Sustainability | mapawatt

HOMESTAR: Incentives for Residential energy efficiency

By Chris Posted on March 7th, 2010 in Conservation , Policy

Home + Star = HOMESTAR

HOMESTAR is a program proposed by Obama to provide incentives for homeowners to make energy efficiency investments in their homes. This is different than the Energy Star Appliance State Rebate that we covered last month. Last week Obama was in Savannah, Georgia to promote this program at Savannah … continue reading

China too Green for Hummers

By Chris Posted on February 24th, 2010 in Global , Transportation

China too Green Even for a Green Hummer

GM announced today that its deal to sell the Hummer brand to a Chinese heavy machinery company has failed and it will begin the process of closing the Hummer operation. In this tough economic climate you can understand why large acquisitions fail… but is that what caused … continue reading

The Green Millionaire : Buyer Beware!

By Chris Posted on February 23rd, 2010 in Conservation , Education , Sustainability

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I recently had a friend and reader suggest I check out this great new free book he found called The Green Millionaire. He said I could get a free copy at the website (I’m not even going to link to their site because it’s too close to a scam for my taste). When I went … continue reading

Oops – Found Another Problem with Solar

By Chris Posted on February 15th, 2010 in Conservation , Solar , Sustainability , Water Heating

Snow Covered Solar Hot Water Collectors

At Mapawatt HQ, we often find ourselves reminding each other that we have to avoid “region-itis.” Since we are located in the southeast, it’s easy to focus on cooling, natural gas heated water and such without remembering that in other regions of the world, there are other energy concerns … continue reading

Climate Change Alarmism – Hurting Clean Energy?

By Chris Posted on February 11th, 2010 in Clean Energy , Global , Policy , Sustainability

The following information was written for Mapawatt by the folks over at HowToSaveElectricity.net and is an interesting look at the Climate Change debate. I’ve expressed my feelings on the topic in my post, “I’ve solved Climate Change!“. Read the article below for a take on the topic you may not expect to be … continue reading

PACE financing : charge it to your tax bill

By Chris Posted on February 9th, 2010 in Policy

State pays up front, you pay back in taxes

The problem with many renewable energy (solar pv/thermal and wind turbines) and energy efficiency retrofits (new windows, efficient hvac system, insulation, etc.) is that they cost a fair amount of money up front. In times like these, many people don’t have the cash laying around to … continue reading

Smart Grid: Who benefits most – Utilities or Customers?

By Chris Posted on February 3rd, 2010 in Monitoring , Policy

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There is a lot of buzz about the “Smart Grid”, and I’ve written several article on the topic in the “monitoring” section, but nobody really knows what the electricity grid in the U.S. will look like 10-20 years from now. Government hails the smart grid as the savior for renewable energy and energy efficiency, consumers … continue reading

Obama, Fossil Fuel interests, and Clean Energy Strategy

By Chris Posted on January 30th, 2010 in Global , Policy

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On Friday, January 29, 2010 President Obama spoke at the Republican’s two day retreat in Maryland and afterward took questions from them. One question, from Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito from West Virginia, revolved around taking care of the Coal interests in her state. If you want to just see the question from the W.V. … continue reading

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