Log home dwellers are the envy of many. Few can think of an idea more relaxing than kicking back inside of a warm log cabin on a secluded mountain somewhere. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, log cabins also provide owners assurance that living in such a home reduces their carbon footprint on Earth. Estemerwalt [...]
Q: Is it true that cable and other pay TV boxes that sit atop television sets consume massive amounts of energy, in part because they are always on, even when the TV is off? We hear a lot about how much energy modern day flat screen TV sets consume, but the innocuous set-top boxes that [...]
Q: What do I need to know about the new U.S. energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that take effect in January 2012? Will certain bulbs be unavailable? And am I supposed to switch out my older inefficient bulbs with newer efficient ones? Indeed, January 2012 marks the beginning of a planned phase-out of inefficient [...]
Q: Is it true that gas furnaces cost less to run and burn cleaner than their oil counterparts? If I make the switch, how long should I expect it to take for me to pay back my initial investment? And are there any greener options I should consider? It is true that natural gas has [...]
A recent story in Reuters concerning our need to stop global temperature rises by 2017 should have you worried about the future of life on this planet. According to the report from the International Energy Agency, if we are not able to limit our emissions and slow down the rising temperatures around the globe, we [...]
Environmental issues are getting an ever growing number of mentions in newspapers, on television and on the internet, increasingly making society aware of how our everyday behavior will one day have a catastrophic impact on our planet unless we start to change. Unfortunately, the thought of making a small contribution to a long term process [...]
I understand that mountaintop removal as a way of coal mining is incredibly destructive. Didn’t a report come out recently that named major banks that were funding this activity? Yes it’s true that many major banks invest in companies that engage in the environmentally destructive practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, whereby the tops [...]
After my post a few weeks ago about vertical axis wind turbines, I received several emails asking me for more information about how wind turbines work and how they generate electricity. And thus, this post was born! The majestic beauty and silence of a tall wind turbine working hard to provide clean, efficient energy is [...]
The idea of building a green house is no longer just for the pure environmentalists or the wealthy amongst us. Everyone wants a green home now, including me! Designing and creating a home with green building materials in order to make it eco-friendly benefits the builders, the residents, the neighbors, and the earth alike. Green [...]
Vertical-axis wind turbines, or VAWTs as they are often referred to as, are wind turbines that have their rotor shaft arranged vertically instead of horizontally. Instead of being mounted horizontally atop a large base like horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs), VAWTs are mounted vertically — the blades of the turbine stand tall straight up and down. [...]
