by Chris Wade

We recently posted information about a new photovoltaic solar energy project that has just been installed right here in Vermont. The project consists of 36 AllSun Tracker panels installed on an acre or two of land. The installed cost of each of these panels is said to be about $31,000 and on average each panel generates about 470 kwh per month. This is really pretty cool stuff and the cost of this type of installation is becoming more affordable and can be justified at least to some degree based on the energy saved and the environmental benefits.

What I don’t get is why it makes sense to put this type of financial resources into technologies that offer what have to be called pretty abominable rates of return. I know they are aided by very significant tax credits but those credits unfortunately don’t grow on trees – they come from all of us in the form of higher taxes, higher deficits, or both.

I am not saying that investing in solar technology doesn’t make sense. This type of subsidy will allow costs to produce this type of equipment falls it can play a large roll in reducing our dependence on carbon based fuels and the tax credits hopefully will give solar and wind energy the boost they need to become viable.

What I am saying is that we are enamored with the concept of wind and solar energy, and like most romantic relationships you think with your heart and not your head. Unfortunately I recall a time in our industry during the Carter administration where government subsidies help create a vibrant solar and heat pump industry, which promptly died in the early 1980’s as these subsidies where removed and it became obvious that the technology could not stand on its own.

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By: DAVID BRANCACCIO

The Danes have an enduring relationship with wind. This is symbolized by the big, honking wind turbine that looms like a bird of prey over the parking lot outside the Bella Center, the venue for the U.N. Climate Change Conference Denmark is hosting in December.

It was a Dane, physicist H.C. Oersted, who discovered electrical induction, the principle at work inside wind and other electric generators. Danish farmers brag they were the first in the world to generate electricity from wind.

The Danes are now hard at work cracking one of the great challenges of wind power: the fact that the wind blows when it darn well pleases. Sometimes it blows hard when there isn’t much need for the resulting electricity. Sometimes the air is becalmed when electricity is needed the most.

Wouldn’t it be nice if households in Denmark had nice batteries to store the wind power coming off the country’s wind farms?
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by Chris Wade

So lets talk about search engines. They’re what the yellow pages used to be. You need to be there.

There are really three ways to get your site to the top of the local search engines. One is commonly used, very expensive, and is like the sugary candy my kids used to crave. This is external site pay per click. Maybe you’ve used this type of service. A company sets up a special website for you (that they own) and guarantees a certain number of leads per month, or agrees to a specific budget. And they do generate leads by placing sponsored links for your goods and services on Google and other search engines. The problem with these services is that you are paying to develop traffic on a website that someone else owns and as soon as you stop paying any longer term value you would have certainly retained if this site where yours, is gone. And like my kids after the sugar buzz where’s off, your just left feeling a little tired and a little guilty. It really makes no sense.
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Washington, DC – The American Gas Association (AGA) today released the results of a recently conducted analysis showing that the direct use of natural gas in residential applications, when evaluated on a full-fuel-cycle basis against fuel oil, electricity and propane, results in significant reductions in energy production, consumer energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

“This study lets the facts speak for themselves. Homeowners using natural gas are not only doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also can significantly reduce their energy bills – on average 34 percent lower than oil homes, 30 percent lower than all-electric homes and 45 percent lower than propane homes,” said Dave Parker, president and CEO of AGA.
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by Stephen Quick

We work for a lot of people in the service industry utilizing websites as a operating and marketing platform.  Every time  we start talking to someone about developing a website for them inevitably the idea of search engine optimization and meta key words comes up.  Although the video below only represents how google’s algorithm works with meta keyword description tags, we think its valuable information.

Many people still think that you can program in a list of “keywords” in the homepage of a site, and that will help your business move up on the search engine ranks. In our experience it really doesn’t help at all. You either have to implement a pay per click strategy, or create a site that is well designed, and is used as a strong resource in the day to day operations of the business.

At any rate here it is from Matt Cutts head of Google’s Webspam team.