Sounds icky? Sounds yucky? Sounds just too weird?
It may be so but there are some environment advocates who are already looking at used cooking oil from restaurants as a fuel source for vehicles. After all, it is no secret that the world’s fossil fuel sources are slowly depleting.
The group of advocates seems to have already done experiments and see if such worked and I guess it did. In fact, aside from used cooking oil, these environmentalists are also now trying out vegetable oil to serve as fuel. And now only are these unconventional fuel being tested on vehicles but they …read more

Well, I’ve got material here to make it to 25 posts, but it’s just a few minutes until my 12 hours are up and my brains are fried, so 24 it’ll have to be.
Some final shout-outs before I call it a night…
Props to Shea Gunther for putting this whole thing together. You rock, dude!
To all of my fellow blogathon’rs – Thanks, folks. This was my first blogathon and having all of you in the back channel chatroom to chat with was a blessing.
A shout-out to my charity, the Light Up the World Foundation. I love what this …read more

It was looking like Aaron Nuline of the Powering Down blog wasn’t going to be able to join us on the Green Blogathon, but it now appears as though he has managed to find some time and he’ll be blogging through the night in support of his charity, Trees for Life.
So…if you’re an insomniac who was dreading the end of the our little soiree, fear not. Just head on over to Aaron’s place and he’ll keep you informed on all things green and peak oil through the long dark hours.
Powering Down website.

There’s a somewhat newer Solar blog out there that I recently discovered called SolarDweller. Jason, the man behind the blog, did a post last week on the importance of keeping your PV panels clean.
Of course you want to ensure that there isn’t any shade hitting your panels, especially during your peak hours. Shading on just a few cells within a panel can reduce that panel’s output by up to half.
Jason points to advice provided by Matthew McGlynn on his debris.com blog in regards to keeping your panels clean…
Sun Power has done extensive research and has consistently seen that …read more

This info is little old (December 2004) but it was the most recent that I could find to terms of highlighting who the top green energy utilities are in the US. Topping the list is Austin, Texas muni provider Austin Energy. According to Department of Energy figures Austin Energy’s Green Choice program sold more than 334 million hours of renewable energy in 2004.
Here’s the full list courtesy of James at the Alternative Energy Blog, compiled from NREL info…
1. Austin Energy – areas served include Austin, Texas
Wind Power, Land Fill Gas, Small Hydro – 334 MWh/year
2. Portland General Electric …read more

Three Minnesota municipal utilities—Austin Utilities, Owatonna Public Utilities and Rochester Public Utilities—have launched a unique program through which their customers can support the development of small-scale local solar electric projects. With the SolarChoice program, clients can pay a premium through their monthly electric bills that will provide annual incentive payments to utility customers with solar systems, with 100% of those revenues going to these producers. From the Owatonna Utilities website…
SOLARCHOICE makes solar electricity affordable today by connecting customers that want to produce solar electricity with other customers that want to support the development of renewable energy by paying …read more

Check out this ‘Personal Powerstation‘, a nifty hybrid of wind-up mobile phone charger, wind-up flashlight, and wind-up radio, all rolled into one.
Among its features, you’ll find an auto scanning FM radio, ability to recharge standard Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola cell phones and the ability to recharge digital cameras that accept 6V AC.
5 minutes of winding provides of 2.5 hours of flashlight illumination and 30 minutes of crank will juice a phone for 6 hours of standby or 10-15 minutes of talk time.
They’re available in the UK from IWantOneofThose.com for £14.95 or about $24 US. Here’s the product page.
[via Treehugger]

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed a comprehensive software tool that allows folks to perform their own energy audits online, apparently a first, though I seem to recall seeing at least one similar tool elsewhere (though at this late hour in the blogathon, I doubt I’ll be able to find it).
By entering your zip code and then answering a few questions, the software will calculate the potential savings available to you based on making some efficiency improvements. It will also provide possible upgrade paths, cost calculations, and ROI figures for your situation.
Check it out at the Online Home …read more

Earlier this week, California’s Napa Valley College dedicated it’s new solar electric system. The 1.2 MW PV array is the largest in northern California (they say) and will provide 40% of the college’s electrical needs.
The solar array consists of 5,565 high efficiency solar modules and covers an area of 150,000 square feet. It’s been situated in a flood plain, which will help make use of otherwise unusable land.
The system also features PowerTracker technology from the PowerLight Corporation, which tracks the sun across the sky and aligns the panels to maximize energy generation. All told, it’ll generate the …read more

Well, I’m still plodding along here. That nasty chest cold that I’ve got is making it a challenge, but I shall fight on. I’ve already set a personal record for number of blog posts in one day, which I’m chuffed about.
The little one is being put to bed and the big girls are about to go out dancing, so I’m going to have a nice quiet spell to take on the final stretch here. Time to put on some Miles Davis or maybe John Coltrane and get her done.
Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by so far today …read more