temperatures overnight to providing comments on national energy policy drafts to opening discussions as to Energy COOL technologies and concepts, my efforts to Energize America to a prosperous, climate friendly future cross a broad spectrum.
To [...]

[Read more →]

The biannual Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the US Department of Energy and bringing together 20 university teams from the United States and other countries, is an amazing event that merits far more attention than the hundred or so thousand visitors and the spotty news (and blog) coverage of the event. Truth be told, the [...]

[Read more →]

Today, a poll popped up:
How do you primarily heat your home / apartment?
This question gave me pause.
Sadly, for a self-proclaimed (and labeled by others) energy ‘geek’ and one who values feedback (systems) to enable better decisions/energy use patterns, I realized that I simply can’t answer this question.  The problem: multiple heating systems, with multiple changes [...]

[Read more →]

This is part of a series of brief posts on ‘clean energy jobs‘ opportunities for sparking meaningful employment, quickly, in the United States as discussed in Clean Energy Jobs: Stimulate Me.
Clean Energy Jobs Go Swimming: $300 million per year for 10,000 jobs
Legislation is, they say, analogous to making sausage. Sometimes, in the mixing and mashing, [...]

[Read more →]

This is part of a series of brief posts on ‘clean energy jobs‘ opportunities for sparking meaningful employment, quickly, in the United States as discussed in Clean Energy Jobs: Stimulate Me.
Clean Energy Jobs Go To The Cleaners: $50 million per year for 9,000 jobs
Coin-operated laundromats almost require rivers to operate, with their industrial-like washing [...]

[Read more →]

This guest post from Think2004 provides one homeowner’s story about moving a home from energy glutton to net zero re electricity.
This discussion provides a clear window on the many things that can be done, rapidly, to reduce existing building infrastructure energy use.
And, it shows that existing homes can be made ‘net zero’.
And, while it is [...]

[Read more →]