The US Department of Energy has released statistics showing that the total consumption of renewable energy increased almost 7% in 2006. Solar power was in the lead with an increase of 45%, followed by biofuels at 27.6%. In the DOE Newsletter, it’s reported that Solar Thermal Power Plants of 200-300 MW are planned for Florida [...]

An intelligent plan. Here.

Short answer: because biofuels are about taking money from people who are going to be extremely hard-pressed and giving it to corporations in the guise of a futile attempt to preserve the fantasy that we can maintain an auto-based life. There’s the direct problem with the policy, but even more that that is the problem [...]

From today’s David Sarasohn column: Food banks — and the people who depend on them — are being hit by a combination of table-clearing typhoons. As food companies and processors get ever more efficient, contributions of excess and irregular food packages decline. Donations from farmers are lower than usual this time of year, said Food [...]

Punchline:  the supposed greenhouse gas benefit to North American biofuels is lost to N20 created from fertilizers.

As you may be aware, the green lifestyle encompasses many different forms and philosophies, to the extent that the movement has become somewhat fragmented. What it loses in focus it makes up for in the diversity of the approaches that are evolving to heal our environment. In this blog I’ve attempted to gather this information [...]

If you look around the area at many homes under construction, you’ll note that builders are abandoning plans for upscale amenities and instead simply focusing on getting a house to market as quickly and cheaply as possible.  Some of these compromises are impacting builders of eco-friendly housing as the market now prioritizes price over energy efficiency.  Against [...]

The right to dry.  On a clothesline.

Here’s something to consider for those trying to hit a moving target like advancing biofuels technology. These are noteworthy quotes from seemingly intelligent people who underestimated the impact of progress. “Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances.” Dr. Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, the first true amplifying device. [...]

Following precisely the pattern demonstrated by the Clueless One with his surge in Iraq, Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) gives a pat on the back to the Oregon legislators who helped distort and weaken our energy systems even further by voting yes for HB 2210 in their new 2007 session legislative scorecard. The biofuels [...]