From Guest Blogger Tom Grant: Discovering Drafts and Leaks — How to Make the Most of Your Home Energy Audit
Leaky windows make your home drafty and send your home heating and cooling costs through the roof. The obvious leaks will catch your attention, but it’s the hidden ones that can sap the heat and cold air from your house and dollars from your wallet.
A professional home energy audit costs money, but it’s a financially sound investment if it lowers your energy bill. Your decision to take a do-it-yourself approach depends on your energy savvy. (more…)
I did a radio show yesterday on an ultra-right-wing talk program whose host wanted to explore the issues of new energy, climate change, etc. The guy, a gentleman by the name of Charles Heller, did a really good job, but the experience served as a reminder of a profound truth: people gravitate to sources of information that tell them what they want to hear.
I thought I’d pass along the status of my new Nickel/Iron batteries. They have arrived from China and passed through customs and are now on a truck from Colorado to my house. Arrival is expected on Thursday. I am really looking forward to this and hoping these batteries are all that I have been led to believe they are. I will post about them again after I have them installed and operating.
Consumers often consider disposal, rather than repair, when faced with a broken appliance. Many of these consumers are not considering the costly implications of disposing of appliances. Yes, eventually all appliances break and must be replaced. However, as consumers purchase more appliances, they spend more money and increasingly contribute to environmental destruction. 
Here in the United States, we burn approximately 28 billion gallons of diesel per year, the equivalent of 42,000 Olympic-size swimming pools; this is 31% of the world’s total, and results in the emission of 311 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere (not to mention an array of different toxins). What if there were a quick and easy way to get rid of one-third of this horrific byproduct of trucking our cargo around? 
This afternoon I was reminded of an important fact: the promotional work that authors of renewable energy books do isn’t always relaxing, fun, and productive. I (foolishly?) had agreed to do an 
There are several species of bamboo in the world. They are used in furniture, construction, decorative purposes and some of them become breakfast, lunch and dinner to Pandas – yes, an adult Panda can easily devour 25 to 40 kgs of bamboo every single day to meet the energy demand of their fat bodies. Now bamboos are ready to suffice out energy needs as well. 
I’m not sure I made too many new friends on the talk radio show I did this morning on a politically conservative AM station in Arizona – a red state if there ever were one. I mentioned that the U.S. is mixed in terms of environmental sensibilities, but that many other places on Earth, e.g., Europe, really “get this.” 
