The Value of Clean Energy Innovation

by Shana Fong on June 28, 2011
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Google.org uses a calculation tool from McKinsey and Co., along with a wide range of government data and its own assumptions, to produce a report and an interactive website to show that enough cleantech innovations can add 1.1 million jobs and $158 billion to the country’s gross domestic product – while cutting energy costs by $942 per household annually by 2030.

If innovations are paired with stronger energy policies, the country will add $244 billion to the GDP and nearly 2 million jobs while saving home energy costs by $995 per household.

Check out their website here: http://www.google.org/energyinnovation/
And the full report here: http://www.google.org/energyinnovation/The_Impact_of_Clean_Energy_Innovation.pdf

Source: Forbes

The Cost of Electric Power Resources

by Shana Fong on January 18, 2011
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Levelized costs for each energy technology option are mostly in ranges that overlap. Costs will vary with individual projects, but it is important to note that technology advancements have closed the price gap between renewable energy and conventional power. Nuclear and solar PV are currently the most costly energy resources to develop, though recent forecasts suggest solar costs will continue to decline in coming years with the addition of new manufacturing capacity.

Source: Earth Trends Delivered

The Importance of Home Energy Use

by Shana Fong on January 10, 2011
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A great snapshot of why it’s important that we curb our energy use – starting at home – by Lawrence Berkeley Lab:

$241 billion. That’s how much consumers spend each year on energy for home use. About 1 in 5 of the nation’s energy dollars is spent in homes. Energy efficiency improvements could cut this number by well over half.

90% of your time. That’s the proportion of the average American’s time spent indoors. The quality of indoor air is often worse than the air outside. Moisture and gasses from building materials are some of the many invisible sources of indoor air pollution. When done right, energy efficiency upgrades will also improve indoor air quality and make your home safer and more comfortable.

1.2 billion tons of greenhouse-gas emissions. That’s what is emitted (as carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere as a byproduct of making the energy to power U.S. homes. Every single thing done to save energy at home trims these emissions.

Did you know that the typical U.S. family spends about $1,900 a year on home utility bills? Unfortunately, a large portion of that energy is wasted. And each year, electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars.

Right in your own home, you have the power to reduce energy demand, and when you reduce demand, you cut the amount of resources, like coal and gas, needed to make energy—that means you create less greenhouse gas emissions, which keeps air cleaner for all of us…and saves on your utility bills! Plus, reducing energy use increases our energy security.

Infographic: Climate Change Deniers vs. Scientific Consensus

by Shana Fong on November 15, 2010
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This infographic by Information is Beautiful compares and contrasts the viewpoints of skeptics of climate change and the general scientific consensus.

skeptics vs. consensus

VP Biden Announces Home Energy Score Program

by Shana Fong on November 12, 2010
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With the new Home Energy Score, consumers will find out how their home compares with others and how much money they could save by adding insulation, sealing air leaks or doing other upgrades. Ten U.S. communities will test the score, similar to a miles-per-gallon label for cars, before it’s rolled out nationally next summer.

“Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy,” says Vice President Biden

The program is designed to encourage homeowners to make energy-saving upgrades and to jump-start the industry for home energy retrofits, Biden said in a statement. It will also include financing for homeowners (up to $25,000) and software that will let energy contractors give consumers the home efficiency equivalent of miles per gallon for cars.

Sources:
CNET
USA Today

Get Your Kids Involved in Saving Energy

by Shana Fong on October 26, 2010
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Getting your kids excited about saving energy helps them adopt lifelong values about energy use, money, and the environment. By turning energy-saving tasks into games, you can make learning about energy fun and easy.

Bring home real results by encouraging games and activities such as:

  • Keep count of how many times your kids turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms, and reward them after they reach a certain number each week.
  • Ask your children to track down all the incandescent lights in the house, and replace them with efficient bulbs together.
  • Use a Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor with your kids to identify which appliance or electronic in the house is the biggest energy hog. If you decide it’s time to replace it, shop for a new one with an Energy Star label together.

Check out the U.S. Department of Energy’s site for other games, tips, and facts.

Heating Costs Expected to Rise This Winter

by Shana Fong on October 20, 2010
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According to the Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. household will pay $986 this winter (October 1 to March 31). This is up $24, or 2.5 percent, from last winter – and it would be worse if not for the fact that heating degree-days are expected to be 3% warmer this season.

Consumers who heat with oil will see the biggest hike in expenditures up an average of 11.5 percent to $1,906. That’s followed by propane (up 7.5 percent to $1,830) and natural gas (up 3.6 percent to $751). Consumers who heat with electricity will actually see their bills go down 1.9 percent on average to $959.

Make sure you follow these easy steps to help winterize your home so you can stay comfortable without skyrocketing energy bills.

Recurve Named to Prestigious Inc 5000

by Shana Fong on September 21, 2010
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The results are in: we are honored to be named to the Inc. 5000 list, ranking #24 in Top Energy Companies, #39 in San Francisco, and #682 overall.

The Inc. 5000 list was based on revenue growth from 2006 to 2009 and had to meet certain qualifications, such as being privately held and for-profit.

Perhaps as a harbinger of things to come, Inc. Magazine remarks about their list:

More encouraging are the companies sprouting in industries such as health (32, compared with 15 in 2000), energy (16, compared with three in 2000), and education (six, compared with one in 2000). These sectors represent teeth-grindingly tough issues, on which entrepreneurial zeal and fresh thinking are sorely needed.

Retrofitting 75,000 Houses Would Save As Much Energy As In The Gulf Spill

by Shana Fong on June 29, 2010
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Here’s a visceral way to represent potential energy savings in the built environment:

Home energy waste vs. Gulf oil spill

If only the Senate had some sort of legislative strategy that could put this information to use … oh, wait, it does! Home Star legislation will spur the retrofit of 3.3 million homes, enough to save the energy floating in the Gulf 44 times over, at roughly 1/40 the cost of mopping it up. As we speak, that legislation is languishing in the Senate. If its energy efficiency provisions are improved, the coming Senate energy bill could save even more energy and money. Perhaps senators could spend less time rending garments and encouraging Obama to Act Angry and more time passing the energy solutions sitting in front of them.

——

Here’s Energy Savvy’s explanation of the graphic:

  • The energy contained in the biggest oil spill in U.S. history is equal to the energy that just 75,000 homes waste in a single year.
  • The estimated cost to clean up the oil spill ($40 B) is many times greater than the cost to retrofit 75,000 houses ($1 B) and save the energy equivalent of the gulf oil spill every year.
  • 75,000 houses = mid-sized U.S. city or large suburb of a major city, like Chattanooga, Tenn. or Providence, R.I.
  • The oil spill, since it began in April 2010, has leaked between 25 – 50 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. We’re using a conservative estimate of around 30 million gallons for our calculations.
  • A typical house wastes 30 percent more energy than an efficient one does. On average, that means that 51 MMBtu’s are being wasted by a typical home every year.
  • A typical home energy retrofit costs around $10,000 per house — before any utility or governments energy rebates are applied. A home energy retrofit doesn’t just save energy for a single year — it prevents waste year after year on an ongoing basis once it’s done.

Source: Energy Savvy and Grist

Worst Earth Month Ever?

by Shana Fong on April 30, 2010
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April is usually our favorite time of year, as we get to celebrate the planet along with other green-minded folks. However, a slew of unfortunate events this month have quite possibly made this the worst Earth Month ever, at least according to Grist.org.

Here are a few examples of Earth Month gone awry:

  • What may be the worst oil spill in U.S. history, in the Gulf of Mexico. Our best environmental option – to set it on fire?! Wonder if Obama still thinks off-shore drilling is a good idea.
  • Massey’s Big Branch explosion, causing 29 coal miner deaths.
  • The Chinese coal freighter that crashed into the Great Barrier Reef a few weeks ago.
  • An oil refinery explosion in Washington, killing 7 people.
  • 18,000 gallons of Chevron oil spilling into the Louisiana delta.

There is an upside, according to Rajesh Narayanan, (naturally, a professor of finance) of Louisiana State University’s business school. He told The New York Times: “I think it may create some temporarily spikes in employment if the companies hire some local labor to clean up the spill.”

Really?? We hope the terrible events of this month have further proven why we should fossilize the fossil-fuel industry.

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