While there is a running debate as to whether to go totally off-grid or partially off-grid, there is no question in people’s minds about wanting to save on their monthly electric bills. In fact, some are looking to either reduce or totally eliminate their dependency on fossil fuels by improvising their own electric system by the use of solar panels and other solar energy means. (more…)
Are your gas, heating and electricity bills going through the roof? Were you wondering how your home can run on less energy? Being environmentally conscious is not only a popular notion of keeping our planet healthier and cleaner, it will also a great way to save money. Sometimes even implementing simple modifications will save you from financial headaches. It will require some lifestyle changes, but you have the means and the power to make it happen. (more…)
Each year around Earth Day, Kelley Blue Book publishes its list of the Top 10 Green Cars. Whenever I see something like this, I’m reminded of how few people understand the environmental impact of electric vehicles, which includes at a minimum, the following:
• In the U.S. right now, incremental loads on the grid at night are met by burning coal. (more…)
If you’re considering home improvements and renovations and want to incorporate your eco-friendly attitude and beliefs into your projects, you’ll discover several ways in which you can do so. The wealth of energy-efficient home improvements available to modern consumers gives added cost savings that mount up over the years, while purchasing products containing significant amounts of recycled materials gives additional environmentally friendly initiatives to your projects.
Eco-Friendly Renovations for Your Home (more…)
Summer celebrations are national events throughout the world, but while they may seem to be straightforward events, they’re filled with decisions. Whether it’s your grill or your garden furniture, there are always ways we can add to the fun while maintaining an environmentally friendly attitude.
The Best Type of Grill (more…)
While hydrogen fuel is being touted as a cleaner and potentially more affordable alternative to gasoline than electricity, it is still far from being the ideal transportation fuel, considering that the most common methods for producing hydrogen nowadays are not entirely green, as they release certain amounts of carbon dioxide, and are quite expensive, as well. Scientists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University now claim that they have found a way to change that, and create a method for producing hydrogen fuel that would cut costs and would not have any harmful emissions. (more…)
There may be small pockets of the U.S. with higher concentrations of well-educated liberals than Santa Barbara, CA—perhaps Berkeley or Cambridge. In any case, as one could predict, Santa Barbara hosts a whale of an Earth Day celebration each year, replete with literally hundreds of booths manned by people with pro-environmental products: solar PV, zero-emission vehicles, artificial grass, cutting-edge insulation technology, solar lighting, etc. Along with the products are environmental concepts and causes more generally, e.g., sustainable fishing, public radio, progressive political candidates and encouraging the overthrow of oppressive regimes.
Some of these concepts are loftier than others. Of note is “A Year Without War,” whose purpose is to create, by the year 2020, a social movement large enough to tip history away from war as a solution to our disagreements with one another.
My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth. – George Washington
Something to think about.
Question: According to Australia’s Institute for Economics and Peace, how much money would the world have saved if it had been at peace since 2006?
Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.
Relevance: In addition to the obvious (death, injury, bereft loved ones, displacement of refugees, etc.) this enormous cash savings ($5600 for every man, woman and child on the planet) could have advanced world literacy and health, and/or been used to turn around the devastation we’re wreaking on our environment.
The techniques and technology for increasing the sustainability and energy efficiency of your home have never been so abundant and affordable. A study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance has determined that the U.S. is spending roughly 250 billion dollars a year on sustainability, and this push for eco-friendly construction has brought down the prices of the technology considerably. The cost of solar panel installations has dropped a jaw dropping 99 percent over the last 36 years according to a PVinsights study, but the biggest benefit of the sustainability movement has been the flood of information on the subject. It is now easier than ever to read about and incorporate ingenious methods of improving the energy efficiency of your home. (more…)
Americans are unique in the way they shift their viewpoints, and that seems to be true regardless of which type of “viewpoint” we’re discussing: political issues, the appreciation of a new musical genre, and even the acceptance of basic science.
Having said that, when we Americans do change our positions, we do it in a big way. (more…)
