With natural gas prices hovering around $2.44 per MMBtu—less than half of what they were 18 months ago—compressed natural gas (CNG) is now starting to make sense as an alternative fuel for vehicles. According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of dual-fuel vehicles is increasing. In a recent press release, General Motors said it [...]
Archive for the ‘Energy Efficiency’ Category
On Sale this Year: Natural-Gas Powered Pickups
March 8th, 2012 
Chris DeArmond 
Posted in Business, Clean Technology, Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Green Products, News, Transportation 
Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Cars, Chris DeArmond, Natural Gas 
No Comments »Army Not Messing Around with $7 Billion in Energy Projects
March 5th, 2012 Justin Manger Over the next 30 years, the U.S. army is aiming to buy solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and other alternative fuels to the tune of $7 billion dollars. Here is the draft proposal in which they are looking for 99 large-scale renewable projects. This is all part of a plan to have renewable energy at or [...]
Creative Localization of Solar Power at Japanese Oyster Farms
March 2nd, 2012 Justin Manger Big companies that operate worldwide use product localization to cater to the tastes and preferences of the various countries in which they conduct business. At the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta you can taste soda from around the world and discover how some variations are much sweeter than others. In Japan, there is no Diet Coke, [...]
Top Fuel Efficient Electric Vehicle on EPA’s List? i-MieEV
February 28th, 2012 Justin Manger The what? Mitsubishi might have chosen a name that is a little easier to remember; that aside, I guess they are hoping the efficiency of the car makes it memorable. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s 2012 Fuel Economy Guide, North American-spec i-MiEV an all-electric vehicle (EV) produced by Mitsubishi Motors North America [...]
Posted in Business, Clean Technology, Energy Efficiency, Green Products, Japan, Justin Manger, News, Transportation Tags: Battery, Cars, Electric Vehicles, Green Technology No Comments »Department of Defense Reduces Energy Use, Saves $6.8 Million
February 26th, 2012 Eric Wilson In yet another sign that saving energy makes economic sense, and arguably aides national security, the Department of Defense (DoD) cut emissions and energy consumption to the tune of $6.8 million. As part of the reductions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “recognized two Department of Defense (DoD) facilities with the Energy Star Combined Heat [...]
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Eric Wilson, News Tags: Biomass, California, Electricity Generation, Energy Star, EPA, Natural Gas No Comments »Apple’s “Project Dolphin” To Include One of Nation’s Largest Green Energy Facilities
February 22nd, 2012 Justin Manger Near Maiden, North Carolina Apple is building a huge data center that will, of course, require huge amounts of energy to power the facility. Apple, in its latest environmental report, states that the data center will include the largest “end user-owner, onsite” solar array in the U.S. Or, in less slippery terms, that all the [...]
Japan Shifting to LED Lighting
February 21st, 2012 Justin Manger Coca-cola and train networks. Two seemingly disparate items, one a U.S. invention and the other a technology whose management has been perfected by the Japanese, have at least one thing now in common: LEDs. The energy savings are huge. For Coca-cola, the change is related to its vending machines. Back in September of 2011, [...]
Inside the 2013 Department of Energy Budget
February 21st, 2012 Eric Wilson As part of the massive $3.8 trillion dollar federal budget proposed recently by President Barack Obama, $27.2 billion was geared toward the Department of Energy (DOE). For those interested, here is a PDF of the DOE budget. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu provided details of the budget proposal as it pertains to his office. In [...]
Update on Tesla: Still Losing Money But Ramping Up
February 20th, 2012 Justin Manger Now that the Big Three automakers are back on their feet and turning a profit after imploding during the financial crisis (only Ford didn’t take government bailout money), it has to seem harder than ever for a start-up car company to compete in this brutally cut-throat industry. Tesla Motors, however, is not to be dismissed. In [...]
Building Energy Efficient Homes on the Crow Reservation
February 14th, 2012 Eric Wilson As a follow up to last month’s post about BOULD, a Colorado-based social venture that is working to “end substandard housing through green building education,” comes another story from Boulder, Colorado about green homes for under-served populations. In this case, it is the University’s Sustainable Housing Project, which is part of the Mortenson Center in [...]
