From the New York Times on Wednesday, June 11, 2009:
Environmental savings can be elusive, and the benefits and costs confusing. To help households wade through the information, consultants armed with stepladders and gadgets are selling advice on energy efficiency, indoor air quality and even methods for creating an eco-conscious wardrobe.
The field of personal and home [...]
How green is your shelter?
June 11th, 2009 · No Comments
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Recycling · Sustainable Living
Green building can present new legal risks
June 1st, 2009 · No Comments
From the New York Times on Friday, May 29, 2009:
Building green can open the door to plenty of legal pitfalls, a new study warns.
The study, by Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law & Policy Clinic and sponsored by Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, a Philadelphia law firm, says that green building raises a number of liability [...]
Category: Building Structure · Legislation and Policy · Sustainable Living
Obama orders energy efficiency standards upgraded
May 11th, 2009 · No Comments
From the New York Times on Thursday, February 5, 2009:
President Obama ordered the Energy Department on Thursday to immediately draft long-overdue standards to make a variety of appliances and light bulbs more energy efficient.
Over the last three decades, Congress has demanded stricter efficiency standards on 30 categories of products, as varied as residential air-conditioners and [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Legislation and Policy · Sustainable Living
The biggest energy source? Efficiency!
May 11th, 2009 · No Comments
From Yale University’s environment360, posted on 11/26/08, retrieved on Friday, February 27, 2009:
Yale Environment 360: You have called energy efficiency “the largest, cheapest, safest, cleanest, fastest way to provide energy services.” How do you quantify that claim? For example, how large, how cheap, how fast?
Amory Lovins: Oh, for example, in the United States we could [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Recycling · Sustainable Living
Alaska’s first geothermal utility
April 27th, 2009 · No Comments
From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Sunday, April 26, 2009:
Naknek Electric Association, banking on a decade of geothermal research and planning, is preparing to drill an exploration well near King Salmon in a multimillion dollar project with potential to provide power to 28 villages in southwest Alaska.
“We are very excited about the potential geothermal resource [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Sustainable Living
Making alternative energy sources reliable
April 27th, 2009 · No Comments
From npr.org, posted on Monday, April 27, 2009:
The Obama administration wants to rebuild the national electricity grid that delivers power to everyone’s toasters and televisions. One reason is that the grid can’t handle all the new solar and wind power the president wants to build to create a greener energy economy.
Here’s the problem: Solar and [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Legislation and Policy · Sustainable Living
Alaska biofuels list
April 1st, 2009 · No Comments
While meandering along a garden(ing) path through the Internet, I came across a great publication produced by the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the State of Alaska Plant Materials Center. It’s called “Alaska Biofuels Past, Present and Future” and includes a short history of the use of plant [...]
Category: Alaskan Efforts · Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Sustainable Living
Solar incentives may light up US homeowners’ pocketbooks
March 18th, 2009 · No Comments
From the New York Times on Wednesday, March 18, 2009:
Solar cells adorn the roofs of many homes and warehouses across Germany, while the bright white blades of wind turbines are a frequent sight against the sky in Spain.
If one day these machines become as common on the plains and rooftops of the United States as [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Legislation and Policy · Sustainable Living
Smart grid could mean teaching consumers how to use less
March 10th, 2009 · No Comments
From the Washington Post on Tuesday, March 10, 2009:
One gizmo allows you to run the dishwasher when electricity is cheapest. Another decides when to fire up the water heater if you plan on a 6 a.m. shower. Another routes solar energy from a rooftop panel to a battery in your garage and the wiring in [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Legislation and Policy · Recycling · Sustainable Living
More clean energy tax credits for homeowners
March 6th, 2009 · 1 Comment
From the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office, posted on 2/18/09, retrieved on Friday, March 6, 2009:
President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, and the tax section of the act provides greater tax credits for clean energy projects at homes and businesses and [...]
Category: Energy, Information · Energy, Renewable · Legislation and Policy · Recycling · Sustainable Living
