electricity

Author

There is no time left for magical thinking in US energy policy or personal energy behaviors. With some newfound maturity, Americans could cut their energy use in half today by making a few changes, among them:

Turn off lights when leaving rooms.

Dry laundry outside when weather permits.

Buy only high-efficiency products and appliances.

Use a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust home temperature.

Install insulation and seal home air leaks and save up to 20% on heating and cooling costs (energystar.gov).

Author

TODD FINK

Best Power, International

Other than a spinning meter or a monthly bill (and maybe a changing climate), the electricity we use leaves little evidence behind. If it were water, we might understand it better. Imagine a radio dripping all day or a small stream bubbling from your computer, monitor, modem, and printer. The refrigerator would gush periodically, but the air conditioner would flood us out. Not seeing electrons helps us to waste them. Finding and fixing electricity "leaks" saves resources and lowers energy bills. Modern lighting,

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Build-it-solar,
builditsolar.com

Read Up!

Real Goods catalog
realgoods.com

SunWize Technologies
sunwize.com

AEE Solar catalogs
aeesolar.com

Author

AMY PICKETT and CHAD SKALLY

Skally Management

Too often when we talk about living green, we focus on homeowners rather than renters. At Skally Management, a family-owned and -operated real estate management company in St. Paul, we're changing that concept by finding innovative ways to practice Eco-Management: sustainable, responsible real estate management designed to have a positive impact on our local environment and community.

We encourage renters to see their landlords as partners in living green. Try to start a face-to-face discussion with them, rather than using

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Xcel Energy, xcelenergy.com

Eureka Recycling,
eurekarecycling.org

Neighborhood Energy Connection, thenec.org

Author

MARK SNYDER

Do it Green! Magazine

My journey toward geothermal climate control at my home in Minneapolis began some eight years ago, after my father installed a heat pump at his house in Andover, MN.

At the time, I'll admit I was a bit skeptical of the idea of actually being able to heat your home without burning some sort of fuel on-site such as natural gas, propane or even wood in a wood stove. This seemed especially unlikely in a climate like Minnesota's. I later visited my dad's house in the winter after his system was installed and found that it was actually quite comfortable.

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

How Geothermal Systems Work,
econar.com/howitworks.htm

Minnesota Homeowner Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency,
dsireusa.org/library/includes
/maphomeowner.cfm?State=MN

Read Up!

Geothermal Heat Pumps: A Guide for Planning and Installing, by Karl Ochsner and Robin Curtis, Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2007.

Act Locally!

Living Green Expo (sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency)
St. Paul, MN
651-296-6300 or 800-657-3864
livinggreen.org

Author

Mark Snyder

Twin Cities Green Guide

In recent years, you may have seen news items about fuel cells and the coming “hydrogen economy” and wondered what exactly is a fuel cell? A fuel cell is a form of a reactor where we can create electricity through an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. The only by-products of a hydrogen-fueled fuel cell are pure water (H2O) and heat.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Resources:

• Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Info
  www.moea.state.mn.us/p2energy.cfm#fuelcells

• “Hydrogen Economy”
  people.howstuffworks.comhydrogen-economy.htm

• Local Projects
  www.umhi.org

Author

Mark Snyder

Twin Cities Green Guide

Footnotes/Endnotes

Resources:

• Benefits of Green Power - www.moea.state.mn.us/energy/greenpower.cfm
• (Search for ‘renewable energy certificates’ and ‘buy green power’) - www.eere.energy.gov

Author

John F. Neville

The SEA Group

At 93 million miles from Earth, our sun is a middling star that provides nearly all the energy on Earth. The only energy sources we have on Earth which do not come from the sun are the tides caused by the moon's gravity, radioactive materials and geothermal energy. The sun provides everything else. All the energy embodied in fossil fuels and biomass is actually the sun's energy stored as carbon.

Footnotes/Endnotes

American Solar Energy Society

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Buel Solar

Crystal Pines Alternative Energy

Southwest Photovoltaic Systems, Inc.

Minnesota Renewable Energy Society
2928 5th Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN

Author

John F. Neville

The SEA Group

Here are a few easy things you can do to cut your home energy use. Convince the entire family to follow these steps, and you may find that it doesn't take any time or cost any money to improve your home's energy efficiency.

Electricity

Footnotes/Endnotes

WaterWise

Center for Energy and Environment

 

Adventures with Energy
Governor's Office of Energy Resources
270 Washington Street SW, Suite 615
Atlanta, GA 404-656-5176