After the 2009 DOE competition saw the costs of entries soaring, this year designers were asked to focus on houses that could be built for more reasonable sums. The results are impressive.
While it may seem that people want to cut back on spending, companies that shape up inefficient buildings and get paid back via the energy savings are doing booming business.
Here comes the next generation of innovators revolutionizing batteries. Brian Parsonnet led the development of the Ice Bear, a device that is attached to commercial air conditioners and uses ice to store energy, making cooling more efficient and easing the burden on the electric grid.
We spend billions on advertising. A program that takes ad dollars and invests them into local renewable energy projects would mean major change if it was implemented widely.
Up until now, there has been no mechanism for Kiva users to find entrepreneurs who want money specifically to transition to clean energy. Enter Kiva Green Loans.
America, it could be worse. We could be Europe. I mean, we're still mostly in the race with China--in the past five years, they improved energy efficiency by nearly 20% and have a new five-year plan for another 20%.
Despite incredible advances in energy efficiency, American households use the same amount of energy as they did 30 years ago. Why? It's all the gadgets plugged in.
March 20th marked the beginning of National Tsunami Awareness Week. We will continue to hear more about the tragedy in Japan and about which preparations worked or which ones didn't. Those discussions also need to include the ongoing threat from a rise in ocean levels.
