Grist | Topics | 119 Results

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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Invade in the Shade Trees win in California solar panels vs. redwoods dispute		23 Jul 2008	News
Posted at 10:40 AM on 23 Jul 2008 Trees have emerged victorious in a California dispute that pitted redwoods against solar panels. Six months ago, Silicon Valley residents Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett were criminally convicted because their redwoods shaded the 10-kilowatt solar system on neighbor Mark Vargas' roof. Ultimately, Treanor and Bissett were forced to trim their trees and paid $37,000 in legal fees. T ...
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, energy, energy at home, green living, insanity, litigation, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Be Cool On fans versus AC		07 Jul 2008	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I'm a girl trying to make it in a big, hot, airless city -- New York, that is. We're in the middle of a heat wave that will soon end, but the longer heat wave we call summer will continue, so I wonder: when the interior of my apartment is up to 93 degrees and I have no less than three fans oscillating, am I using more energy than I would if I purchased and used one energy-efficient air conditioner? What's the best choice here? Elizabeth Q. New Y ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living (all these topics)

Grandma wins green home HGTV sets her up in sweet South Carolina digs	Katharine Wroth	10 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Back in January, I mentioned that HGTV was giving away a green home in Hilton Head, S.C. Well, that 2,000-square-foot home done been given away (along with a hybrid GMC Yukon). The winner is a grandmother and medical billing clerk now living in Florida. Marsha Coulthard hasn't decided whether to live in or sell the $850,000 house -- which boasts solar panels, rainwater collection, energy-efficient appliances, and more -- but says she's leaning toward the former: ' ...
Topics: energy at home, green building, green living (all these topics)

Elder care for the long emergency Cool housing for oldsters	JMG	03 Jun 2008	Gristmill
People who think about how we're going to adapt to lower-energy living arrangements often miss that the U.S. continues to gray rapidly. Given that we've had almost sixty years of radical suburbanization and cross-country relocation, sundering the extended family networks that once provided child and elder care, we're in a pickle when it comes to figuring out how to care for elders.Here's an encouraging story about a new facility that really seems to get it. My question is why we ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Somebody forgot to tell Rockport that coal is cheap	David Roberts	26 May 2008	Gristmill
How much would your town pay to stabilize the electric bills of every home and business in it for the next 25 years?
Topics: energy, energy at home, Missouri, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics)

The Drop Heard 'Round the World On water conservation	Umbra Fisk	21 May 2008	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, We are doing a NW Earth Institute discussion course on sustainability here at work, and someone asked, "Is it necessary for us to conserve water here in Portland despite seeming abundance and replenishment? If so, why?" My response was not as strong or compelling as I would like. Can you help? Rick Reber Portland, Ore. Dearest Rick, What was your response? It's hard to be more compelling if I d ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, climate, energy at home, green living, water crisis (all these topics)

Town meeting fun Small-town politics meets big-time energy crisis	Katharine Wroth	21 May 2008	Gristmill
Last night I went to the town meeting where I live, which -- well, if you've never lived anywhere podunk enough to have a town meeting, you're missing out. This one was just as I remember them from my childhood, though PowerPoint has replaced mimeographed pages: ambition, exhaustion, confusion, and the one crusty, bearded guy who has to argue every point. After a presentation by the head of the municipally owned utility, a tall, thin audience member in a tan suit an ...
Topics: climate, energy, energy at home, green living, oil, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Deloitte survey of consumers and utility regulators	David Roberts	20 May 2008	Gristmill
On Monday, consultant firm Deloitte released two new surveys, one of consumers and one of utility regulators. There's some fairly interesting stuff in there. First off, some 87 percent of utility regulators expect the cost of producing electricity to rise next year. Why? Here's what they attribute it to: Fuel prices (35 percent). Environmental compliance (23 percent). Capital costs (21 percent). Inflation (11 percent). Asked to rate options by thei ...
Topics: climate, coal, energy, energy at home, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics)

Break up with your utility company ... or get dumped Millions of Americans may not be able to afford heat or power this year	Sharon Astyk	09 May 2008	Gristmill
So, I spent almost $2,000 today ... to fill up our oil tank. We heat primarily with wood, but we use oil as a backup system to keep the pipes from freezing and occasionally on days when we're going to be out for an extended period. Our hot water is also heated with oil. For whatever reason, most oil heat in the U.S. is in the Northeast, mostly in towns beyond gas lines like mine. I suspect today's purchase may well be the last tank of heating oil we ever buy. Unfor ...
Topics: environmental justice, energy at home, oil, energy (all these topics)

Oh, say can I see a CCA? How communities can choose renewable electricity, part 1	Jon Rynn	05 May 2008	Gristmill
Recently, I had an opportunity to talk with Paul Fenn, who has written or helped write several pioneering pieces of legislation which allow communities to aggregate their electricity purchasing power in order to choose renewable energy. This policy framework is called community choice aggregation, or CCA (of course, if I mangle any of the specifics, it will be from my own lack of understanding). When a CCA is created, the city or town or county can contract with an energy ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, legislation, politics, renewable energy, San Francisco (all these topics)

Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why, would she wanna be anywhere else? Lily Allen backs U.K. solar incentive campaign	Sarah van Schagen	30 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Brit popster Lily Allen has sung about 'riding through the city on [her] bike all day' at the Premises solar-powered recording studio. Now, she's added her backing to a campaign to reward homes that generate their own green energy. The amendment to an energy bill in Parliament this week introduces a 'feed-in tariff,' which would 'guarantee a minimum price for all renewable energy generated by homes and businesses through a system of long-term contracts with energy ...
Topics: celebrity, energy, energy at home, green living, music, politics, renewable energy, United Kingdom (all these topics)

Real green world Video tours of the eco-pimped Real World: Hollywood house	Summer Rayne Oakes	28 Apr 2008	Gristmill
In the midst of preparing for the launch of 250 hours of green programming for Discovery Planet Green, I got a call from my good friend Pete Griffin over at Think MTV. 'We have this idea to build a green house on the Real World,' he told me. 'Instead of creating a whole new green show, why not build it into one of the most watched programs on MTV?' Can anyone say brilliant? Well, we had a blast teaching the Hollywood cast a few things about saltwater poo ...
Topics: celebrity, energy at home, green living, sex, TV (all these topics)

Jay Leno Earth Day videos	David Roberts	24 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Because I'm a video hu-a and will basically embed anything anybody sends me, I give you this from NBC:
Topics: climate, energy at home, funnies, green living, holiday, politics, TV (all these topics)

New bulb on the block Spendy mercury-free LED bulb supposedly lasts 50,000 hours	JMG	24 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Somewhere, in school or on the job, every engineer learns about tradeoffs -- that there is no free lunch, and that, once a design is at all reasonable, gains in one dimension come at the cost of compromises in others. The shorthand statement of this is the pithy evergreen in design classes: 'Good, fast, and cheap. Pick two!' There's a new bulb out: a 13-watt LED array bulb with an integral diffuser, so you don't see the annoying space-craft look of little tiny rows of LE ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, green products (all these topics)

How cool is your county? Counties lead on global warming as federal feuding continues	Josh Dorner	23 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Here in D.C., we're deadlocked (thanks largely to Republicans beholden to Big Oil) over no-brainers like taking back $13.5 billion in giveaways to Big Oil in order to fund the extension of key clean energy tax incentives and forestall a crash in the renewable energy industry. Meanwhile, cities, states, and counties continue to take the lead in putting in place the kind of progressive, innovative policy solutions that we can only dream of at the federal level for the t ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, local politics, politics, Sierra Club (all these topics)

Power to the people Neighbors help neighbors get power from the sun	Erik Hoffner	23 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Co-ops are hugely underrated for their potential to make good happen in the world. As an example, the renewable energy co-op I'm a member of in the Northeast, aptly named Co-op Power, had its first 'member to member' solar hot water installation this weekend. The power of this co-op is in its 300-plus members' enthusiasm, and it was in evidence on this day as our trained team hoisted two panels into place, which were making hot water by evening. Photo: Erik Hoffner ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Sharing is Glaring On energy-hog roommates	Umbra Fisk	21 Apr 2008	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, My roommate takes 45-minute showers, does 10 loads of laundry a day, and spends her days watching show after show on TV. What is a nice or subtle way to get her to "cool down" (she didn't like us secretly turning down the water heater)? Thanks, Tested Tom Belmont, Calif. Dearest Tom, Obviously the nice way is to courteously ask. We'll assume this was attempted and failed. Did you read my recent effort to ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, energy, energy at home, green living (all these topics)

Fortune Brainstorm Green Da yoots!	David Roberts	21 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Cute! We're now hearing from Avery Hairston, founder of an NGO called RelightNY -- oh, and a 16 year old high school sophomore. He's all rumpled and nervous and brainy. I want to go muss his hair. RelightNY raises money to buy and distribute CFLs -- 20,000 so far, 50,000 more planned for this year. He's showing us slides of him and his friends carrying boxes of lightbulbs to senior citizen homes, inner city schools, public housing, etc. He keeps saying how "a ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, environmental movement, grassroots activism (all these topics)

Encouraging solar installations in cities	David Roberts	18 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Harder than it looks.
Topics: energy, energy at home, renewable energy, San Francisco, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Ausra	David Roberts	14 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Via Deathridesahorse, here's a video of Ausra ('utility-scale solar power') CEO David Mills explaining Ausra's solar thermal technology:
Topics: business, energy, energy at home, renewable energy, solar thermal power (all these topics)

Paid in the shade	David Roberts	07 Apr 2008	Gristmill
You've got to give credit to Felicity Barringer for this sentence: If he succeeds, the state that legalized medical marijuana may soon do the same for shade.
Topics: California, energy, energy at home, funnies, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Don't Spray It On long, hot showers	Umbra Fisk	02 Apr 2008	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, The biggest waster of energy in our house right now is our 15-year-old daughter, whose never-ending daily showers must surely be responsible for warming the planet another half-degree. No matter how loudly we bang on the bathroom door and scream for her to stop, she showers on -- 20, 30 minutes at a time. And yes, we have a low-flow showerhead and our water heater is set to 120 degrees. Is there any kind of device -- one t ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, parenting, water conflicts (all these topics)

Green issues galore Paper mags go green(ish) for one month	Sarah van Schagen	01 Apr 2008	Gristmill
The third annual 'Green Issue' of Vanity Fair has arrived: Although Madonna graces the cover, the story inside makes no mention of greenness ... including her 'eco-song' and headlining gig last summer at Live Earth. Altogether an interesting choice for the 'green issue,' though I applaud the absence of sweater belts. The cover promises other stories of a greener hue, including:'A Letter to the Next President' by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (perhaps an invitation to se ...
Topics: celebrity, deforestation, energy at home, green living, magazines, music, shopping (all these topics)

Sweet home Alabama Street Small wind in urban settings	Adam Browning	31 Mar 2008	Gristmill
I never really thought much about small wind's potential as a significant source of a city's electricity supply. Windmills in a urban setting? I just don't see it. Didn't see it, that is, until I saw it. The other day I biked by 1303 Alabama St., in the Mission District of San Francisco. Softly -- very softly -- whirring overhead is a 1.9 kW Southwest Windpower Skystream windmill. The Choose Renewables resource estimator says that it's a class 3 wind site, but I wou ...
Topics: wind power, solar voltaic power, energy at home, energy, California (all these topics)

Small hydro, big potential 'Run of river' projects set for a boom?	Erik Hoffner	28 Mar 2008	Gristmill
When I bought my house, I didn't realize that the stream that travels its acres is perennial and spring-fed ... which seemed like the perfect scenario for a microhydro generator. These units make a lot of power all day and night, unlike solar and (usually) wind. It works by siphoning off a portion of water to run through a pipe, then through a generator, and then back into the creek. Voil�! So I did the measurements and found 140 gallons per minute, which is about eno ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, hydropower, renewable energy (all these topics)

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