More and more, I’m beginning to think that our success as a nation – and as a species on this planet – depends on us looking back to our ancestors for wisdom and insight for survival. And, I think that will lead us to one overarching theme: Decentralization. As the human race became more modern […]
Last night’s 60 Minutes featured an important story about a town in China that has become a dumping ground for “recycled” electronics. Their reporters did some great undercover work, and managed to get physically assaulted in the process. You can view the segment below, or on CBS’s website.
I don’t know if me being excited about this Amazon announcement is more a statement of me as a person, or this crazy world we live in, and I don’t care. Amazon’s new Frustration-Free Packaging program they just launched is 10 shades of awesome. Everyone – customer, manufacturer, deliverer, and Amazon – wins. So anyway, […]
This may put me in a very small minority of Americans, but I think that opening up off-shore oil drilling (including ANWR) is one of the dumbest mistakes we could make as a country. Why? Opening up currently restricted off-shore areas wouldn’t have an effect until about 2017. If we started drilling in ANWR today, […]
I heard about a very promising new(ish) product called the Climate Energy Freewatt system a couple of weeks ago while listening to an episode of IEEE Spectrum Radio on the IT Conversations podcast channel. The Freewatt is a high efficiency heating furnace combined with a Honda power generator and a solid-state inverter, that uses your […]
For awhile now, I’ve been wondering when we’d see our first commercial diesel hybrid vehicle. The combination just makes perfect sense. Modern diesel engines are extremely efficient and clean burning, getting very good mileage on their own. Put one in the center of a hybrid system, and we’re talking miles per gallon currently unheard of […]
I’ve been slowly making my way through a backlog of podcasts since getting my new iPod for Christmas, and recently listened to a fascinating series of lectures on energy efficiency by world renowned expert, Amory Lovins. These lectures are being made available for free from the Social Innovation Conversations channel of the Conversation Network. In […]
Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to have an Xcel Energy employee come out to our house and perform a home energy audit. This program, subsidized by the company, gives you a very clear picture of types of things that could be improved to use less energy and ultimately save you money. Because our home […]
It seems that oil industry juggernaut BP launched a new advertising campaign for its gas stations early this month, called “Helios Power“. The goal is “to make things ‘a little better’” for customers of its BP Stations. In their own words: The theory behind ‘gas stations, a little better’ came from the insight that consumers […]
The next time you need to replace a light bulb in your house, consider using one of the compact fluorescent variety. They use less than 2/3 energy than regular incandescent bulbs, last 10 times longer, and will save you over $30 in energy costs over its lifetime. There have been a couple of eye-opening articles […]