Get Energy Smart! NOW!

According to the Department of Energy, just about 22% of US electrical use goes to lighting. And, satellite images showing so much of America lit up like an overloaded Christmas tree are just one indicator that much of this lighting is wasted.But, while much of the light itself is wasted, the way lighting is done is wasteful. Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) are a poster child for energy efficiency and Global Warming mitigation efforts, as they cut electrical requirements for lighting by about 73%. Wow…But, the next step, Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lights that use just 5 percent of the electricity of an incandescent bulb in many normal light uses.

Truly WOW!!!

Applied to 25% of America’s lighting, the US “could save $115 billion in utility costs, cumulatively, by 2025. That would alleviate the need to build 133 new coal-burning power stations [and] In turn, carbon emissions in the atmosphere would go down by 258 million metric tons.”

WOW!!!!

[Read more →]

As we struggle to Energize America, there are many challenges … from mistaken impressions as to the costs of options, people seeking silver bullet (single point) solutions (X will solve everything … fill in X), priority challenges, and so on.

One of the key challenges, however, might be bureaucratic inertia.

Energy efficiency — saving power (Negawatts) — should be the simpliest portion of the path toward a better energy future. We have the technolgoies and they are (highly) cost effective.

Sadly, the Department of Energy has been systematically sabotaging energy efficiency — having not met a single Congressional deadline for setting energy efficency standards. Ever!

[Read more →]

Sustain lane government ranks the top 50 cities in the United States in terms of urban sustainability.

Let’s see the answer to the question: which City has the top ranking for alternative fueled city fleets?

  [Read more →]

Thanks to Plenty Magazine, Ecotality was alerted to Bill McDonough’s recent speech at the GreenBuild Expo.  As Plenty put it, here’s the money quote:

 Recently I was asked to give a talk about sustainability at the White House to over 40 federal agencies. So I gave my talk and showed these slides, and afterwards I was asked, “Mr. McDonough, what do you think of nuclear power? A lot of environmentalists are now in favor of it because of concerns about global warming.”

And I said, oh, I like nuclear power. I’m a big fan of fusion. I think we should invest lots of money into nuclear power and consider using it for all our energy needs. And look—we’ve already got the perfect nuclear power plant. It’s 93 million miles away. It’s wireless. The construction costs are zero. Its operable lifetime is infinite. It’s right there. What are we waiting for?

And, the vast majority of power on earth — whether stored or resupplied (renewable) — relates directly to that distant power plant.

[Read more →]

Well, when we look to tomorrow, to a better future, many of us envision windmills, solar panels, electric vehicles, and other paths toward a prosperous and sustainable future a la Energize America.  

Amid this vision, somewhat “of course”, is the concept of a better infrastructure — one that eats up less energy in construction (less waste), provides livable space, and has the least energy and waste impact as possible.

Architecture 2030 provides a coherent statement and plan as to how to get to that better future.

But, just a few moments ago, into my inbox came information about what I want as my next home … that you might as well.

[Read more →]

With the New Year, New Scientist taught me something about my (our) bodily fluids and the implications for the waste system — and, through that, energy, water, sustainable lifestyles, governmental budgets, Global Warming, and what I want to see in far more homes and office buildings.

It turns out that pee, while just “1 per cent of the volume of waste water, urine contributes about 80 per cent of the nitrogen and 45 per cent of all the phosphate. Peeing into the pan immediately dilutes these chemicals with vast quantities of water, making the removal process unnecessarily inefficient.”

And that inefficiency leads to more energy use, more fiscal cost, and — perhaps — a missed opportunity as, perhaps, we should engage in Pee-Cycling …

[Read more →]

The US Green Building Council is moving toward a Housing version of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards: LEED-H.  Out of the box in the test program is a BASF demonstration home in New Jersey which will required 20% of the energy of comparable homes in the area.  This is part of BASF’s Better Home, Better Planet initiative.

[Read more →]

The Western Governor’s Association (WGA) merits credit on the energy front.  Schwarzenneger … Schweitzer … those Sch… guys are pushing forward on the energy front.  But, the letter before them might merit a bit more credit … Richardson …

[Read more →]

Use Renewably Generated Energy, Efficienty (URGE²).

This is the core concept of David Roberts, which he calls a Unifed Green Field Theory.

[Read more →]

The sound-machine created controversy over Al Gore’s home energy use has brought focus to an issue that merits focus. 

• Are “Carbon Offsets” simply 21st century indulgences for assuaging the guilt of those living a life at odds with their belief structure (whether real or simply proclaimed) or do they have real meaning?

[Read more →]