While looking over some of the comments on my Human Bicycle Power post I found one that linked to the YouTube video of a group of cyclists working to power one family's home. I highly recommend watching the video because it helps to give you an idea of the amount of power we use in our daily...
While in D.C. over Memorial Day weekend I visited the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences. The museum itself was very small and really only consisted of two exhibits; one on infectious diseases and one on Global Warming. They did have a table set up at the entry...
I was fortunate enough to spend Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C. My wife and I went up for a wedding and I was able to see the great exhibit on Electricity that is at the National Museum of American History. But while I was there I realized I forgot to reprogram my thermostats so they...
When most people hear "Solar Power" they think solar PV, but there is a simpler form of solar: Solar Thermal. Renewable Energy World had an article today about a California program focused on increasing solar thermal in the state. From the article:
Through the close of 2007, the state with the...
It is getting hot here in Atlanta. I can no longer just leave the windows open to stay cool; I must rely on my air conditioning units. We've been in our town home for over 2 years now so I figured it was time to have an AC service technician come out and do some routine maintenance on our AC...
My Electronic Digital Timer
We all have electronic devices in our homes that we don't need on all the time, but sometimes it's a pain to constantly turn them off and on ourselves (switches are just so hard to operate sometimes). That's where electronic timers come in handy. I wrote about...
Earlier today a reader commented on a blog post on the Nissan Leaf electric car questioning the economic viability of Leaf and the Chevy Volt. He said,
What is the economic practicality of fully electric cars like the Leaf or the Chevy Volt? I don’t have the detailed specs on the Leaf but I do...
On Friday I heard a touching story on NPR about Greensburg, Kansas and their efforts to rebuild sustainably. Greensburg was flattened by a tornado three years ago, and the town leaders didn't just decide they were going to rebuild, they decided they were going to rebuild the right way:...
My Attic Air Duct
The following article was written by Rod MacKenzie, an energy auditor based in Atlanta. Rod operates Green Building Resources, which is a residential energy auditing firm that provides customers with the products and services they need to make their home more comfortable and...
The first car I purchased on my own was in the Fall of 2006 and was a V6 Saturn Aura. I wanted a hybrid. But back then they were just outside of my price range. For my outside sales job I needed a 4 door vehicle and seeing as I drive in and around a city (Atlanta) - where almost all of the...
In my short career in industrial sales I've been into all types of facilities: nuclear/hydro/coal power plants, chemical plants, drinking water facilities, car manufacturers, chicken plants (live chickens in one door, plastic wrapped chicken - minus feathers, head, feet - out the other), chewing...
Nashville is experiencing some of the worst floods in the city's history due to the near 16 inches of rain the city received over the weekend. According to CNN the rains this weekend were responsible for 27 deaths in the Southeast:
At least 27 deaths were blamed on flooding in the Southeast, 18...
Me (this actually looks like me) with no A.C.
I'm forgoing electricity, natural gas, and plumbed-in water in my home for one month. For the month of May I'm going to be living completely off-grid.
No more air conditioning, mechanically washed/dried clothes, casseroles/roast chicken/eggs/toast....
You probably know by now that I'm a big fan of Thomas Friedman. And his post yesterday in the NY Times titled, "Failure is not an option" is too good not to share. The article is about the opportunity for the U.S. to take the lead on Energy Technology, but right now we are playing second fiddle...
A friend showed me a link for a Sunforce 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit on Amazon that was being manufactured/distributed by SunForce Products. On their website SunForce states: "Sunforce Products Inc. is a leading manufacturer and master distributor of renewable energy products. Our leading and...
Recently I was in Dayton, Ohio for work. While returning my rental car on a beautiful 70° F April morning I was greeted by a very helpful employee of the rental car company. She asked how the car was and if there was anything they could have done to improve. At first I said "no" and that I was...
Below are the contents of an article written by Wendy Koch for USA Today that appeared on Earth Day titled, "Blueprint for a green house". Wendy also writes for a USA Today blog titled, "Green House".
I've taken snippets of her 10 tips with a few comments by me in italics, but I highly recommend...
That's right. Forget about Earth Day. Well....that's not exactly what I mean to say. What I mean to say is don't forget about the other 364 non-Earth Days. Actually, what I really would like to do is change the name of Earth Day to "Sustainability Day". And then, after my re-branding...
Austin, Texas is known to be one of the most sustainable cities in the state, if not the entire U.S. And while the greenest form of transportation (bicycle) is promoted by one of its most famous residents, Lance Armstrong, it seems that the city is making great headway in electric cars and car-...
*Updated - 9/12/11 - Since this article originally appeared, I have started working for a company that actually performs lighting retrofits. We have yet to recommend LED tubes because there are still some quality concerns due to poor removal of heat on early LED tubes. Before purchasing LED tubes...