A bright way to cut your power bill

Compact fluorescent light bulbs cost more off the shelf, but they'll save you money and time in the long run, and help the planet. Here's how the math pencils out.

I regularly mention using compact fluorescent lights for the home, but I haven't laid out the entire case for CFLs in one place before. It's time to change that.

Below are five huge reasons why you should switch your home light bulbs to CFLs today. (Even if you already use CFLs, you may want to read this list. There's something on it for you, too.)

For this exercise, I'm going to refer to a six-pack of General Electric 26-watt CFLs, which you can get from Walmart.com for $15.16, giving them a cost of $2.53 a bulb. These bulbs claim 100-watt equivalence, but I actually find their brightness to be between that of a 75-watt and a 100-watt incandescent bulb, so we'll compare them to 75-watt bulbs. For comparison's sake, a four-pack of GE's 75-watt incandescents at Amazon.com is $4.10, or $1.03 a bulb.

1. The bulbs themselves are cheaper.
2. The per-hour cost of energy for CFLs is cheaper.
3. The time involved is less.
4. They cut carbon emissions.
5. You can save $1 on a GE CFL during July 2007.

Article by: The Simple Dollar
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Green cars in line for better lithium-ion batteries

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The lithium-ion battery, already a fixture in personal electronic devices, soon will become the answer to high oil prices and environmental concerns as it bulks up to power rechargeable electric vehicles, government, university and industry panelists predicted Monday.

But although the technology shows great promise, battery makers worldwide still are grappling with high costs, the impact of charging and depletion on battery life, keeping the batteries cool and other issues, according to panelists at the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose.

Tien Duong, who works in emerging battery technology with the U.S. Department of Energy, told the group he believes lithium-ion batteries are ready to start displacing the nickel-metal-hydride batteries now used in many hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

Full Story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25803020/

Innovations: Inflatable Solar Panels

Water heaters are one of the primary power-hungry devices in most households. That’s why the prospect of an affordable solar panel system is particularly exciting. I have always argued that green energy alternatives must be affordable in order to be a viable choice by the masses.

The inflatable SolarStore by British company, IDC, is planned for commercial availability at less than 100 pounds ($200). While most domestic solar systems take 10-20 years to return the initial investment, IDC promises that their system will pay back its cost in six months.

The company press release notes, “Although the SolarStore is inflatable, the structure of the system is strong and robust and it is anchored down by the weight of 30 litres of water. It is manufactured from a heavy-duty polymer that is designed to protect against dirt and rain. SolarStore is an eco-friendly solution, which saves nearly 0.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.”

I think this is great news, and I hope we see more and more such viable environmental alternatives in fashion, technology decor and design.

Source: http://www.trendhunter.com/

Innovations: eFuel

With the never ending increase in gas prices, people have started to think about fuel alternatives. E-Fuel Corporation, a company in California, has introduced the EFuel 100 MicroFueler, a device that weighs about 200 pounds, that uses 110 or 220 volt power supply and a wastewater drain that is just like a washing machine. Using just water, raw sugar and yeast, consumers can create 100 percent ethanol at the push of a button.

Ethanol is a great alternative to gasoline; however, the MicroFueler costs close to $10,000 and requires a lot of electricity, water and sugar to create a sufficient amount of ethanol.

Thankfully, E-Fuel Corp hopes the changes in the North American Free Trade Agreement will allow the importation of inedible or “ethanol-grade” sugar from Mexico for as little as 2.5 cents a pound, thereby reducing the cost of making ethanol.

E-Fuel plans to distribute this device at the end of this year.