Label Recognition: Wind Washing?

I came across an interesting article on the NY Times Environmental Blog that was talking about a new label that people may start to come across more as they are shopping.

A few companies are hoping that this label will begin to appear on products in the near future:

Now, a group of companies and environmental organizations, including the wind turbine maker Vestas and the World Wildlife Fund, have unveiled a new label that they hope will tug at consumers’ heartstrings by detailing to what extent wind power was used to make various products. Called “WindMade,” the label will be run by a nonprofit foundation and will require participating companies to undergo certification.

Exactly how the certification process will work has not yet been decided, and further details will be announced this month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the group behind the initiative said.

I want alternative energy to play a bigger role in the world, for both social and economic reasons, but I hope that the requirements to apply this label to your products are strict.

If any corporation that incorporates a fraction of wind energy in their utility bill can slap this label on their products, then I believe that this is just another form of "green washing" which can be seen all over the place these days.

I can appreciate that wind energy has suffered recently due to cheap natural gas cannibalizing demand to switch to wind turbines, but mislabeling products to spark demand for more wind energy is not the answer. It may work in the short run, but ultimately it cheapens the entire concept of clean energy and distracts from the real issues that clean energy is attempting to address.

I remain confident that companies like Vestas and organizations like the WWF will not screw this up, but this is certainly opening the door for other companies to end up creating their own labels that may not have the same standards.

Cape Wind: It Is About Time

Well look at that.  A week after announcing that I am switching over to a three-day posting regimen, I am finally posting something on time!

Today I woke up to an article about Cape Wind being cleared for construction, and my first reaction was similar to the last modern Star Wars movie:

"Finally, it is over."

Man, this character sucked.

The Cape Wind battle has been a long and relatively boring ordeal since its beginning in 2009. Never has there been a better demonstration of few rich old people holding up progress for their own aesthetic interests.  The main complaint was that the wind farm would destroy the scenic quality of the Nantucket Sound, which you can see in an artists rendition below:

You are probably thinking "EWWWWWW!," and who could blame you.  Those minuscule wind turbines are totally going to ruin the view out of your multi-million dollar beach house, but sacrifices MUST be made in the name of progress.

In all seriousness, this project has taken an unnecessarily long time to get to the construction phase, and hopefully once it is finally completed, it will set a precedent for other coastal areas to allow these farms to be constructed.  They don't damage the property value of these coastal residences at all, and may even increase the value over time with a cheaper source of energy.

Sunday Comics

Troll Science - (trollscience.com)

I'm pretty late to the party when it comes to the meme that was Troll Science, and while most of it is stupid and repetitive, the infinite zombie power made me laugh.

For The Nerds: Video Game Console Energy Consumption

Recently, a tradition has been developing with my family over the holidays.  I come home from the city, my brother comes back from Scotland, and we all get together and enjoy one another's company... for about 5 minutes.

After those blissful 5 minutes pass, my brother and I quickly retreat to the basement where I spend a good chunk of my time on this laptop job searching (hire me!) and he spends the better part of the day playing Call of Duty on Xbox 360.

Words cannot describe how annoyed my dad gets with us never moving from the basement, but what can you do?

This is relevant because today I read an article over on the NY Times Green Blog about power consumption levels and how the Xbox 360 is the most power hungry gaming system out there:

The Wii drew an average of 13.7 watts vs. 84.8 watts for the PlayStation and 87.9 for the Xbox. (The figures do not count the TV screens that the boxes must be connected to.)

It isn't surprising that the Wii is the least power hungry because Nintendo hasn't upgraded their graphics in at least the last 10 years.  It also isn't surprising that Xbox is the least efficient because the graphics are much more advanced than the Wii and the system itself hasn't truly been upgraded since its release in 2005.

Alone, these numbers aren't shattering records for energy consumption in the home, but when you consider the energy it takes to power a large television along with an internet router, along with the fact that there are over 41 million Xbox 360s sold around the world, it quickly becomes clear that these are true energy costs.

Do I think that people should stop playing video games? No.

Do I think people shouldn't play them as much? Probably... but good luck convincing my brother to do that.

Alternative Energy: The Super Friends

So there I was. One last final exam in between me and being done with school forever...and what do I do?

Naturally I spend a solid half hour relating the major forms of alternative energy to the Super Friends.

Procrastination at its finest!

Because alternative energy sources are going to have to work together in order to battle the Legion of Doom coal, I figured that this analogy would actually be relevant, so I'm going to go ahead and run with it.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Batman

• Batman is clearly the strongest candidate for comparison to hydrogen fuel cells. Batman has no real powers and is heavily reliant on advanced technology to get the job done. The same can be said for Hydrogen Fuel Cells, which are heavily reliant on technological breakthroughs to truly make an impact.

Energy Efficiency: Robin

• Robin suffers from being the side-kick to Batman, who is infinitely cooler than Robin could ever be. However, Batman would not have been as successful as he was without Robin. The same can be said for energy efficiency. All of these alternative energy sources are promising, but unless we are more efficient, power supplies will always be an issue.

Solar Energy: Superman

• Obviously Superman is going to be related to solar energy. Without the sun, both Superman as well as solar energy are useless.

Wind: Wonder Woman

• This is a weak comparison, but Wonder Woman had that invisible car, and wind is invisible, so there you go. Also, women are so full of hot air, yappin' on about this and that...am I right fellas?!!!...(*looks around for high-five*)

Tidal: Aquaman

• Tidal is one of the least talked about sources of alternative energy. Probably because it is so boring...like Aquaman. Seriously, what a terrible character.

In any event, this is probably my nerdiest blog post to date, but I've made peace with that because comic book heroes are awesome.  Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go attempt to actually study.

It's Always Solar In Philadelphia

I wrote this article a few days ago, but I refused to post it until after the Bears played the Eagles because I didn't want to jinx Chicago.  As it would turn out, the Bears didn't need my help and made Michael Vick look stupid all Sunday:

Go Bears!

Even though the Eagles couldn't figure out how to stay ahead of the Bears in Sunday's game, Philadelphia has found a way to jump way ahead of the rest of the NFL (as well as many other institutions) by investing heavily in alternative energy:

The Eagles have contracted with Orlando FL-based SolarBlue, a renewable energy and energy conservation company, to install approximately 80 20-foot spiral-shaped wind turbines on the top rim of the stadium, affix 2,500 solar panels on the stadium’s façade, build a 7.6 megawatt onsite dual-fuel cogeneration plant and implement sophisticated monitoring and switching technology to operate the system.

This is an amazing idea for stadiums, and I will not be surprised if we see many other franchises adopting these energy platforms at their own stadiums.

7.6 MW is more than enough to power the entire stadium allowing the Eagles to be free from playing hefty energy costs down the line.  Also, there will be an excess of energy left over that the stadium won't be able to use allowing Philadelphia to sell this energy back into the grid and actually make a profit (they are estimating ~4 MW).

The idea of selling excess energy back into the grid is nothing new.  The reason that Philadelphia's situation is so unique is that during the offseason the Philadelphia Eagles will be using barely any of this energy.  This will allow them to sell almost all of the 7.6 MW back into the grid enabling them to make money all year round off their stadium.

With all the wind that shoots around Soldier Field in Chicago, this seems like an obvious investment that will happen sooner than later.





Go Bears!

China Demonstrates The "Sputnik" Moment

Recently, Steven Chu gave a speech about how alternative energy is this generation's "Sputnik" moment. In short, he is referring to the fact that America is getting left behind in the race to be more advanced in our energy generation, and we can either sit back and watch or get up and fight back.

Echoing this point, Ernst & Young just released a report confirming that Asia is widening the gap in their use of alternative energies compared to the rest of the world.  For those keeping score, the rest of the world does in fact include the United States - a point that sometimes people tend to forget.

Because I don't want to do my own financial analysis of the alternative energy markets, I'm going to do what I do best and just copy and reference the work that others have done.  Take it from here Ernst & Young:

...Ernst & Young publishes a quarterly "country attractiveness" index for investors that ranks nations' renewable energy policies, renewable energy markets, and other factors...

...China's record spending on its wind industry this quarter represented nearly half of all funds invested in new wind projects around the world," the report states. "Figures released for the second quarter of 2010 showed that China invested around $10 billion in wind out of a global total of $20.5 billion...

 As I have stated before, money is the driving force behind any of these changes. Clearly China sees this, and other countries are indeed following their lead. It is only a matter of time before the policies in the US begin to open up more allowing for my investment and development, but it is quickly becoming clear that these things need to happen sooner than later for the US to stay competitive.

How Large Of An Environmental Footprint Do Renewables Have?

This morning I was sitting on the train and got into a conversation with a completely random person about alternative energy which I know is shocking to hear because it is a rare occasion for me to want to talk about this stuff...wait.

This person was asking me that if we are sacrificing so much land and resources to construct a wind turbine or solar energy field, are we really making a difference or if we are just trading one evil for another.

I can understand where this person was coming from, but I believe that this is a less complicated issue than they were making it out to be.  This is mainly because even though we are dedicating land and certain natural resources to the construction of an alternative energy infrastructure, these are mainly a one time "cost."  When it comes to coal or other non-renewable energy sources, these are ongoing "costs" to the environment through a constant emission of pollution.

The best analogy I can come up with is when you are taking off a bandaid:

• Investing resources towards clean energy is kind of like ripping off a bandaid quickly.  It may 'hurt' in the short run, but in the long run you will feel a lot better.
• Continuing with our current system of energy production is kind of like keeping a dirty bandaid on forever and you develop sepsis.  Yay!!!

In all seriousness, clean energy is clearly the way to go, and when you compare clean energy's costs vs. benefits against coal's costs vs. benefits, it is a no-brainer.

Reader Email: The Clean Coal Compromise

Yesterday in Sustainabili-City's Weekly Review I ended up talking briefly about John Boehner who is a strong proponent for clean coal and nuclear power. Understandably, this is troublesome for people who would like to see truly clean alternative energies begin to make a bigger impact in our electricity production.

However, as one reader points out, this doesn't necessarily mean that alternatives are doomed to a diminished rate of development for the next few years.

Mike says:

In my opinion, Boehner's push for clean coal and nuclear could be good in that it sets up a trade: $$ for that stuff so long as $$ go to renewables. Given the really, really long development time for clean coal and nuclear, the trade may work as renewable will bring more immediate results and people by nature are impatient.

This is a good point, and one of the numerous possibilities of collaboration from both sides of the "energy line" that can occur.

By dividing the funding that goes towards new energy plants, you can please both sides of the political spectrum by supporting the 'coal states' as well as mitigating the carbon footprint of these states with completely clean industries such as wind and solar.

Clearly, this an extremely oversimplified statement of how these policies are developed, funded, and implemented - but as we have seen in the past, strong-arming one-sided policies through our system just doesn't work because our checks and balances do their job wonderfully by allowing the minority side to slam on the breaks and halt all productivity.

Like I have said before and will continue to say in the future, these changes are going to require cooperation and compromises from all sides of the government.

On a sillier note, here is one of my more favorite viral videos about clean coal:

Does Sustainability Mean Sacrificing Aesthetic Value?

One of the shallower complaints about alternative energy, most notably wind energy, is that the structures are not aesthetically pleasing.  These complaints hit a fever pitch during the debates about placing a wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod in the Nantucket Sound when old rich people said that it would ruin the scenery.

The fact is that these wind turbines would have been barely visible from the shoreline, amplified by the fact that most of the people fighting Cape Wind are over 60 with worsening eyesight, really rubs me the wrong way...but that is neither here nor there.

Today I stumbled across some pictures of some gorgeous sustainable architecture that can be found in Miami.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but these are great examples of the unlimited possibilities of green architecture and why we need to keep on challenging ourselves to be more efficient without thinking that we need to sacrifice style.

Estimated completion in 2011.
(http://www.oppenoffice.com/)

View from inside.
(http://www.oppenoffice.com/)

For more information and pictures, go to GreenMuze or Oppenheim.

Tidal Energy Is Making Important Strides

It is quickly becoming clear that big battles are rapidly approaching on the political horizon, and I am going to do my best to cover these events as thoroughly as I possibly can. However, I won’t be getting to those things until tomorrow because I still need time to wrap my head around the numerous issues that are popping up.

Right now I’m going to talk about a notable event in the world of alternative energy. While the alternative energy marketplace is dominated by news about wind and solar developments, today marks the day that a shallow-water tidal energy system in the UK has been successfully tested and proven.

*Yes. I made that comparison just so I could post this picture from one of the best South Park episodes ever.

While the media views tidal energy as the red headed stepchild* of the alternative energy community, it is important that this technology is still being researched and developed. This is because at the end of the day, no matter how well wind and solar are performing, they are subject to their natural limitations:

• Wind
• Produces the most energy at night
• Windiest in remote areas leading to transmission issues
• Subject to pressure systems
• Solar
• Only producing energy during the day
• Subject to cloud cover
• Not as effective in the further Northern and Southern Hemispheres

The point of listing these limitations isn’t to suggest that these technologies are inefficient in addressing our energy needs. Instead, it is to show that it will take a collaborative effort between multiple technologies in order to make clean energy work. This is why the further development of tidal energy is wonderful and necessary because it can help lessen the burden on wind and solar technologies.

Obviously tidal energy is only really useful where there are tides (“Thanks, Professor!”), but when coasts contain some of the most densely populated cities and ports; tidal energy makes sense. By combining tidal energy with offshore wind farms, clean energy stands to make a large dent in the energy consumption of these areas.

Weekly Review - November 5, 2010

Every Friday I take a break from covering individual topics and instead highlight the most notable stories from the previous week in an attempt to give you some talking points for the weekend.

Tesla & Panasonic

• The What
• Tesla, the cutting-edge electric car manufacturer, has partnered with Panasonic to pursue more energy-efficient and powerful batteries for their cars.

• Why You Care
• Panasonic has already been working with Toyota on the Prius to make their fleet of hybrids as efficient as possible, and Toyota has already been working with Tesla to advance the industry – so it only makes sense that Tesla and Panasonic begin to work together.

• Batteries have always been one of the biggest points that has held back electric car development due to range anxiety. Even though many (all) of my readers can’t exactly afford the Tesla Roadster, it is encouraging to see such prominent companies attempting to tackle these issues because it will ultimately benefit the entire industry.

Proposition 23 Defeated

• The What
• Prop. 23 was a proposal to suspend the important Global Warming law established in California that essentially demands a higher level of air pollution control.

• Why You Care
• This is an important victory because Prop. 23 was heavily funded by many out of state heavy-hitters (mainly oil-companies). By defeating such a heavily funded campaign by the oil industry, this is setting an example that others states can adopt more stringent air quality standards leading to the establishment of more efficient energy sources and practices.

Election Stuff

• The What
• There was an election this week? First I have heard about it.

• Why You Care
• People have a tendency to overreact to election results, no matter what they are. I talked earlier this week about how people need to not live and die on these results because I do believe that it is a healthier to believe that the last two years were worthless and the next two are hopeless...with that said, it is disappointing to hear about so many plans to unravel the positive environmental actions that have been in the works, such as high-speed rail systems.

High-speed Rail Under Attack

• The What
• High-speed rail is one of the more promising energy-efficient and environmentally friendly forms of public transportation that has been proposed in America in a long time. Up until now, there have been great strides towards making this a reality.

• Why You Care
• Europe has been enjoying these systems for a long time now, and it is about time that America started to catch up. However, almost immediately after the elections took place this past Wednesday, there is talk in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Florida about halting the development of these systems.  This is an incredibly shortsighted attempt by politicians to flex their political muscles and will do nothing but stunt America’s growth. Here are just a few things that will suffer:

• Infrastructure
• Energy Security
• Environmental Health
• Job Creation
• Tourism
• Innovation

Sustainabili-City Posts

Finally, here are the posts that you might have missed from the past week:

• Sustainable Products Require Certain Adjustments
• Range Anxiety Presents Opportunities - Not Limitations
• Don't Live Or Die On Election Results
• Disney Setting A Good Example With Energy Efficiency

Thanks to those that have been commenting! Have a good weekend!

Disney Setting A Good Example With Energy Efficiency

CP, an incredibly good-looking* reader, sent in a message the other day highlighting Disney’s effort to make their theme parks more energy efficient and sustainable environments. These suggestions range from making sure that the lights are turned off when you are leaving the room to keeping the thermostat at a reasonable level.

Found on the inside door of hotel suites.

These are all just simple energy saving tips that anyone can do. What is so important about Disney posting these signs in every room is that it is instilling these sustainable habits into children at a young age...and apparently 20-somethings. If there is one thing that Disney is good at, it is trying to plant (sometimes creepy) messages and lessons into people’s minds.

Another important factor with these messages is that being more energy efficient just makes good business sense. To put it into perspective, if college dorms in University of North Carolina can save more than $950,000 on their energy bill, then expand that idea on a scale as large as Disney World’s campus.

I’m not a mathematician (as many of you will painfully become aware of as you continue to read this blog), but it doesn’t take a genius to see the millions of dollars Disney can save if these energy saving tactics are followed.

With all that saved money, you can just imagine the possibilities for Disney:

• Invest in solar panels to further reduce their energy footprint.
• Invest in smart grid technologies to more accurately monitor their energy distribution.
• Make the ‘Small World’ ride even more obnoxious!
• Two Words: Aussie Disney (you heard it hear first)

The point of all this is that Disney is setting a wonderful example for other businesses across America as well as the rest of the world. By saving money on your energy consumption, you can direct that money elsewhere to improve your business model and enjoy a fatter bottom-line.

All of this stuff has a pesky side-effect of being beneficial to the environment as well, but you would have to be a hippie to care about that kind of thing…right?

*Editors Note: Levels of hotness may be exaggerated** in order to protect feelings.








**Seriously though. Smoking hot.

Don't Live Or Die On Election Results

Judging by commentary on Twitter as well as overhearing conversations on the train today, apparently there was an election yesterday – and here I was thinking that John Stewart and Steven Colbert were just giving away free entertainment this past Saturday.

Seeing that most people treat elections like a sporting event by being really opinionated the morning after a win (or loss) and then becoming less animated about the results a day or two later, I’m not going to waste my time talking about this too much.

Republicans:
Congrats, I guess.

Democrats:
Sorry for your luck.  Just think of this as another reason that it may be better to be color-blind*.

*That and solving a Rubik's cubes is a snap!

No matter what your political affiliation is, here are some positive (or potentially positive) environmental things that came out of the elections yesterday:

• Proposition 23 in California was defeated despite the heavy amount of funding from out of state sources.

• 25 of the 42 Democrats who voted against the climate bill lost their seats.

The Democrats losing their seats is loosely positive because one way to view it is that these seats will be filled with people that are more open-minded towards environmental issues, but another way to look at this is that these seats are potentially filled with people that are going to be no different.

Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure though; any progress on the environmental front will have to be a cooperative effort from both sides. The best way that this can happen is when politicians from both sides begin to see the economic benefits of pursuing alternative energy and sustainable practices - which is exactly how our government is supposed to work in the first place.

"Range Anxiety" Presents Opportunities - Not Limitations

This past Friday during Sustainabili-City's Weekly Review, I briefly talked about range anxiety and how it can adversely affect sales of electric cars.

For those that don’t know what range anxiety is, a brief explanation is that electric cars have approximately a 40-50 mile driving range before the car needs to be charged again. This has been striking fear at the heart of potential electric car consumers, and on the surface it is understandable.

Is the Tesla expensive? Yes.
Awesome? Definitely.
Worth it? Maybe not (yet).

The numbers vary depending on the source, but the average American drives between 30 and 40 miles per day. This means that at the initial level of technology these cars are being released at, the battery capacity is just bordering on the limit of a day of driving (not true for the Nissan Leaf which boasts 100 miles of battery capacity).

However, I believe that as you begin to dig deeper into the issues, range anxiety becomes less of an issue for the following reasons:

• I would argue that range limitations present at the release of these electric cars will actually lead to more innovation. These innovations will range from ‘charging stations’ that mimic gas stations to the newer concept of charging your car as you drive in special lanes which is being demonstrated by HaloIPT.

• The fuel cell industry is one of the most dynamic technology industries today, and as electric cars are introduced into the marketplace, competition to develop a more efficient and longer lasting battery cell will grow and the electric car’s driving range will benefit.

• Many of these electric vehicles that are going to be released contain a small gas engine in the event that you do run through all of their battery’s capacity, which would either enable you to make it home (or an ‘electric station’) where you can then recharge your vehicle.

• At running the risk of repeating what I said yesterday, sometimes sustainable products require us to change our consumption behavior.  If the biggest problem with electric cars is that people need to be more responsible when planning their driving routes to the grocery store or work, then I say that is a small price to pay when trying to reduce our country's dependency on oil.

It is easy to just hear the term ‘range anxiety’ and decide that you aren’t going to make the transition to a (cleaner, smarter, cooler) electric car.  However, I believe after taking the bullet points above into consideration these concerns of ‘range anxiety’ are mitigated and consumers shouldn’t let these things deter from making the transition.

Also, aside from the obvious clean benefits of driving an electric car, other clean industries will benefit from the release of electric cars:

• Solar
• Wind
• Fuel Cell
• Smart Grid

                              ...but more on that later.

Sunday Comics

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
(http://www.smbc-comics.com/)

At one point while living in my first apartment in Chicago, I actually thought about doing this.  Then I realized I had no idea where to begin and ordered a pizza.

Weekly Review - October 29, 2010

Every Friday, I will review the big developments that happened during the week so that you can stay current and (attempt to) sound smart when talking to others.

Range Anxiety

• The What - This is a term that has been thrown around for a while now, but it has been popping up more and more in the coverage of electric cars.

• Why You Care - Even though people don’t typically drive more than 40 miles on a daily basis, the fear that your car could run out of power while driving is a legitimate fear that could damage the sales of these cars. Like the first iPhone, battery capacity will improve over time, but initial purchases need to take place to provide the developers with capital they can reinvest into development.

Naval Biofuel

• The What - Not a day went by this week without Sustainabili-City’s twitter account being inundated with headlines referring to the Navy testing out a Command Boat that runs on a 50% mix of algae-based biofuel.

• Why You Care - Whenever the military begins purchasing a new technology ($424/gallon of algae-biofuel), new markets begin to emerge as the developers enjoy a new source of funding. Think cell-phones or the internet.

Wind Declining

• The What - In a report released by AWEA, the wind energy industry is slowing down to levels previously recorded in 2007. This is most evident when considering that Vestas laid off 3,000 workers this past week.

• Why You Care - Damnit. Oscillations happen all the time in new (and old) industries as they try to discover the efficient level of operation and growth, but this definitely is a punch in the balls.

Environmentally Friendly Halloween Costumes

• The What - If you are like 80% of people, you have waited until the last moment to figure out what you are going to be for Halloween.

• Why You Care - Face it. Halloween is the most enjoyable holiday of the year and you should never pass up an opportunity to celebrate with friends. With these last minute ideas, you can create a great costume out of things you potentially already have saving you from spending a lot of money on something that you will potentially only wear once.

My Favorite

Copy and Paste

Not often will I blatantly quote the New York Times, but it is Thursday and I have turned almost all of my attention towards my costume for Halloween this weekend - so...

Plagiarism on!

Updating and expanding the electrical grid to accommodate new sources of energy will be the biggest challenge, and will require partnerships among states, federal authorities, the utilities and private investors. The Google project could be crucial to delivering wind power to Eastern cities, but major investments will also be needed in the West and Southwest. President Obama recently declared that no industry has greater potential to create jobs than clean energy. He is right. But it is never going to happen unless the administration and Congress do a lot more to push it ahead.

The entire article can be found here at the NY Times' website, but essentially it talks about how America needs to pick it up when it comes to alternative energy programs.

I will hammer this point forever.  You don't have to be a hippie or some idealist to see the benefits in alternative energy and energy efficiency along with other sustainable movements.

These things create jobs.
                 Jobs create money.
                            Money buys things.
                                    Things being bought sustain other jobs...and so it goes.

I can go on a huge rant about national security and environmental benefits that stem from these things, but I'll save that for another day.

Try to tell me that pursuing these technologies and practices are not the rational next move.

D.I.Y.D: Using Outlet Timers To Shut Down Power Vampires

Most of the time you are going to find me talking about developments that will eventually impact your lives. Despite the (hopefully) exciting nature of these developments, the vast majority of readers won’t experience the full benefits for some time.

That is where these D.I.Y.D (Do It Yourself, Damnit) posts come into play. I will regularly post things you can do in your daily lives that will save you money and help you lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

One of the most common suggestions made when talking about methods to reduce your energy consumption around the house is to connect your energy hungry appliances (televisions, entertainment systems, etc) to a surge protector and turn the protector off when you are not using the appliances.

While this is a great suggestion and does provide a noticeable level of relief on your electric bill, it can become somewhat of a hassle. This is especially noticeable when you have a large entertainment system or computer system that is constantly draining power, but to unplug it when you aren’t using it means you would have to move a large desk (or in some college student’s cases, an elaborate systems of milk crates).

To help make it easier to stick to this plan, go out and buy an outlet timer and plug your surge protector into it. These allow you to set certain times during the week where the timer will switch off the surge protector for you.

An example of this would be that you have your outlet timer switch everything off during the hours you are at work and at night while you sleep. Timers are relatively cheap and eliminate the ‘I can’t believe I forgot to switch off my entertainment system…again’ moments.

You may ask, “But dude, what if I am playing Halo: Reach on Xbox at 3 AM and the timer shuts off my system. Won’t that lose all my progress?”

To this concern I respond, “Well, person who still says ‘dude,’ I would be more concerned about playing video games at 3 AM, go to bed.”

Yes, it is convenient to have your entertainment system supplied with power all the time because you can turn it on at will, but these are also some of the largest unnecessary drains on power found in households.

By introducing a little discipline to your life, an outlet timer becomes a small and effective step towards making your home more energy efficient, and will make the wait for new energy technologies to become available less strenuous (while also developing some good habits along the way).

Green ($) Technology

There is a great article over at Grist talking about the progress that has been taking place in America at the state level regarding alternative energy and efficiency initiatives.

I encourage everyone to read the entire article here, but the main point of the article is that despite all the positive movement, the clean-energy sector is at risk of being crippled by certain politicians running for governor of their respective states.

I know, I'm shocked as well.

My favorite excerpt is:

"Of the 37 Republicans running for governor this fall, 22 reject the science of climate change..."

I'm going to go ahead and ignore the part of my brain that is screaming at people ignoring simple scientific trends and current events and instead present another argument:  Alternative Energy presents an opportunity to make and save (a lot of) money.

Are you kidding me?!?!?!!

Money is good.  This is something that most people can agree upon no matter what their political views are.  So, even if you don't believe that the climate is going to shift due to our continually increasing carbon emissions (duh*), it would be politically irresponsible to ignore the opportunity to create jobs and make money off of these technologies.

Job creation is one of the biggest issues today and alternative energy has the potential to help mitigate this issue.  To simply dismiss these technologies due to political reasons is short-sighted and backwards.

There are countless examples of alternative energy and sustainable living programs popping up all over the country (many of which I am listing on Sustainabili-city's Twitter page), politicians just need to wake up and realize the money making potential of these programs.

Oh yeah, and while the money is being made and saved, there is a side-effect of making the world a cleaner place...if living in a clean environment is your sort of thing.



*I rarely say 'duh,' which should give you an indicator of how I feel about climate change.