I’m not the President, King, or any of your choice(s) of holy deity. But if I were, this would be a starting place for my 10 Commandments of Energy.

I’d love feedback on this - what SHOULD a modern energy 10 Commandments look like?

1. Institute carbon cap & trade system that is synchronized with the European Climate Exchange. This will accelerate development of renewables and cleaner fuels by making the worst emitters the most expensive. Current ECX carbon emission prices are approximately $30 per ton. At this price, many conventional coal plants have a power cost of about $0.08 per kWh vs. about $0.05 for large scale solar – accelerating the switch to renewables.

2. Nations should halt fuel subsidies which increase oil demand, drive up world energy prices, hurt government financial stability and create political instability. Nearly half the world’s population receives subsidized fuel which increases world demand perhaps 15%. The worst offenders are China, India, Iran, Malaysia (recently ended subsidies), Venezuela, Brasil and Mexico. These countries are increasingly trapped in a failed policy that has addicted their citizens to uneconomical practices while increasing foreign debt....
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The US could get 20% of its electricity from this source (Japan and European countries get 35% of their power this way), but we get only 8% of our power this way because it's usually illegal for onsite electricity generators to connect to the grid due to laws designed to protect monopoly electricity producers.

We think this law needs to change - and the Lieberman-Warner climate bill in Congress now is sort of designed to help here. However its misguided micro-management bureaucracy means it is unlikely to solve the problem.

If you agree with us, click here to email your Representative and Senator and tell them you support recycled energy with as few restrictions as possible.

Tags: Industry, Recycling

At the root of things, Americans don't want to see ugly oil wells from their SUVs. This is NIMBYism of the worst sort and with 80% of the world's oil now controlled by national oil companies like Russia, Iran, Venezuela and Saudia Arabia, we strongly think it is time to rethink this policy.

What's at stake?

• California: 7 to 10 Billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE) plus 16 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of clean natural gas are sitting a few miles off Southern California. This energy can make California self-sufficient for over 15 years while we become more efficient and develop alternatives.

• East Coast Offshore: 4 BBOE plus 37 TCF of gas.
• Gulf of Mexico: 44 BBOE - fortunately this is now tappable after a federal law change in 2006


U.S. Coastal reserves are significantly larger than those in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) with around 8 BBOE. We favor drilling in ANWR because we believe it is folly to buy oil produced under far less careful conditions in Siberia's similar ecosystem than to do it here. Alaska also has up to 26 BBOE in challenging offshore waters - we are not sure drilling here is prudent.

Tags: Energy, Oil

40% of the water we use in our homes goes down our sink, shower and washer drains as "grey water." With just a little low-cost on-site treatment, grey water can be made crystal clear (Grade A) and usable to flush toilets, water gardens & vegetables and wash cars. Smart states like Arizona and now Los Angeles, see grey water as a source of water. Here's how it works:

1. Homes and other buildings need separate gray and black (toilet) water systems - retrofitting is usually not economical.
2. For use of more than a few hundred gallons, grey water processors such as those Perpetual Water need to that turn grey water into crystal clear Grade A water must be installed and maintained for each home or building. The grey water is reprocessed into crystal clear water that is actually drinkable and re-routed back to toilets, garden or greenway watering and hoses.

Gray water reuse cuts residential area water consumption dramatically by recycling the gray water AND cuts the amount of sewage that needs to be processed by 2/3rds. That's smart.

Tags: Water

Quiet Revolution:  A steady quiet revolution is starting to happen in more than 100 cities worldwide.  More and more, people are turning in their cars and opting for car sharing program. You might have seen these shared cars with the ZipCar or City CarShare logo on them.  

How it got started: Car sharing first launch in 1987 in Switzerland, then came to North America via Quebec City in 1993. Car sharing is growing over 50% per year today as of January this year, there are approximately 50,000 fewer vehicles congesting our roads and environment, with over 200,000 people sharing roughly 5,000 cars.  

Cool Cars: BMWs, Prius, Volvo, Pickups, MINI convertibles, vans, and

How it works:  Reserve the vehicle you want - by phone or Internet (you can often see them on a map), 24-hours-a-day - that best suits your needs - BMW to van, and use it for a few hours, or a week. Pay per trip (typically $5 - 8 per hour), and never have to pay for repairs, insurance, gas, or monthly parking again.

Find out if a share car is right for you. We found is not only good to you personally, it's also supports your community and aids the environment.  Here's how...

Why Car Sharing is Good for You:
- Cheaper than owning a car if you drive less than 10,000 miles per year.
- Eliminates car payments, maintenance, insurance, and best of all, you don't have to shell out for ghastly gasoline prices; it's included! (AAA finds the typical medium size car costs around 60 cents per mile to operate.)
- Encourages you to chose healthier alternatives for transportation such as biking or walking
- Get to drive new and different models each time

Why Car Sharing is Good for Your Local Economy:
- Encourages you to shop locally
- Leverages local public transportation - decongesting the roadways and parking

Good for the Environment:
- Reduces energy inefficiencies by encouraging you to combine trips & plan routes since you are paying by the hour
- Typically takes 6 cars off the road (and parking) per share car
- Typical share-car drivers reduce their driving 50%
- Less greenhouse gas emissions and particluates due to the phase out of older cars in exchange for more stringent pollution controls
- Preserves more green spaces because fewer parking spaces are required for the same number of people

Find a share car near you here.

Tags: Car Sharing, Vehicle

Gas taxes fund federal highway maintenance to repair our aging highways and bridges desperately in need of repair. Cutting the gas tax cuts billions of $ from needed maintenance to our national infrastructure. Second, cutting gas taxes increases driving, increases our oil consumption (further increasing oil price) and puts more profits in oil companies pockets. The oil companies and foreign oil producers win, not us.

OK, but how can you save on gas without changing cars?

1. Inflate your tires to recommended pressures. This can increase mileage 3-4%
2. Don't use premium grades of gas if your car doesn't require it. The octane requirement is usually printed right at the gas cap. 3 - 5% savings.
3. Don't drive above the speed limit. Wind drag increases exponentially above 60 mph. So driving a little slower can save up to 5%.
4. Replace your car air filter and change the oil. Cost: $35 Savings: 3-4% (and your car will last longer.)
5. Carpool or take the bus when convenient.
6. Walk or ride a bike when you can.

If you plan to change your car, check our efficient car recommendations. There are plenty of used cars, so you may be able to swap your guzzler and really save.

Tags: Automobile, Tax, Efficiency

...Just by better managing lighting (including switching to CFLs), heating and other resources. We think that with a few water heater blankets, weather stripping, timer thermostats, and a few other Quick Wins, Juneau will shortly be using half without much change at all.

Honolulu Hawaii: An ocean away, Honolulu is also reacting to electricity costs that have jumped 42% in the past year. The article notes that the University of Hawaii has set a goal of reducing its power consumption by 30% in four years. However students in the Saunders building have changed some lighting, reset thermostats to more comfortable temperatures, started turning off PCs that are not in use, and will have achieved 30% reduction in 6 months.

Whether in warm or cold climates, this tells us Americans can quickly and easily dramatically reduce energy consumption and save money with little inconvenience.

If we as a nation reduced our electricity consumption by 30%, we would need to build no more new power plants, and could even shut down the oldest and most polluting ones. Utilities can profitably lead the way by retailing lighting, insulation, smart power-strips and other energy conserving services & equipment directly to their customers. (They already have our billing info and if we don't pay, they simply turn off the lights!)

Tags: Conservation, Electricity

And it is unbelieveably easy - virtually no set up, just a few mouse clicks. Their online training videos (am I sounding like an evangelist yet) are terrific.

We have used this for everything from detailed budgeting, to technical and business plan reviews. It can work for script reviews and even interviewing remotely. Working sessions have lasted over five hours with little fatigue.

We have cut our flying time and hotel budgets by tens of thousands of dollars in just a few months. We are closing a company apartment as well.

And the energy savings are amazing. In this case, forget Use Half - we are probably using 1/100th of what we were doing before.

Do it. Tell your friends.

Tags: Telepresence, videoconferencing

We love companies like and that are lighting the way in new markets with products that not only reduce the power consumption by 90% vs. incandescent lights, but make lighting more reliable and reduce maintenance costs too.

LEDs are a natural for these applications that need ultra-high reliability - 100,000 hour life (11 years) and energy efficiency. LEDtronics has pioneered LED street lights that plug into millions of existing street light fixtures that will save cities and states millions of dollars and virtually eliminate costly failures.

Carmanah has combined LED lighting with solar power and battery technolgy to revolutionize airport runway lights and marine navigation lights where a failure or one or all (in the case of a power failure at an airport) can mean life or death. Even more impressive is these lights don't need power or control wires (perfect for "uncontrolled" airports) and can be programmed to "talk" to each other by radio frequencies to ensure they flash in the proper sequence and timing.

Now they have added street signs and bus station lighting to increase safety and security again.

Once again, saving energy makes dollars and sense in every dimension. No compromise.

Tags: Lighting

Looks like a surge protector power strip, right? It is, but the aptly-named Smart Strip has a remarkable difference: When you turn off your PC or TV, the Smart Strip automagically turns off power-hogging peripheral devices such as monitors, printers or CD & DVD players, audio systems, etc. (The red outlets stay live all the time for items that must stay on such as a DVR, etc.)

What we secretly love about this device is that it simplifies your life. You'll never need to remember turn off the power strip or unplug those "wall worts" again. The strip can pay for itself in six months from the power savings - we think this is a no compromise win!

You must adjust the sensitivity for your PC or TV by turning it on and off a couple of times, but once this is done, fuhgeddaboudit!

Tags: Phantom power, vampire power