Advocates of thorium to power nuclear plants say that the element is safer than uranium, and that its waste cannot -- like the plutonium waste of uranium fission -- be re-formulated for nuclear weapons. Thorium plants, they say, also wouldn't need containment domes like those pictured here because the reactors can't "melt down" and release radiation. (iStock)

Thorium, a naturally occurring radioactive element found in abundance in the Earth’s crust all around the world, might well be a better fuel source than uranium for nuclear power generation for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, just one ton of the silvery metal can produce as much energy as 200 tons of uranium or 3.5 millions tons of coal, according to Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia of the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Another advantage is that it comes out of the ground as a 100 percent pure, usable isotope. Unlike uranium, which contains only 0.7 percent fissionable material, thorium doesn’t require enrichment to be used in nuclear reactors. Also, the spent-fuel waste from thorium fission cannot be re-formulated for nuclear weapons like plutonium, the waste product of uranium-based fission.

Also, proponents say that thorium doesn’t require the high temperatures and mitigation equipment of uranium-based reactors. “The plants would be much smaller and less expensive,” Kirk Sorensen, a former NASA rocket engineer and now chief nuclear technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering, told the UK’s Telegraph last year. “You wouldn’t need those huge containment domes because there’s no pressurized water in the reactor.” With no high temperatures, thorium reactors can’t “melt down” and release radiation.

“Once you start looking more closely, it blows your mind away,” adds Sorensen. “You can run civilization on thorium for hundreds of thousands of years, and it’s essentially free.” The advocacy-oriented Thorium Energy Alliance reports that there is “enough thorium in the U.S. alone to power the country at its current energy level for over 1,000 years.”

Nuclear researchers in the U.S. first contemplated using thorium as a nuclear energy feedstock back in the 1940s, but its lack of feasibility in making nuclear weapons put it on the back burner, where it has sat for the last six decades despite various attempts to revive the technology for practical use. In Russia, China and India, thorium reactors represent the next generation of nuclear power. India possesses about a quarter of the world’s thorium reserves. The country is working to develop a network of large thorium-based reactors, and plans to meet 30 percent of its electricity needs with thorium by 2050.

Many nuclear advocates and environmentalists alike don’t see thorium as the savior its supporters make it out to be. For one, uranium is still relatively easy to come by and inexpensive, and the nuclear industry is set up to run on it. Changing over to thorium would be expensive, and who knows what unforeseen problems may arise with full-scale deployment. Perhaps most important, some analysts worry that putting more eggs into humanity’s nuclear basket will surely further delay the transition to a truly green economy that runs on clean renewable energy from the sun, wind and other so-called alternative sources.

CONTACTS: CERN, www.cern.ch; Thorium Energy Alliance, www.thoriumenergyalliance.com; Teledyne Brown Engineering, www.tbe.com.

The environmental impact of so much online time really boils down to energy usage, which in turn affects the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into our atmosphere. Google, which has been carbon neutral since 2007, has been a real leader in the building of green data centers, even powering them with renewable energy. (Media credit/Jurgen Plasser via Flickr)

The environmental impact of so much online time really boils down to energy usage, which in turn affects the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into our atmosphere. For one, each of us can help by limiting computer time (whether surfing the ‘net or not) and shutting them down or putting them into sleep mode when we aren’t using them (this can be automated via the computer’s power management control panel).

Also, when shopping for a new computer, consumers and businesses alike can opt for models certified by the federal government as energy efficient with the Energy Star label. If all computers sold in the U.S. met Energy Star requirements, Americans could pocket $1.8 billion annually in saved energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking some two million cars off the road.

Individual responsibility aside, the creation and management of more efficient data centers by the major online hubs—especially as we enter the age of “cloud” computing whereby most of the software, content and services we look to our computers for resides online and is served to us as-needed—is what can have the biggest impact. Google, Facebook, and Amazon.com are already deeply committed to the cloud computing model, with Microsoft, Yahoo and others following suit accordingly.

For its part, Google has been a real leader in the building of green data centers, even powering them with renewable energy. The company recently released environmental footprint scores for several of its data centers. While the energy usage required to run its cloud services (Google Search, Google+, Gmail and YouTube) seems huge in the aggregate—it used 260 megawatt hours to power its data centers in 2010—it boils down to only 7.4 kilowatt hours worth of energy annually per user. Google reports that to provide an individual user with its services for a month uses less energy than leaving a light bulb on for three hours. And because the company has been carbon neutral since 2007, “even that small amount of energy is offset completely, so the carbon footprint of your life on Google is zero.”

In an April 2011 report entitled “How Dirty is your Data?” the non-profit Greenpeace examined energy sources for the 10 largest IT companies involved in cloud computing, finding Apple, Facebook and IBM especially guilty of getting significant amounts of power from coal-fired power plants. (Facebook had come under fire earlier this year when reporters uncovered that the company planned to buy electricity for its brand new eco-friendly data center in Prineville, Oregon—one of the greenest such facilities ever designed and constructed—from a utility that derives most of its power from coal.) Yahoo, Amazon.com and Microsoft scored best in use of renewable alternative energy sources for cloud services.

In the long run, analysts think that the widespread shift to cloud computing will be a great boon to the environment. A report released in September 2011 by Pike Research, “Cloud Computing Energy Efficiency,” predicts that because of the shift to cloud computing and increasing efficiencies, data center power consumption will decrease by 31 percent between 2010 and 2020.

CONTACTS: Energy Star, www.energystar.gov; Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org; Pike Research, www.pikeresearch.com.

Earth Hour 2011 saw the participation of millions of individuals in 135 countries who turned their lights off for one hour to make a statement about the need to conserve energy to fight climate change. Organizers expect the 2012 event (March 31 at 8:30 p.m., wherever you live) to be even bigger. (Media credit/Reway2007 via Flickr)

Dear EarthTalk: With all the talk of the need for safe, renewable energy sources, isn’t the elephant in the room really that we should use far less energy than we do? Wouldn’t more rules about conservation (like not leaving commercial building lights on all night) make the challenges easier? — Jennifer B., New York, NY

In short, yes: Scaling back our energy consumption significantly, whether voluntarily or as a result of laws and regulations, would go a long way toward achieving our pollution reduction and air and water quality goals. But Americans—and to a lesser extent those in many other developed nations—have never been very good at using less of anything, let alone the energy that makes everything in our whiz-bang modern world possible. That said, conservation is going to play an increasingly important role in all of our lives as we struggle to reduce our collective carbon footprints in a quickly warming world.

President Obama has repeatedly highlighted the need for greater conservation efforts when it comes to shoring up our existing and future energy reserves and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of oil. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside upwards of $3 billion to bolster efforts across the country to weatherize existing buildings in order to conserve energy.

Grants to local communities for such projects, along with calls for voluntary reductions in energy consumption, are part of the plan. The White House is also betting on technology by subsidizing various initiatives aimed at reducing energy use and making our existing power network more efficient overall. Research has shown that investments in energy efficiency that promote conservation are cheaper and provide quicker returns than building new, cleaner power plants. A recent study released by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory predicts annual spending on energy efficiency and conservation to quadruple to as much as $12 billion a year by 2020.

As for what you can do to promote conservation, lead by example—and you’ll see your energy bills go down, too. Turn lights, computers and TVs off when you are done using them. If you’re remodeling or building a new home, occupancy sensors that turn lights on and off as people enter or leave rooms is a good investment, as is making use of natural light in more overt ways to obviate the need for artificial lighting in daylight hours. Also, purchasing appliances rated for good energy efficiency under the federal government’s Energy Star program will save energy. Likewise, driving a hybrid or electric vehicle, or foregoing a car altogether in favor of public transit, biking or walking, is a great way to conserve energy.

One way that awareness about the importance of energy conservation is being promoted around the world is through “Earth Hour,” which began in 2007 when two million individuals and 2,000 businesses in Sydney, Australia turned their lights off for one hour to make a statement about the need to fight climate change. Within a year, the concept had spread to more than 50 million participants in 35 countries. In 2011 Earth Hour drew participants in 135 countries; organizers expect the 2012 event (March 31 at 8:30 p.m., wherever you live) to be even bigger. Similar but unique “Lights Out” movements in San Francisco and other American cities will align with Earth Hour as well.

CONTACTS: Energy Star, www.energystar.gov; Earth Hour, www.earthhour.org; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, www.lbl.gov; Lights Out San Francisco, www.lightsoutsf.org.

Japan would be hard pressed to close all of its 54 nuclear reactors anytime soon, especially given that these plants provide over a third of the nation’s electricity supply and 11 percent of its total energy needs. Pictured: A Greenpeace vigil for Japan in front of the White House in Washington, DC (Media credit/Joe Newman via Flickr)

Most experts agree that Japan would be hard pressed to close all of its 54 nuclear reactors anytime soon, especially given that these plants provide over a third of the nation’s electricity supply and 11 percent of its total energy needs. Japan relies so much on nuclear power because it has so few other domestic sources of energy to draw upon. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Japan is only 16 percent energy self-sufficient, and much of this comes from its now-wounded nuclear power program.

Despite producing only trifling amounts of oil domestically from fields off its west coast, Japan is the third largest oil consumer in the world behind the U.S. and China, as well as the third largest net importer of crude oil. Imported oil accounts for some 45 percent of Japan’s energy needs. Besides bringing in a lot of oil, Japan is the world’s largest importer of both coal and liquefied natural gas. Against this backdrop of imported fossil fuels, it’s no surprise that Japan has embraced nuclear power; worldwide, only the U.S. and France produce more nuclear energy.

Factoring in that it would take decades to ramp up capacity on alternative renewable energy sources—right now hydropower accounts for three percent of Japanese energy usage and other renewable sources like solar and wind only one percent—and that Japan must import just about all its fossil fuels, it becomes obvious that the country will need to rely on nuclear power for some time to come, despite the risks.

“Supplying the same amount of electricity by oil, for example, would increase oil imports by about 62 million metric tons per year, or about 1.25 million barrels per day,” says Toufiq Siddiqi, a researcher with the nonprofit East-West Institute. He adds that at the current price of oil per barrel (roughly $100), switching out nuclear for oil would cost Japan upwards of $46 billion per year. “Further, it would take almost a decade to build enough new oil, coal or natural gas-fired power plants to provide the equivalent amount of electricity, and tens of billions of dollars per year would be required to do so,” he concludes.

In the short term, the easiest way for Japan to make up for its reduced nuclear output is by importing more natural gas and other fossil fuels, sending its carbon footprint in the wrong direction. What’s less clear is whether Japanese policymakers’ pre-existing plans to increase the country’s nuclear capacity—the stated goal is to generate half of Japan’s electricity via nuclear power within two decades as part of a larger effort to trim carbon dioxide emissions—will still be followed following the Fukushima accidents.

The Fukushima plant failures are likely to impact the always evolving energy mix worldwide as well, not just within Japan. Many analysts expect the nuclear disaster in Japan to cause a shift toward the increased use of natural gas worldwide. Of course, the downside for the environment is that natural gas is a fossil fuel and its use contributes significantly to global warming. While solar and wind power can take up some of the slack, these and other renewables are at least decades away from the scalability needed to power a significant share of a modern industrial society’s energy requirements.

CONTACTS: U.S. Department of Energy, www.doe.gov; East-West Institute, www.ewi.info.

Below is a list of different types of green technology that are starting to come to the surface in the green energy market. This list is in no particular order and present unique solutions to our energy problems. If anyone has seen the season finale of AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, then you’ll know the importance of renewable energy.

1. The utilization of poo-power

Although most people think poop is gross (and yeah, there is a point to that) it is a low-impact, low-cost sustainable energy source. Places like the U.K. are using poop from all animals (chickens, cows, pooches, and even humans) to power their homes, buildings, parks, or whatever else they fancy. For example, http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2010/10/08/didcot-human-waste-biogas/ reports that human waste is going to be used to power their homes in a closed cycle system. Using anaerobic bacteria over a three week treatment course, waste is transformed into usable methane. This can be used to directly heat a home or used to generate electricity. Either way, everyone poops (or so that book says) and I would like to see more places use poop power, especially in public buildings, arenas, restaurants, and people’s homes.

2. Visualization of the amount of energy you are using in your home

This past month, my energy bill doubled from what it was in the previous month. I called my energy provider and unfortunately they couldn’t tell me anything more than “something in the apartment is using more electricity than it should”. I’m not about to bust out an ohm/am/voltmeter to figure out what’s causing the stir, but wouldn’t it be great if we could all actually see how much energy our home is using  in real time? If the smart grid is really smart it would give everyone a user interface, either through a screen in their domicile or using a provider’s website. Either way, it would make people conscious of how much energy their place is using. The more specific the better; data of each wall socket, averages against the community, or even how much energy was used on the same day the previous year would all be helpful to understand impact. As people become more aware of their energy consumption they will be in a better position to make energy conscious decisions as they look to reduce their ever more costly energy bills.

3. Dynamic Braking technology

Oh, Dynamic Braking. If someone told me many years ago that braking would be a catalyst for accelerating, I simply wouldn’t get it. But this video, http://www.ge.com/thegeshow/rails/#ch2 really explains it well. The concept is that when some kind of locomotive uses their brakes, that energy can be transferred and stored to be used later. This technology exists in China with their high speed trains and can also be found in some hybrid vehicles today. But I want to see more of this technology because nothing should be wasted when the energy is a natural byproduct of an inevitable occurrence (vehicles in motion have a tendency to stop when we want to exit them). Beyond vehicles and trains, I want to see this technology in elevators, electric bicycles, or even electric wheelchairs for the handicapped so that their source of mobility is more sustainable.

4. Motion power

A relatively new (although they have used this technology in watches dating back some time) technology for everyday consumers is the idea of powering your electronics as you move. If you live in a city and walk or ride a bike everywhere you go, then this technology may be for you in the not too distant future. At CES, one of the highlighted products was the nPower Peg (http://npowerpeg.com/) because it converts kinetic energy into power for your electronics. I would like to see this type of power in mobile gadgets so that no energy is wasted.

5. Increased battery life

Luckily, for this one, researchers are finding new and innovative ways to make all types of batteries (from lithium-ion improvements to magnesium based batteries [http://inhabitat.com/toyota-developing-magnesium-battery-that-could-reduce-range-anxiety/]). This will make our gadgets and computers work for longer, give our EV cars more range, and make electronics that are usually plugged in, more portable. I would like to see more of our portable electronics and electric vehicles have the capabilities to be used for longer periods of time without needing a charge and the future looks bright for this.

6. More things wireless — more things rechargeable

I have a single thought for this one, but by all means comment below if you think of more electronics that should be wireless/rechargeable. I was getting my monthly haircut when I noticed that all the hair stylists and barbers were tripping over the cords from all of their tools of the trade. If they had all of their clippers, hairdryers, etc. wireless and rechargeable, not only would it look neater, but it would probably reduce the tripping of the circuit breaker and wasted vampire energy.

7. Kill vampire power!

Speaking of vampires, and I don’t mean those silly vampires from Twilight (because what kind of vampire has extra ridiculous powers that belong to X-Men), it really sucks that practically everything that we plug in, regardless of whether we use it or not, will use up electricity. I’ve read that as much as 10% of our energy bills can be attributed to vampire power. As a result, I would like to see new power outlets that can kill the socket when the electronic is not in use. One good example of the technology can be found at http://www.igo.com/green/icat/green/ where some of their products kill the dreaded vampire power. If only we could just throw garlic, silver, and UV light or hire Blade to solve the problem.

8. Tidal power

Now here is a promising technology. I don’t know why people think wind farms are eye sores (at least that’s one of the argument against the Cape Wind Farm), so instead of erecting turbines on our coasts, why not invest in a sustainable source of energy that is hidden beneath in the ocean’s motions. Aquamarine Power (http://www.aquamarinepower.com/) produces the technology of putting an “Oyster” at the bottom of the sea and the motion of the tides generate electricity which can be brought into our grid. I don’t know exactly what the environmental impact on aquatic life would be with the introduction of this technology, but it is a good alternative energy source that can harness the energy of moving water on all of our coasts.

9. Solar powered gadgets (dyes, micro-organisms)

Solar power has become cheaper than using oil and is on the brink of becoming cheaper than nuclear power. But I am not talking about industrial power or those solar powered calculators which have actually been around for decades. I am talking more about everyday gadgets like our smartphones, mobile computers, and so on. Once solar cells become more flexible, lighter, and most important, more efficient, we will likely see more of our gadgets utilizing the power of the sun. It seems that every day there are technological improvements by researchers that increase the efficiency of photovoltaics; layering, the use of dyes, and even microorganisms have all been shown to increase the efficiency and sometimes lower the production cost of solar cells. I would love to see more gadgets that can power themselves on the go by simply being brought outside.

10. Faster  chargers

Although this may not necessarily be the greenest technology on the block, New York based company Ioxus (http://www.ioxus.com/) has come up with a solution that uses lithium-ion ultra-capacitors to charge electronics at an enormously incredible rate. If this type of technology becomes introduced into the market, the sky is the limit for its uses. From charging your iPhone in a fraction of the time, to charging your EV at new government subsidized EV station without waiting around the lot for hours on end, this technology can serve purposes that make the “waiting” part for a charge to become irrelevant. I would like to see this technology more so that our fast moving society can become constant.

So here’s the list, feel free to drop a comment if you agree, disagree, or want to expand on any of these technologies on the list. Also, if you have another type of technology that you want to see more of, just say so.

Dear EarthTalk: Is there any way to harness volcanic energy to meet our electricity and other power needs? – Antonio Lopez, Chino, CA

The short answer is yes: Heat generated by underground volcanic activity can and has been harnessed for electricity for over 100 years around the world. Utilities can capture the steam from underground water heated by magma and use it to drive the turbines in geothermal power plants to produce significant amounts of electricity. Getting at the sources is not so easy or cheap, though, as it requires drilling into unstable sections of the Earth’s crust and then harnessing the heat energy miles below the surface.

Despite these difficulties, volcanic geothermal energy reserves account for about a quarter of Iceland’s energy consumption (with the rest taken up by another clean renewable resource, hydropower dams). According to statistics from the Geothermal Energy Association, the Philippines is also a big user of geothermal power: About 18 percent of that country’s electricity comes from underground volcanic sources. And in New Zealand, geothermal accounts for about 10 percent of total electricity consumption.

But believe it or not, the United States is actually the world’s largest producer of volcano-derived geothermal electricity, but still only derives less than one percent of its total power from such sources. California and Nevada are the leaders in this nascent form of renewable energy domestically, but promising efforts are also underway in Oregon, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii. Some analysts believe that the U.S. has enough geothermal capacity to provide 20 percent or more of the nation’s electricity needs.

Against the backdrop of diminishing oil reserves, tapping volcanic energy has become a high priority for some other regions as well. The war-ravaged East African nation of Rwanda is hoping to provide power for its people by harnessing the energy from volcanic gases at Lake Kivu, one of the continent’s largest lakes, covering some 1,000 square miles. The lake is one of three known "exploding" lakes subject to violent and sometimes deadly "overturns" triggered by volcanic activity.  Methane and carbon dioxide from an adjacent volcano mix methane and carbon dioxide into the lake, making it a veritable tinder box, threatening the lives and homes of some two million people in the region.

In response to the risk—and also to produce energy—the Rwandan government has started using a large barge to suck up water and extract the methane gas therein. The methane is then used to fire the gas-powered Kibuye power plant. Already the system is producing 3.6 megawatts of electricity—some four percent of Rwanda’s total power supply. Within a few years, project backers hope to be generating between 50 and 100 megawatts of power from the operation. Extracting the methane also significantly reduces the risk of explosions, thus providing a measure of safety for area residents.

Humans have barely put a dent in the amount of power that can be captured from volcanic activity, but analysts expect to see much more of this form of power coming online over the next few decades. The U.S. Geological Survey refers to this phenomenon as the "plus side of volcanoes." Environmentalists and others are hopeful that volcanic geothermal energy can become a major player in meeting a significant portion of our energy needs in our increasingly carbon-constrained world.

CONTACTS: Geothermal Energy Association, www.geo-energy.org U.S. Geological Survey, www.usgs.gov.

Dear EarthTalk: When we talk about "endangered species" we usually think of animal species, but someone recently told me that there was a worldwide crisis pertaining to the extinction of plants. Can you enlighten? – Max Blanchard, East Islip, NY

We may not realize it, but the health of the plant kingdom is crucial to the health of the planet and the animal life (which includes humans) it supports. "Through photosynthesis, plants provide the oxygen we breathe and the food we eat and are thus the foundation of most life on Earth," reports the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based nonprofit dedicated to securing the future for endangered plants and animals throughout the world.

"Unlike animals, plants can’t readily move as their habitat is destroyed, making them particularly vulnerable to extinction," says the Center. Habitat destruction—just one of the threats plants face—can lead to an "extinction debt" whereby even some plants that are plentiful now could disappear over time by being unable to disperse to new habitat patches. And global warming is already starting to exacerbate such problems. "With plants making up the backbone of ecosystems and the base of the food chain," says the group, "that’s very bad news for all species, which depend on plants for food, shelter and survival."

A 2009 report by the UK-based nonprofit, Plantlife, found that 15,000 of the 50,000 or so species of wild plants known for their medicinal qualities in traditional remedies are being overexploited and are potentially headed for extinction. The group says the fact that most people around the world—including some 80 percent of all Africans—rely on herbal medicines obtained primarily from wild plants underscores just how serious a problem a mass extinction of wild plants could be for humanity, let alone for the environment. Commercial over-harvesting does the most harm, though pollution, competition from invasive species and habitat destruction all contribute. "Commercial collectors generally harvest medicinal plants with little care for sustainability," Plantlife reports, adding that shortages already exist in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

Another group, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles and maintains the famous "Red List" of endangered species around the world, found that a whopping 70 percent of the 12,000-plus plant species it has evaluated to date are threatened with extinction—despite the fact that each year about 2,000 new plants make themselves known to science. Of course, the organization only evaluates plants that are rare or have suffered major declines.

Meanwhile, researchers in the UK estimate that up to 33 percent of all flowering plants worldwide are threatened with extinction. "That percentage reflects the global impact of factors such as habitat loss," says Lucas Joppa, the study’s lead author, who adds that climate change could increase the toll.

This worldwide threat to plants is just part of a larger biodiversity crisis, and the United Nations has declared 2010 "The International Year of Biodiversity" to raise awareness and encourage action to help stem the tide. The project’s website features listings of celebrations taking place around the world as well as resources for those who want to help spread the word and be part of the solution.

CONTACTS: Center for Biological Diversity, www.biologicaldiversity.org; Plantlife, www.plantlife.org.uk; IUCN, www.iucn.org; International Year of Biodiversity, www.cbd.int/2010.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, c/o E — The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. E is a nonprofit publication. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Request a Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

There are few things more frustrating for tech dorks like myself, than trying to squeeze in multiple power bricks into a single surge protecting power strip. There’s never enough space to plug in everything, and often (at least in my case) it usually leads to bouts of cursing, and hate filled stubbornness along the lines of “forcing the square peg into the round hole”.

Well thanks to Quirky’s Pivot Power, you’ll no longer have to worry about turning into a rage filled maniac when you’re trying to plug in your gear, as they’ve designed a completely flexible power strip that assures that all of those horribly shaped power bricks don’t hog up all of the space. The Pivot Power easily bends into circular, semi-circular, and zig zag shapes, enabling it to fit into tight spaces and wrap around furniture and corners.

Awesome, right? Of course it is. My only question is, is why in the hell did it take until 2010 for something like this to be developed?! Regardless of the answer, it’s not available just quite yet, but the development phase of this product did just wrap up and you’re able to pre-order it now via Quirky’s online store, for just $23.00

LYNN — Massachusetts is powering up to become the national leader in energy efficiency, announcing sweeping plans to save residents money and create a more energy-savvy Commonwealth.

Gov. Deval Patrick has made the energy efficiency plan a top priority, saying it will help defray climbing energy costs for state residents and businesses.

“These plans provide a roadmap toward a clean energy future that includes more local jobs in the efficiency sector, a cleaner environment thanks to fewer power plant emissions, and lower electric and natural gas bills for consumers residing in more energy efficient, comfortable homes,” Governor Deval Patrick said in a statement.

Funded in part by the state and in part by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the program, which is an offshoot of the state’s 2008 Green Communities Act, will cost taxpayers $2.1 billion — which includes $580 million in customer incentives, which encourage better home insulation, energy efficient windows and appliances. The return though, according to the program’s supporters, is expected to be far greater: $6.2 billion in savings over a three-year period.

That, and the title of national leader in energy efficiency — ahead of even California, long thought to be on top of the green movement.

The state is calling energy efficiency “the Commonwealth’s ‘first fuel,’” insisting that in order to achieve the $6 billion savings, residents must:

• Re-evaluate their energy use
• Utilize state rebates and incentives

That is, according to the state, the way for residents to minimize their utility bills.

The new law calls for:

• 2.4 percent reduction in electricity over the next three years
• 1.7 percent reduction in natural gas.

In order to achieve this, the Commonwealth has solicited the help of utility companies, NStar, Bay State Gas and Western Mass Electric, who all support the plan. They are stepping up promotion of home and business energy audits The efforts, they say, will compel Commonwealth residents to take part because the cost savings will be too great not to.

“On average, 10 percent of home energy is wasted in Massachusetts,” said Mike Durand, spokesman for NStar. “Open refrigerators, lights on, unchecked thermostats…We want customers to be aware. The more information they have about their energy use, the more wisely they will use it. They’re going to pay less, and their bills are going to go down,” Durand said.

But despite the suspicious logic of utility companies trying to drive down the cost of their own customer’s energy bills, they say it will be good business.
“It benefits everyone,” said Durand. “If a customer is using the bulk of their electricity in the summer, we address that. If we can lower the peak demand, we don’t have to use this peak (expensive) equipment. It’s beneficial to us and the customers. Wiser use of power is a regional, as well as environmental issue.”
Still, the execution of such a grand-scaled plan presents challenges, chief among them how to get residents on board of what is a voluntary program. State officials say they hope the investment is worth the return.

“It’s a $2 billion investment, and we hope everyone will hop on board,” said Lisa Capone, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA). “The more you do the more you have the opportunity to save. Energy efficiency is actually the most cost effective way to do it, and it’s a huge step that makes Massachusetts the clear leader,” she said.

According to the state, the energy efficiency plan will achieve savings “comparable to the environmental benefits achieved by taking approximately 1,622,000 cars off the road, by annually sequestering carbon in a pine forest roughly the size of 38 percent of the entire state, or by recycling 3.0 million tons of waste instead of sending it to the landfill.”

Residents are already seeing the rebates at work. The frenzy of the recent appliance exchange rebate program proved successful, at least in interest. In the first two hours alone, 26,500 residents took advantage of the program, changing in their old appliances for new, energy efficient counterparts. In total, the state dolled out nearly $7.7 million to residents looking to cash in on energy savings, paid for by both federal and state programs.

The state’s solar rebate program has also garnered interest, as people increasingly look to drive down their energy bills with renewable energy.
Bill Mellen of Lynn took advantage of the last round of solar rebates put up by the Commonwealth, saying the long-term savings is well worth the initial investment.

“It’s not just for us, it’s for the the future. And it adds value to our home which isn’t taxed and will never be taxed. I don’t think we would have done it without the rebates,” he said of the $45,000 solar panel fixture which sits atop his roof. For more about Mellen’s experience, view video above.

Additionally, the state claims the new initiative will generate 3,100 “green” jobs over the next three years, though it does not specify where the new positions will be created.

Finally, Massachusetts justifies the upfront cost of the incentives and rebates by predicting a far-reaching economic effect.

“One way that energy efficiency affects consumers and businesses is by reducing energy costs, thereby allowing the money saved to be spent elsewhere, thus stimulating the economy.”

Hundreds of Boston College students and other Brighton residents were without power, some for more than a day, late last week.

On December 9, around 3 p.m., a transformer failed on Commonwealth Avenue, NSTAR confirmed. A second transformer failed shortly later. A total of 177 customers were without power for 12 hours, and another 18 were without power for 5 hours. Dozens more were without power from anywhere to a half hour to a few hours, and NSTAR spokesman Dennis Galvam.

One of the manholes that needed to be accessed to restore power was blocked by debris, so a cleanup crew had to be called in, Galvam said. This added to the delay in restoring power to all residents.

“Around 3 a.m., the workers gave a shout of celebration, and the electricity was restored,” said Brighton resident Glenn Willis. “I got up a few hours later, and worked until 8:30am, when the electricity then went out again.” His power wasn’t fully restored until Thursday afternoon.

Galvam said that additional problems with the repair meant 200 more customers were without power from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday morning.

Boston College junior Lisa Relle said the power went out on her block in Brighton, which is home to dozens of off-campus BC students.

“Students have been scrambling to find places to sleep and do work during this busy time of year,” Relle said.

Willis said he was disappointed when he called NSTAR and didn’t get a direct answer about when the power would be back.

“I was a bit stunned at NSTAR’s communicative incompetence,” he said. “It is not fair to consumers, who have little choice in the matter of electrical providers, to keep us completely ‘in the dark’ for so long in terms of information, particularly during such cold weather.”

Galvam said that the NSTAR call center was receiving a lot of calls from customers last week and that the weather was particularly foul, adding to problems. He said that customers can always call 800-592-2000 with questions.

Dear EarthTalk: What is “microfinance” and how does it help poor countries and preserve the environment? – Eliza Clark, Seattle, WA

The brainchild of Grameen Foundation founder Muhammad Yunus, microfinance is a form of banking whereby financial institutions offer small loans to the poor. The idea behind the concept, which originated in Bangladesh in the mid 1970s, is that motivated and disciplined poor people could climb out of poverty if they had access to funding-even small amounts-that help get businesses off the ground. With access to revolving loan funds, these “micro-entrepreneurs” can build businesses, pay back the borrowed money, and continue to provide for themselves and their families in a sustainable manner.

A classic example would be a woman who borrows $50 to buy chickens so she can sell eggs to other members of her community. As her chickens multiply, she can sell more eggs, and eventually she can sell chicks as well. She pays back the money and has climbed out of a perhaps desperate situation financially-and the community benefits from having a new source of nutritious food.

“Having access to money to start a small business isn’t about fulfilling a dream, it’s literally about keeping their families one step ahead of starvation and putting a roof over their heads,” says Tracey Turner, founder of MicroPlace, an online “microfinance marketplace” launched by eBay in 2007. Individuals can put small or large amounts of money on MicroPlace and get a rate of return in the two- to three-percent range-better than a donation-and get the satisfaction of knowing that their cash is helping someone in a developing country improve their lot and that of their impoverished community.

On the environmental front, microfinance is, in and of itself, “green” in that it promotes businesses that can be sustained indefinitely. Example after example over the last three decades have proven the concept that when poor people are given opportunities to earn a living in a legitimate and sustainable fashion, they have little or no need to pillage their surrounding natural resources to shelter or feed themselves. Also, most of the financial institutions involved in microfinance hold up sustainability as a precondition for awarding loans. Others encourage greener businesses by offering lower interest rates to borrowers with sustainability-oriented plans.

While upstarts like MicroPlace and Kiva (which operates on a similar model whereby individual investors can get in on the microlending fun) are grabbing most of the microfinance headlines these days, Grameen Bank was the first microfinance lender in the world, initiating its first project in 1976 in the Bangladeshi village of Jobra. Today Grameen does a lot more than just offer small loans. It also accepts deposits and provides other banking services, and runs several development-oriented businesses including fabric, telephone and energy companies. And it has spawned thousands of other institutions doing similar things: World Bank statistics show that more than 7,000 microfinance institutions serve some 16 million people in developing countries with $7 billion in outstanding loans, 97 percent of which are repaid.

In 2006, Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

CONTACTS: Grameen Bank, www.grameen-info.org, MicroPlace, www.microplace.com; Kiva, www.kiva.org.

Dear EarthTalk: What is the so-called “smart grid” I’ve been hearing about, and how can it save energy and money? — Larry Burger, Litchfield, CT

America’s electricity grid is built upon what many consider to be an antiquated principle: Make large amounts of electricity and have it always available to end users whether they need it or not. It’s much like the way most home water heaters work in keeping water constantly hot even when it is not being used. It is also a strictly one-way relationship with utilities supplying power to end users, but not also vice-versa.

The smart grid concept is predicated on a two-way flow of energy-and information-between electricity generators and end users. The system not only delivers power to end users as needed, depending on demand; it also gathers power from end users that produce their own-homes and businesses that generate solar, wind or geothermal power themselves-when they have more than they need.

Some 42 states and Washington, DC already require utilities to have systems in place to buy excess energy generated by their customers. But, writes journalist Michael Prager in E – The Environmental Magazine, “because they can’t know in real time that power is coming in, utilities generate as much as they would have anyway.” He adds that when information flows both ways, end users will be able to send information back to the grid specifying how much power they need and when they will need it. They’ll also be able to communicate when they have excess power available to upload to the grid.

On the forefront of research into the feasibility of the smart grid on a large scale is the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center, established in 2008 by the National Science Foundation and headquartered at North Carolina State University. FREEDM is partnering with universities, industry and national laboratories in 28 states and nine countries to develop technologies they say will “revolutionize the nation’s power grid and speed renewable electric-energy technologies into every home and business.” So far, some 60 utilities, alternative energy startups, electrical equipment manufacturers and other firms have signed onto the new partnership.

One such utility, Colorado-based Xcel Energy, has even begun to put smart grid technology into practice on a trial basis for a small percentage of its customer base. The utility has spent some $100 million outfitting 35,000 homes and businesses in and around the city of Boulder with automation and communications capabilities to enable two-way communication of electricity needs.

Xcel won’t have enough data to assess energy and cost savings until early 2010, but analysts are optimistic that the utility’s costly experiment will reap benefits down the road for consumers, utilities and the environment. Indeed, environmentalists and economists alike have high hopes that widespread implementation of such “intelligent” systems could help usher in a new age of unprecedented energy efficiency, emissions reductions and cost savings around the United States and beyond.

CONTACTS: Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center, www.freedm.ncsu.edu; Xcel Energy, www.xcelenergy.com.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

Using the wind to produce electricity has, for many decades, been little more than a footnote to energy production in the U.S. But, says the January/February 2009 issue of E – The Environmental Magazine (now posted at: www.emagazine.com), that’s all beginning to change.

In 2007, 35% of all the new electricity generation installed in the U.S. -‚­ over 5,200 megawatts (MW) ‚­- was wind. Its growth is second only to natural gas. Then in September 2008, the U.S. surpassed Germany to lead the world in wind energy production. With rising oil costs, improvements in turbine technology and a more stable public energy policy, U.S. wind energy production has doubled in just two years.

Today’s turbines provide more than 20,000 MW of generating capacity, enough to serve 5.3 million homes or to power one million plug-in hybrid vehicles. By the time 2008 tallies are completed, the industry will likely have added 7,000 to 7,500 more MW. And now that industry incentives have been extended with the recent passage of a new energy bill, wind power is on track to reach the 30,000-MW milestone sometime in 2009.

Big Possibilities

There are many reasons why wind power should be promoted as a major energy supplier. It has a huge environmental advantage over dirty fossil fuels. Estimates by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) show that wind currently generates as much electricity as nearly 30 million tons of coal or 90 million barrels of oil. In 2008, wind displaced about 34 million tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking 5.8 million vehicles off the road. In 20 years, if we reach the industry goal of supplying 20% of our national energy from wind, it will be the equivalent of taking 140 million vehicles off the road.

And wind resources in the United States are huge. “There’s something like 600 gigawatts of wind that can be developed in the U.S.,” says Jim Walker of Enxco, a company that develops wind farms in North America. That’s about 60% of our current electricity consumption, according to The Energy Information Administration. The cost, too, is already competitive with gas. Says Walker, “Wind energy can be developed for under 10 cents per kilowatt hour, about the same as gas.” This assumes the continuation of production tax credits that contribute about two cents for each kilowatt-hour produced.

Then there are the job possibilities. The U.S. Department of Energy says that achieving the goal of drawing 20% of our national energy needs from wind by 2030 will create about 500,000 jobs in the U.S. and contribute more than $1.5 billion to local communities annually.

Finding New Wind

Beyond the large-scale wind farms, there’s a lot of quality wind to be tapped over the water. Although the U.S. has no offshore wind installations yet, they are in the works. BluewaterWind, for example, is working with four states in the Northeast to build offshore wind parks. Its Delaware project is expected to provide electricity for 100,000 homes. The turbines will be 11 miles offshore and difficult to see from shore even on a clear day. Wind energy experts expect offshore wind to contribute about 50 of the 300 GWs of capacity the industry aims to install by 2030.

Community, or mid-sized wind, also has a role to play. This is wind power for smaller investors, such as farmers, ranchers, consumer-owned utilities, school districts and colleges. The beauty of community wind, in addition to being able to take advantage of smaller sites, is that it contributes to a less centralized‚­and a more secure‚­model for our energy needs.

And small wind, too, will be an important part of a new energy picture. Defined as wind produced by turbines that are rated at 100 kilowatts or less, most are owned by individual homeowners, farmers and business owners. Small wind currently contributes 55 to 60 MW of capacity in the U.S. Although that’s a small fraction of what’s coming online from utility-scale projects, small wind is an attractive option for anyone who wants to fix their energy costs. “Think of it as prepaying for your electrical costs for 25 or 30 years,” says Ron Stimmel, AWEA’s small-wind advocate.

E – The Environmental Magazine distributes 50,000 copies six times per year to subscribers and bookstores. Its website, www.emagazine.com, enjoys 60,000 monthly visitors. E also publishes EarthTalk, a nationally syndicated environmental Q&A column distributed free to 1,700 newspapers, magazines and websites throughout the U.S. and Canada ( www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek). Single copies of E’s January/February 2009 issue are available for $5 postpaid from: E Magazine, P.O. Box 50032, Boulder, CO 80322. Subscriptions are $29.95 per year, available at the same address.

Screw the economy; when you go to cart away that new flat panel HDTV from Best Buy, young pimple-faced Mr. or Miss Blue Shirt is going to try to load on a $200 (or higher) Monster-brand surge protector to keep your new investment safe from a whole host of devastating electrical problems.

Also in the high-priced range is the Tributaries T12 power strip, with eight rotating power receptacles and Ethernet, phone and cable protection.

It’s $120, which is too expensive for anything labeled a “power strip” that doesn’t include a uninterruptible power supply/battery backup for your gadgets. I don’t care what brand or label it falls under.

That said, it’s a damn shame the T12 costs over $100, because it’s one of the handiest power strips/surge protectors I’ve ever used.

Eight of the 12 sockets rotate 90 degrees to get whatever AC adapter you’re using out of the way of everything else. The 12 also delivers 4320 joules of surge suppression. It’s rated for 15 amps for up to 1875 watts of load — enough for several computers or your entire home theater and much more. It also offers a $25,000 warranty on plugged-in devices.

We’re basically rounding out the year with this review, because we started 2008 by introducing everyone to the Powramid — an innovative pyramid-shaped power strip.

Like the Powramid, the T12 is superior in almost all ways (except cost of course) to traditional power strips. The sockets are arranged — and move — to accommodate all of your many gadgets.

Plenty of people on the blogs have asked why you need 12 plugs. I’m a big nerd, but I don’t run a multiple display setup or keep my video game consoles on my desk. I managed to basically fill up the T12 with what I would think is a normal amount of computer junk:

• Computer
• Monitor
• Cell phone charger
• Wireless mouse charger
• External hard drive
• Cable modem
• Router
• Printer
• Computer speakers
• Digital camera charger

So it’s not the plugs that are the problem.

Price is the problem, and there are somewhat comparable products out there for less.

Just be careful. Don’t go to the dollar store and buy “Joe’s brand surge protector” and be aware of the cheap imitations of the cheap imitations with fake UL certifications.

Bottom line: you don’t absolutely need to spend $120 for a decent power strip, but if you’re spending thousands on a home theater with all the trimmings, don’t think you can get away for a $5 one either.

In the realm of all things pretty good comes the Duracell Powersource Mobile 100 power inverter and battery backup system.

Maybe more than pretty good, the Powersource crosses over to “good” now that the price has come down from a whopping $139.99 to just over $50.

The Powersource Mobile 100 gives you a three-prong plug and two USB ports to charge your laptops, cell phones, iPods, and just about any other portable device up to 80 watts. It’s guaranteed to work with iPods, Palm devices and BlackBerry phones and will work with most others as long as they take USB or standard “wall socket” power.

The device advertises two hours of laptop power, and that’s definitely possible with modern, low-power computers with the monitor turned down. Like anything else — if you’re running an Alienware monstrosity laptop, you’re not gonna get a lotta juice.

So I tested this puppy out, and my favorite part about it is that it’s not just a battery but a power inverter too. This means I can plug it into the car socket and run my Laptop at full power for as long as I need it. As a news reporter, that’s a invaluable asset on the road.

I’m glad the price came down on the Powersource Mobile 100. $50 is just about right for this product. It’s about double the cost of a normal power inverter and gives you a boost in your laptop bag or suitcase.

This is a great impulse buy. If you’re looking for something to put in the car, it’s a great idea. It works as advertised.

Yes, the Powersource is a toy. It’s not entirely necessary. It’s extra. I like it. Would I necessarily go out to the store and buy one?

I dunno.

Kreative Power, a newcomer to the technology market, has launched a funny-looking new surge protector in the shape of a pyramid.

The “Powramid” is a six-outlet cone of a power strip that’s actually pretty smart. It lets you plug large power adapters into each socket and is extremely compact.

Kreative says several models of the product are coming, but right now, their website only shows one, the E-900H.

Now, there’s not much to say about a surge protector, but you have to give these guys some credit for doing something different in the relatively vanilla world of surge protectors.

The E-900H will retail somewhere between $17-25, said Bonnie Jiang, Kreative’s sales director, in an interview Wednesday. The product will come in a wide variety of body and indicator light colors as well.

They’re also offering free t-shirts to anyone who preorders.

Kreative plans to highlight their new toy at CES, January 7-10 in Las Vegas.

Technical specs:

Outlets: 6
Cord length: 8′
AC Plug style: Right-angle
Joules: 900
Clamping Voltage: 330V
Max spike current: H-N 15,000A, H-G 15,000A, N-G 15,000A
Electrical ratings: 125V, 15A, 60Hz, 1875w