By: Sean Casten

Discussions of CO2 reduction tend to start from a presumption of near-term economic disruption coupled to long-term investment in green technology. The presumption isn’t right. The U.S. could reduce its total CO2 footprint by 14-20 percent tomorrow with no disruption in our access to energy services, without investing in any new infrastructure. The Waxman-Markey proposal to reduce CO2 emissions by 17 percent over 10 years is constrained only by its ambition.

This near-term opportunity would be realized by ramping up our nation’s generation of electricity from gas and ramping down our generation from coal, taking advantage only of existing assets. Its scale and potential for immediate impact deserves consideration; even partial action towards this goal would have dramatic political and environmental consequences, establishing U.S. leadership and credibility in global climate negotiations.

(more…)

By: Katherine Wroth

In the dark of night yesterday—OK, at 8:02 p.m.—Slate published a piece by Anne Applebaum that calls out the “anti-human prejudices of the climate change movement.” Specifically, she is worried that the news coming from Copenhagen is turning her nine-year-old son into a nihilist. Because her son used apocalyptic climate change as an excuse to not do his homework: “By the time I’m grown up, the polar ice caps will have melted and everyone will have drowned.”

Seems to me her son is creative, clever, and compassionate, not to mention keeping up on current events—all traits she might want to praise and encourage, instead of seizing on his “nihilism.” But anything to make a tired point, I suppose—and that’s exactly the problem with Applebaum’s piece.

This notion that environmentalists—and now, more specifically, climate-change activists—somehow hate humans is preposterous. It is stale. And in this essay, it is propped up by ridiculous examples.

To support her thesis, Applebaum—who notes that she supports renewable energy, a carbon tax, and a shift away from fossil fuels—calls upon three sources that are a complete sideshow relative to the current climate movement. Here’s a closer look.

(more…)

By: Paul Home

Eternal Hybrid, the exclusive product of its kind, is the industry leader for delivering hot water efficiently and economically. We have been recognized by trade publications, as well as lab tested to be the performance leader.

What makes Eternal so unique? There are actually 3 technical reasons why Eternal is the only hybrid tank + tank-less hot water heating system of its kind:
1. Single unit combining Flow Capacity of tank + Continuity of tankless: No water pressure loss even with multiple taps open and the hot water is endless
2. Dual Activation featuring Thermostat Activation and Flow Activation: sensitive enough to work with low flow apps and smart enough to modulate with higher demand apps
3. Integrated Storage within heat exchanger: easy installation and integration into applications such as heating / recirculation / solar

Our innovative efforts have not gone unnoticed, and we are proud to be inspiring other green hybrid technologies within the industry. One of which is the recently announced General Electric (GE) Hybrid Water.\
(more…)

Today Hawaii has by far the highest electrical rates in the nation. The major reason its electricity costs are so high us that imported oil accounts for 90 percent of the remote state’s energy needs. The state’s ambitious goal is to generate 70 percent of its power from clean energy sources by 2030, and it is looking everywhere.

Solar is one component. State law now requires all new homes being built in 2010, at a minimum, include a solar system for heating hot water.

Biofuels is another, including fuel derivatives from sugar cane.

Water is yet another abundant resource that Hawaii sees as part of its energy future, but this is going well beyond typical hydro generation. “Our source is renewable — infinitely renewable,” said Tom Wilkolak, chief operating officer of Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning. The company is in the early stages of a $200 million construction project that includes building pipes that extend nearly four miles off the Honolulu shoreline to extract ocean water, bring it to shore and then run it through miles of pipe onshore to cool roughly 40 of the downtown’s largest buildings. Wilkolak said it will be equal to or less than the cost of electricity now, with a major environmental plus — offsetting about 178,000 barrels of oil a year.

(more…)

By: David Olive

In Copenhagen late last week, world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference were haggling over who will pick up the enormous tab for saving the human species from extinction.

In the real world, meanwhile, millions of everyday decision-makers from homeowners to entrepreneurs to big business already have made their bet on a green future.

And it’s a profitable one.

That’s something we should be hearing more about alongside reports on the very real costs and disruptions to the status quo that will accompany the historic shift from fossil fuels. The costs of going green will be gradual, and in many cases represent spending we would have made in any case on energy decisions that would not have the benefit of curbing global warming and weaning ourselves off dependence on energy in finite supply.

(more…)