By making small changes in your driving habits, you can help to reduce these numbers and save money at the same time. By driving smarter, you can reduce your fuel costs and your “carbon footprint” as well.

Take a $20 bill out of your wallet. Now light a match and watch the money burn up in smoke. Sounds crazy, right? Yet many of us do something similar every time we drive.  We fill up our gas tanks, then burn extra fuel – and money – that we could be saving. Not to mention, we produce much more harmful air pollution than we should be.

The good news is that it doesn’t take much to start saving money at the gas pump. By tweaking your driving habits and adopting a few simple car maintenance tips, you can easily cut your fuel consumption and get more mileage out of your vehicle.

These driving tips can help the conscious drivers to take more control over their driving experience, reduce emissions, increase fuel economy, and lighten their overall transportation carbon footprint. Also the following driving tips tend to be both high-impact in terms of fuel economy and are easy for all drivers to control:

Leave early and don’t rush.

“Jack-rabbit” starts and hard braking alone can increase fuel consumption by 40 percent but reduce travel time by only 4 percent. Keep it close to 60 mph on the highway.

Highway driving that exceeds 60 miles per hour uses more fuel. According to the U.S. EPA, every 5 miles over the 60 mph level is equivalent to paying 20 extra cents per gallon for gas. Observing the speed limit and not exceeding 60 mph (where legally allowed) can improve mileage by 7-23 percent.
Avoid unnecessary idling.

With today’s advanced vehicles, turning the engine off and on again is no longer hard on your starter and you no longer need to warm up your engine. An automobile may burn more than half a gallon of fuel for every hour spent idling. Unless you are simply dropping off or picking up someone, make it a habit to turn your engine off when waiting at the curb even if it’s just for a short period, and avoid drive-thrus.

Use AC only at higher speeds.

Air conditioning can reduce mileage significantly, by as much as 20 percent. In fact, your air conditioner can consume up to one gallon of gas per tank to cool the vehicle. But driving with your windows open can produce aerodynamic drag, which reduces fuel economy. What’s a driver to do? When driving at slower speeds (less than 40 mph), such as driving in urban areas, open windows are better. At higher speeds (over 40 mph), close the windows and turn on the air conditioner – the AC uses less fuel.

Use cruise control.

Using cruise control on 10,000 miles driven in a year could save you nearly $200 and save more than 60 gallons of fuel, according to the Department of Transportation (assuming $3 a gallon for fuel, 20 MPG, and 15,000 miles driven annually).

Keep on rolling in traffic. Try to anticipate stops and coast as much as possible. Slow-and-go is always better than stop-and-go, and not just to reduce traffic congestion woes. Maintaining a constant speed in your commute increases fuel economy, because it takes much more energy to move a stopped vehicle than to keep a vehicle moving. In fact, it can take 20 percent more fuel to accelerate from a full stop than from 5 miles per hour.

Install and use a fuel consumption display.

Fuel tracking devices are available that allow the driver to track individual trips or portions of trips. Options for vehicles without factory installed fuel economy computers (like in Toyota hybrids) include the ScanGauge and SuperMID, or a commercial level GPS fleet tracking system such as FieldLogix.

Combine trips.

Plan ahead so you can get all your errands taken care of in one trip. Go to the furthest destination first, then work your way back.

Sources:

Driving tips sources: NCDOT, ecodrivingusa.com, fueleconomy.gov, and FieldLogix GPS fleet tracking system.

Link to driving eco-calculator. http://www.ecodrivingusa.com/#/eco-calculator/

With conventionally powered electrical compressor heat pumps, that means that some of the first suggestions that an Eco Consultant is going to give a homeowner or business to reduce utility costs are going to have to do with optimizing the use of climate control systems in order to curb the appetite of these energy-hungry machines. But what if this wasn’t necessary? What if the hotter it got, the cheaper it got to run your AC? What if you could crank your thermostat to “cold” and let it rip without feeling the least bit guilty or apprehensive about what the bill at the end of the month was going to look like?

It looks like that dream is soon to become a reality thanks to the efforts of Hawaii-based solar firm Sopogy. They claim to have perfected a unique climate control system that achieves its cooling effects through the use of 100% solar heat exchange. That means that the hotter the sun shines and the hotter it gets, the more available energy there is for the solar system to use for cooling and the more efficiently the system performs. Pilot projects testing the technology have been implemented in a variety of different buildings including the San Diego headquarters of grid utility company Sempra Energy [NYSE: SRE] (which is heartening to know that even the guys that are making the juice are trying to figure out ways to avoid wasting it). The bottom line is that we all love our air conditioning and we all hate having to write the check to pay for it. However with systems like these available on a large scale within the next few years the day is coming that we will be able to crank the AC as much as we want and relax, while keeping our checkbooks on ice too.

Africa is Expected to Become a High-Growth Area for Renewable Power

Currently, California, USA is the hotspot for renewable energy development worldwide, with more open solar and wind projects in this small region than anywhere else in the world. However, experts expect this to change very soon and Africa is expected to be one of the most important new regions for renewable energy production.

Up until now, Africa has been by and large left out of the renewable energy race despite prevailing weather conditions and geography that would seem to lend it perfectly to different types of renewables, particularly solar. In addition, the lack of a centralized grid system over much of the continent also lends itself to stand-alone renewable power generation as an avenue for individuals and communities who are in need of energy solutions to produce electricity in the long term while avoiding the high fuel costs and upkeep of traditional fossil-fuel systems.

Up until this point, slow moving government participation and reform in Africa have represented a significant barrier for the progress of renewable energy projects. However that seems to be changing. South Africa and Kenya have both announced their intent to approve Feed-In Tariff programs in 2010 which will make it more feasible for communities and individuals to invest in renewable energy projects and may also attract private investors to the African market as well. A Feed-In Tariff would require existing utility companies to pay a flat rate for renewable-generated power that is supplied back to the grid, representing a low-barrier income stream for the owners of renewable energy projects.

While large-scale projects are unlikely in Africa just yet, the continent’s unique situation does lend itself well to the operation of small to moderately sized renewable power projects. According to analysts, “Many developmental agencies consider small-scale RE projects as the most feasible solution for accelerated rural electrification and therefore are increasingly investing in medium-sized projects, especially wind and solar projects,” said Cornelis van der Waal, Frost & Sullivan Energy and Power Systems program manager.

The Future Looks Bright for Renewable Energy

It’s election season once again. One of the most important times of the year, where we get to decide the direction that our country is moving in. It looks like elections this year will hold good news for renewable energy. In a recent poll of voters conducted by Public Policy Polling for the NRDC Action Fund it was found that the majority of voters were in support of an energy bill with strong ties to renewable sources. The poll was conducted in 23 congressional districts and concluded that at least 52% of voters in these districts would be more inclined to support a candidate whose platform included energy policy that would cut pollution and reduce the effects of climate change.

This is good news for the booming renewable energy sector. Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has already gotten the ball rolling by supporting renewable energy projects in the United States. Continued legislation in favor of renewables will only further cement the progress that has been made in the past 3 years.

The changing sentiment towards supporting renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions as a national goal is definitely a sign of the times. It shows that there is increased awareness not only of the impact that we are having on the environment (in terms of climate change) but also of the success of renewable energy projects which have been coming onto the grid faster than ever, such as the new solar projects in southern California and Nevada. With this increased support, the green energy sector will undoubtedly experience continued growth on a nationwide scale in The United States.

Either way, it seems that Americans in general are waking up to the possibilities of renewable energy sources and are ready to support positive change in energy legislation in the upcoming elections. That’s good news any way you serve it.

The Planned Route for the One Nevada Transmission Line

The town of Apex, Nevada is normally just the location of the Apex Regional Landfill (the largest landfill in the state of Nevada), a small relief power station that comes online when nearby Las Vegas is overloading the grid and not much else. However last week brought red-letter days for this dusty, nondescript stretch of Hwy 93 situated just northeast of the city of lights. The One Nevada Transmission Line or “ON Line” (so clever!) project commencement was hosted at NV Energy’s [NASDAQ: NVE] Harry Allen Generating Station campus on Tuesday. It was a fairly star-studded event with U.S. Energy Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both in attendance, alongside a veritable who’s who of Nevada’s energy-industry brass to witness the beginning of a project that is being billed as a significant breakthrough in the support of renewable power and a major source of green collar jobs, as well as being symbolic of the new direction the state of Nevada is taking towards energy policy through the strong support of renewables.

The One Nevada transmission line consists of a 500 kilovolt power conduit that will cover the entire length of the state of Nevada running north-south. It will eventually be extended as far north as Idaho. The portion of the line that will be completed in this first phase consists of a 235-mile line extending from the Harry Allen site to a new electrical substation that will be constructed northwest of the town of Ely, Nevada. The projected price tag for the project will top $510 million.

But the question that many people are asking is: Why is this project getting so much attention as being vital to the renewable energy sector?

As Nevada has worked towards tapping into their state’s unique potential for renewable power production, ventures have run into a significant problem. The remote sites in the central, eastern, and northern parts of the state that lend themselves well to renewable energy projects don’t have access to any type of feed-in that would allow them to move the energy they produce to the markets in the south and west that need the power. The One Nevada line will be routed specifically to provide ease of access to desert solar projects, wind farms in the dusty plains and geothermal projects in the northern half of the state. Up until this point, the huge empty desert that makes up the central portion of the state has acted like a barrier that has hindered the development of these projects. Nevada has essentially been split in two in terms of electrical infrastructure, with Reno and other towns like Elko in the north and Las Vegas in the south. The One Nevada transmission line will remedy this, opening the door to huge consumer markets in Las Vegas and Southern California for a new generation of Nevada based renewable energy producers to explore.

The combination of ideal conditions for efficient renewable power production with ease of access to a nearly bottomless demand for electricity will transform Nevada’s arid deserts into fruitful investments for green energy speculation and open the door to accelerated growth for renewable energy projects that have been put on hold because of transmission hurdles. The southwest intertie project is one of the most important and exciting renewable energy projects to break ground in 2010. In fact, it may end up being the most significant because of the number of other projects it will directly affect, which is probably what got all those big-wigs to spend their Tuesday standing next to a landfill in the Nevada desert.

Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced with properly-maintained cars

Taking a deep breath nowadays might just be a little bit healthier than it was just a few short years ago. It’s common knowledge that cars and transportation are a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and other airborne pollutants. However, according to recent figures new cars today are cleaner than ever before. Of course most consumers expect that cars will get cleaner as time goes on; as part of the natural progression of technology and the demands of continuing legislation regulating vehicle emissions. What might come as a surprise is how quickly the change is happening.

Of course progress is most noticeable among the cleanest of the herd. Average carbon emission figures for the cleanest cars dropped by 21 per cent over the last four years. According to consumer information website Green-Car-Guide.com, cars in the low-emission group emitted an average of 102.8 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven for the 2010 model year (CO2 is considered to be the primary contributor to global warming). In 2006 the same group recorded an average emission of 131.1 g/km. The difference of28.3 g/km represents the 21 per cent drop.

The increase can be attributed to a combination of more stringent government regulations worldwide regarding emissions and mounting consumer pressure for automakers to produce greener cars. The consumer pressure falls into two categories. One is eco-conscious consumers. While there is a notable and growing portion of the buying public who seriously factor a vehicle’s potential environmental impact into their purchasing decision, this is the smaller of the two groups. The second and larger segment is econo-conscious consumers. That’s right, it seems that green (as in eco-friendly) and “green” (as in money) have come together in the transportation market. With gas prices already high and expected to continue climbing, fuel economy is becoming more and more important to buyers when they visit the showroom floor.  In Consumer Reports’ latest survey of individuals who intend to purchase a new car in the next 3-6 months more named average fuel economy as the most important factor in their decision then sticker price. This focus on efficiency has the accompanying result of lowering carbon emissions in new cars: less fuel burned per mile equals lower carbon emissions. That means that across the board, cars in all categories saw a drop in average g/km carbon production of 13 per cent.

It is safe to assume that these trends will continue, particularly if oil prices continue to climb. Especially with new alternative-fuel cars poised to break into the consumer marketplace soon, a year-to year drop of 10 per cent or more may be on the horizon for 2011 or 2012. It seems that consumers are getting the message that gas-guzzling SUV’s may not be in their best interest. Even if complaints from environmentalists and eco-conscious friends weren’t able to convince them before, complaints from their pocketbooks seem to be doing the trick. Now that’s something to breathe easy about.

Smartphone Have New APs That Can Help You Go Green

These days our phones are so much more than just simple communication devices. The Apple [Nasdaq: APPL] iPhone and Google [Nasdaq: GOOG] Android platforms are revolutionary. They are our lifelines, and they also provide us with help on things that many people would never imagine a phone can do. With that in mind, here are 5 more green related apps that Eco Institution found when researching our last smart phone article.

Carbon Tracker – The Carbon Tracker app is a GPS-enabled program that helps users to actually calculate and account for their carbon footprint from daily commuting, business trips and vacations. The cool thing is that you can actually set goals for maximum emissions per month and then check up on your progress. It can also be networked for use by more than one person for businesses and universities.

iLocavore – The iLocavore app provides users with updates about local and city specific events, products and services. This helps reduce the carbon footprint of consuming goods from out of your area. The app is slated to expand into helping users identify produce, fruits and vegetables are available from local growers and where to find them.

Go Green – The Go Green app is an interesting application that provides hints on how to live greener. It’s almost like having an environmental expert following you around. The tips that the program generates are saved for a list to be accessed later.

Juice Defender – The juice defender program helps you to save power on your phone and extend battery life by applying custom settings to the data connection and Wifi functions on the phone. You can schedule activation and deactivation of different features as well.

GreenYou – This program is really cutting edge. It actually calculates your carbon footprint by taking into account information about your transportation, housing, food, and other habits. Then it allows you to create a green plan that instructs you how to make changes in your lifestyle that will reduce your carbon footprint, starting today! It also tracks your progress and impact over time.

The Fairfield Plant and Surrounding "Eco Industrial Complex"

At the site of a former agricultural chemical processing facility in south Baltimore Maryland, Energy Answers of Albany, N.Y. is working on a different kind of renewable energy electrical generation facility. The power source? Trash. That’s right, garbage – the company hopes to take refuse off the curb and bring it right back to you through the meter. The generator would produce a moderately sized 120MW of electricity directly to the grid plus steam heat available locally to industrial consumers by burning up to 4,000 tons of garbage a day.

The project is classified as a renewable energy venture because it won’t be using fossil fuels to generate power. Because of that it is eligible for lucrative federal funding. Instead of functioning in the capacity of a normal incinerator, the facility will use Processed Refuse Fuel (PRF) which is essentially sorted and shredded residential and commercial garbage. The PRF burns cleaner and hotter than refuse that is used as fuel in traditional incinerators. The boiler will also use moderate amounts of Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) because of the high energy density of the material.

Energy Answers would also like to develop the 90 acre site surrounding the proposed facility with a so-called “Eco Industrial Park.” Currently, the property is considered to be a “brownfield” meaning the land is contaminated with residual pollutants from industry that was located there in the past. Energy Answers will remediate the site as part of the development plan. Once complete, partner industries that choose to locate on the property will be able to make use of reduced-price electricity and steam from the plant. The Mock-ups of the planned project bear stark contrast to the surrounding industrial complexes, with grassy open spaces and tree-lined walkways along the adjoining river. All of the buildings that Energy Answers plans to construct on the facility will be LEED certified.

However, the venture is not without its detractors. Opponents say that the facility is nothing more than a glorified garbage incinerator and that it will increase pollution in an already beleaguered area. Concern is mostly centered around airborne contamination from heavy metals like lead and mercury as well as increased particulate and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Answers has countered by pointing out that the Fairfield site will be among the cleanest facilities of its kind in the nation and it will deploy state-of the art pollution reduction technologies. It will also save tons of material from going into landfills – an estimated 115 acres of landfill space would be spared by the plant each year.

To be sure, the Fairfield plant is at the crux of the much larger debate about what needs to be done with garbage – our garbage: the vast amounts of refuse of all kinds that our society produces. Do we burn it as biomass to produce electricity, or do we just continue what we have been doing – bury it in landfills? Certainly any contaminants produced by a plant of this type are by their very nature unavoidable. Either they are going to be emitted through combustion at a facility like Fairfield or they are going to be exposed to the environment through leaching after being deposited in landfills. As far as greenhouse gasses are concerned, the CO2 produced by an incinerator is probably on par impact-wise with the much more potent methane and hydrocarbons emissions that landfills generate. Net/net, using the garbage now as a source of “renewable” energy may just be the lesser of two evils. As long as an emphasis is being placed on maximizing recycling efforts prior to the garbage being processed as fuel, emissions control systems are in place and properly regulated and proper care is taken to make sure that hazardous materials are excluded from the fuel stream, the facility will carry a positive impact on the environment and the community by generating fossil-fuel-free power, diverting huge amounts of garbage from landfills and providing literally hundreds of green collar jobs.

Energy Efficiency Rankings Were Calculated for Each State

Want to know where your state stands as far as commitment to energy efficiency?

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released their fourth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard last week. The poll is a broad, comprehensive analysis of a variety of different factors that contribute to progress in increasing overall energy efficiency including information about residential, commercial, industrial and transportation energy use in each state. It looks at laws, policies, programs and incentives that residents are exposed to concerning energy use and how that successful they are at increasing efficiency and reducing waste. According to their website, the ACEEE is an independent, non-profit watchdog group that is focused on the advancement of energy efficiency as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection.

The 2010 poll put California in the number one spot for the 4^th year running. The state has occupied the top spot since the ACEEE began publishing its findings in 2006. According to information in the report, California nabbed the top spot because of its efforts in consumer energy efficiency programs and incentives, utility decoupling, alternative business models, reward structures for consumer efficiency and policies establishing efficiency as a priority resource.

Runner-up Massachusetts was recognized in particular for their comprehensive demand-side management programs which are aimed at systematically reducing unnecessary consumption, particularly in residential settings where electricity use is easiest to predict and control. The state’s efforts toward decoupling, energy efficiency incentives and “efficiency as a resource models” were also noted.

Rounding out the top ten states for energy efficiency this year were:

3.Oregon
4.New York
5.Vermont
6.Washington
7.Rhode Island
8.Conneticut* (Tie w/Minnesota for 8^th Place)
9.Minnesota* (Tie)
10.Maine

The top ten for the previous report in 2009 were:

1.       California
2.       Massachusetts
3.       Connecticut
4.       Oregon
5.       New York
6.       Vermont
7.       Washington
8.       Minnesota
9.       Rhode Island
10.   Maine

There was comparatively little change year to year in the leading states, with the most significant developments being Connecticut’s tumble from 3^rd to 8^th position and Rhode Island climbing two spots to occupy the number seven slot.

However there was considerable activity in the lower echelon, with many states shifting several positions since the 2009 survey. The most improved states were Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska – all of which climbed at least 8 spots to finish out the 2010 figures with much higher rankings. The ACEEE recognized the southwestern states in general as being a region where the pace of change has seen positive increases recently. Arizona and Utah made their way into the top 20 for the first time since the scorecards were conceived.

However, the report didn’t yield all smiles and congratulations. For many states, the scorecard is a stinging reminder of the need for improvement in a system that is wasteful, aging and surprisingly resistant to change. The Midwest in particular claims the most states in need of sweeping improvements. Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas were counted among the 10 worst states for energy efficiency and North Dakota came in dead last.

Some state governments have taken their poor standing as a call to action. Officials in #46 Kansas in particular have been vocal about implementing measures to improve their state’s overall energy efficiency in a variety of ways, saving resources and perhaps scoring better on subsequent tests. These measures range from establishing better consumer incentives to adopting a utility decoupling plan in their state as well.  “Everybody recognizes there is room for improvement,” said Cara Sloan-Ramos, spokeswoman for the Kansas Corporation Commission.

However the Midwest wasn’t all bad news: interestingly, Iowa was one of the top performers at #12 overall. The state is definitely an energy efficiency leader among states that are similar geographically and economically. It was recognized in particular for deploying extensive customer efficiency incentive programs which the state made available across all different grades of utility consumers including residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural. The state also requires utilities to participate in a goal-setting system which requires utilities to sustain an effort towards increasing efficiency. The state should serve as an example for its neighbors as it is surrounded by #39 South Dakota, #47 Nebraska, #46 Kansas, #43 Missouri.

Grounded Power's "Glance" Energy Monitoring Device

As the technology has become more accessible and cheaper, a number of companies have brought home energy displays to the market that are designed to help consumers track electricity use in their homes in real time. However, few of their offerings have been quite as promising as the new power management suite being released by Massachusetts based company GroundedPower.

Power monitoring devices have seen increased popularity recently as utility companies are making the transition to smartgrid configurations. Many power companies that are deploying smart grid technology have begun to supply power meters to their customers as a way of helping them to keep tabs on energy use. However the concern is that customers may not remain committed to using the monitors once the novelty of having the device wears off and they will fall back into old patterns.

That is where GroundedPower hopes to prove them wrong. Drawing from social media experience garnered from running a smoking cessation website, company founders are convinced that they have the right formula to keep consumers engaged for long enough to make permanent changes in their power consumption. Glance®, the physical power metering device offered by the company is relatively simple and displays green, yellow or red bars based on whether or not the user is meeting their set goals. More detailed information is available through the company’s online interface. It is also through the online program that the social media aspect of the product is deployed: customers can compete with other users, share tips for saving power and interact with the grid program which offers rewards for customers who meet their goals.

“When you come into this, you think that it’s all about money but it’s not,” said David Rosi, the senior vice president of marketing, sales, and business development at GroundedPower. “Many people are focused on the environment, competition, peer comparisons, learning, rewards–you need to take many things into consideration.”

The unique approach to power management has gained attention and won over some fans, including larger smartgrid company Tendril Networks which announced plans to acquire GroundedPower earlier in the week in order to integrate the company’s technology into their own platform.

Competitors for GroundedPower’s products include Opower and Microsoft [NASDAQ: MSFT] Hohm, two other real-time power monitoring devices.