Low Rolling Resistance Tires It's time for new tires on my VW Jetta TDI commuter cars.  I have two identical black '99.5 Volkswagen Jetta TDI 5 speed sedans that I use for my 70 mile daily commute.  I alternate between the two cars, running biodiesel and fleet maintaining them to keep them on...
The below video from energyNOW! is a great introduction to transforming regular gas guzzling cars to electric vehicles.  The video highlights Electro Automotive, a California based company that has been converting cars to battery power for over 30 years!  It takes about $ 10k to accomplish this,...
The following press release appeared on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's website regarding an innovative residential energy efficiency financing program called PowerSaver.  The program sounds great, but the press release lacks certain clarity regarding where it will actually...
The following post was written by Eric Sandeen and can be seen on his blog here. There are a lot of silly DIY solar scams out there, but here’s the real deal. Consider: An average electric dryer run uses about 3.3 kWh of electricty An average home might run 150 dryer loads per year This equates...
I was at an event recently about Plug-In electric vehicles and the Grid.  A representative of my local power company, Georgia Power, was there and mentioned that Georgia Power already has a rate set up for EV owners.  I was excited to hear this so I went to Georgia Power's web page on Plug-In...
The following post was written by fellow blogger and Mapawatt fan Eric Sandeen and can be seen on his blog here titled, "Where are the Hyper-Watters?" ------------ A while ago – maybe around when the Prius first appeared? – there was a lot of talk about the hypermilers.  You know, the folks who...
The following post was written by Allison Bailes on his excellent blog Energy Vanguard and can be seen here.  It is being re-posted with his permission and fits in nicely with our last post titled Costs of Clean Energy vs. Dirty Energy. -------------------------- I wrote about energy conservation...
The following piece was written for Mapawatt by David Spader of SavingsAccount.Org.  I've put Mapawatt Notes in italics and I've linked to Mapawatt blog posts in other areas. ----------------------- The environmental consequences of burning coal, disposal and potential release problems...
I wrote about how Ford planned on letting drivers communicate with their electric cars with our post Microsoft Hohm and Ford before they had even announced any of their electric cars.  It seems they now have a much bigger line up, and by the end of this year it looks like they are going to have...
A blog reader recently informed me of the City of Reno's Green Energy Dashboard.  The dashboard highlights the city's solar PV and wind turbine installations, and gives a wealth of information on both.  From the dashboard, you can click on each of the Reno's wind or solar installations and find...
Mike Luckovich - Skeptical Junkie     Last month U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) gave a refreshing analysis on the real influences over the price of oil (and thus gasoline).  His speech, which unlike many politicians' is based on facts, can be found here. Below are some of...
When it comes to saving energy, most people don't want to spend a lot of time or money on the subject.  Everyone wants an easy way out these days...well...lucky for you I'm giving it to you.  The number 1 cheap, free (if you have one already), and easy energy saving tip is: Install and Use a...
I recently had a reader complain about the performance he was seeing out of his PMA (Permanent Magnet Alternator) wind turbines he purchased from Missouri Wind and Solar.  He said their units were not producing close to the power that the company claimed and he said he was getting zero support...
When I first saw the Microsoft Hohm tool it was as if they had peered inside my head and taken my vision for what the residential energy monitoring and comparison landscape would look like.  You can see our original plans for what we had for Mapawatt in our Map Tool Demo post, and all of this was...
If I had to choose my favorite fossil fuel, it would be natural gas because of its clean burning properties.  When burned in power stations it makes up about 24% of the U.S. electricity grid.  In my home, we cook with it and heat our home and water with it (way more efficiently than if we had to...
I'm a fan of CFLs, but I can understand how the small amount of mercury in them can worry some.  If you're worried about the tiny bit of mercury in CFLs, I can't tell you one way or another how to decide for your home, all I can do is give you the facts that are available, and let you make your...
Obama on Energy Independence Today, President Barack Obama spoke to the students at Georgetown University to challenge the next generation to meet the challenge of reducing our dependence on oil.  He put forth a plan to reduce our daily import of foreign oil by a third by 2020 by:...
I like Groupon. I think the concept is great and I've purchased a few items from them over the past 2 years.  But lately I've been a little annoyed that it seems the only Groupon customers are people interested in facials, pedicures and massages.  So I was pleasantly surprised last night when I...
If you're a homeowner interested in creating your own clean energy, chances are you are considering installing a solar pv array or a wind turbine.  Which is the better option?  Luckily Spokesman-Review did a story on Inland Power and Light in Spokane, WA and their efforts to see which is better...
Do you want to try out a Chevy Volt?   How about renting a Volt for a week and taking it on vacation?  I can't think of a better way to see how it will fit in your family than an extended test drive over a whole week in "real world" conditions. A year ago, this would just be a dream.  Today, it's...

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