Catching Up

Since I've about 1,000 headlines to read on my bloglines and many are old news I missed while I was away, I'll just link to some things that I want to keep handy.

Japan is the the most energy efficient developed country in the world...
The Land of Rising Conservation -NYTimes.com "Japan’s obsession with conservation stems from an acute sense of insecurity in a resource-poor nation that imports most its energy from the volatile Middle East, a fact driven home here by the 1970s shocks. The guiding hand of government has also played a role, forcing households and companies to conserve by raising the cost of gasoline and electricity far above global levels. Taxes and price controls make a gallon of gasoline in Japan currently cost about $5.20, twice America’s more market-based prices.

The government in turn has used these tax revenues to help Japan seize the lead in renewable energies like solar power, and more recently home fuel cells. One way has been a subsidy of about $51,000 for each home fuel cell. This allowed Mr. Kimura to buy his cell last year for about $9,000, far below production cost. His cell, which generates one kilowatt-hour of energy per hour, provides just under half of his household’s electricity, and has cut his electricity bill by the same amount, he said."

California offers money for going Solar.
Plugging into the Sun -NYTimes.com

A kit home for 12 and up. Build green on a small scale.
Thames & Kosmos Power House via Hugg

Tax credits for Energy-Efficient Homes via treehugger