We May Soon Be Driving on Solar Highways

Idaho-based Solar Roadways has a bold new plan to generate clean energy on a massive scale. They are planning on manufacturing pre-made segments of road that are essentially large solar panels. With the sheer amount of road surface in this country, we’re talking about enough energy to potentially power the entire United States. The concept was exciting enough to the Department of Transportation that they just awarded the company a $100,000 grant to develop the system.

The company isn’t planning on stopping at just generating electricity, though. One proposed addition to the panels is a system of LED lights that would function as signage to alert drivers of upcoming hazards and road conditions. Another idea being floated around is embedded heating elements that could help prevent icy roads. This system really opens up the potential for a “smart road,” able to adapt to changing conditions while it generates electricity.

So, what’s the catch? Unsurprisingly, the panels are what you might call “cost prohibitive” at the moment. While one mile of four-lane solar highway could generate enough electricity to power 500 homes, it would also cost upwards of ten million dollars before you factor in any construction or infrastructure costs. Then, there are other major concerns about the panels, such as a potentially short lifespan, the ability to stand up to the pounding dealt by both heavy traffic and the environment and how cars would interact with the new surface.

But hey, maybe they’ll be able to engineer around the steep cost and other challenges, and we’ll soon be driving on a road surfaces that not only keep us safer, but protect the environment too. Here’s hoping.

Hughes Honored for Satellite Internet Industry Leadership

Hughes, providers of the popular HughesNet high-speed satellite Internet service, received a 2009 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership this week for their efforts in the consumer satellite broadband industry. The award is given to companies that demonstrate superior innovation, customer service and leadership and winners are chosen by a panel of industry analysts.

Speaking about the award, Hughes senior vice president Mike Cook said that the company is “proud to receive the 2009 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership for our HughesNet high-speed Internet access service.” He went on to say that “from online banking and shopping to social media applications, the demand for broadband is growing unabated and we look forward to continuing to lead the way in meeting the needs of our subscribers.”

It’s been a very positive summer for Hughes, as last month they were able to report a massive gain of 18,000 HughesNet subscribers during the second quarter. The total number of HughesNet subscribers now tops 470,000. HughesNet is an always-on, satellite Internet service that allows those not served by cable or DSL providers to enjoy the full experience of a high-speed Internet connection.

Coca-Cola to Release Eco-Friendly “PlantBottles”

Last month, I told you all about the Plastic Vortex, a swirling mass of plastic refuse in the Pacific Ocean that’s twice the size of Texas. Plastic bottles are some of the most common items found in the vortex, and are contributing heavily to the mass-scale pollution. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 22 billion plastic bottles are thrown away each year in the United States—that’s about 20 million per day! Clearly, even if we scale up our recycling, reducing and reusing efforts on a massive scale, something still needs to done about the make-up of these bottles.

Coca-Cola thinks they may have the answer in the PlantBottle, a new bioplastic bottle they have developed. Bioplastics, which are plastics made with biomass instead of petroleum, have been becoming more and more popular as an environmentally-friendly way to package goods. Bioplastics are much more sustainable than traditional plastics, with much smaller carbon footprints and reduced toxin levels. PlantBottles are made with spent sugar cane and molasses, and in their current formulation, cut carbon emissions per bottle by a whopping 25 percent. Coca-Cola is gearing up to start using PlantBottles for Dasani brand water in select markets by the end of the year, with VitaminWater following next year.

According to CEO Muhlar Kent, Coca-Cola has a "vision to eventually introduce bottles made with materials that are 100 percent recyclable and renewable." Though this version of the PlantBottle is only 30 percent bioplastic and will only see limited distribution for the foreseeable future, this is still a massive step in the right direction.

The Green Driving App

Have you ever wondered about how your driving affects your fuel efficiency? Sure, we all know that the car we drive has a lot to do with the gas we get for our buck, but we don't always consider if our driving habits are helping or hurting us at the pump. For instance, do we brake too hard, turn too sharply or accelerate too quickly, and how much is it costing?

Well, Wired has posted about a new program for drivers that are looking to be more fuel conscientious, called I Drive Green. I Drive Green is actually "a three-part strategy that combines classroom training with a software app and real-time feedback via Skype to make you a greener driver". Put together by two racers, the program has a video game-like training session which teaches you about your bad driving habits and how you can score better on your commute. And apparently, they are having much success at lowering people's overall CO2 output.

In addition to these workshops, users also have access to a software app that functions alongside a GPS tracker to monitor your actual driving to see how fuel efficient you are on a day-to-day basis. It even gives suggestions on how to fix your mistakes. To find out more about this green driving workshop, visit Wired and I Drive Green.

How to Get Behind Financially

We hear lots of tips on how to stay on top of our finances and how to save money. It seems like everyone's got a way to cut costs and be more efficient in our spending these days. However, have you ever thought of the bad habits that we have and how they hurt us when it comes to our financial futures?

The Simple Dollar, a great money-savings blog, put up a list of the little ways that people often fail with their money. These choices, when added up day-to-day, turn into a lifetime of poor saving decisions. The article, titled Eleven Things You can do Today to Fall Behind Financially, makes some good points about things that I don't often think about, such as shopping without a list or putting off tasks for later.

There's easily some good advice on what to avoid when managing money. To view the full list, visit The Simple Dollar.

Four Ways to Help Your Car Last

The current state of the economy seems to be benefiting those in the market for a new car in a major way. Dealerships are opening their doors to all shoppers even mildly interested in a new vehicle, and are doing their best to move cars off of their over-stuffed lots. It almost makes me wish I was looking to buy right now, because there are some great deals.

Consumer Reports has recently posted a helpful list on How to Keep Your Car in Top Condition. So, whether you just bought a new car or you're trying to keep your current one driving, some of these might help add some extra miles.

• Browse the owner's manual for some kind of maintenance schedule. Make a calendar for things like tire rotations, fluids and oil changes.
• If you hear a new noise when turning, braking or accelerating, don't write it off. Find out what's causing it.
• Check your car's fluid levels once a month.
• Once a month check the air pressure in each tire, as well as the spare.

To read more about keeping your car in better condition, check out ConsumerReports.

Cash for Clunkers Part 2: Home Appliances

Home appliances are some of the bigger energy wasters that we have. Though they are mostly necessary and good at making our lives more efficient, they also excel at being inefficient with energy, especially when they are older.

Recently, the government sponsored a Cash for Clunkers program which rewarded consumers for trading in their old automobiles in exchange for newer, more fuel efficient ones. Well, it seems that a similar program is on the way for our home appliances. CNET reports that a representative of the Department of Energy has announced that $300 million of the economic stimulus plan is being portioned out to states to offer rebates on Energy Star appliances, to encourage more energy efficiency around the house. All states are expected to participate, and have until October to apply for their funds as a part of this program. The appliances that will be eligible will be A/C units, heaters, water heaters, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, heaters and more.

For someone like me who is in the process of buying and furnishing a house, this is definitely a piece of good news. To read more about the home appliance rebate program and find out the status of state participants, visit the U.S. Department of Energy.

Hurricane Season: Have You Prepared?

Even though it's been a relatively quiet hurricane season thus far in 2009, those pesky and devastating storms are most active between the months of August and October. Since it's been so calm this year, I honestly keep forgetting we're right in the thick of it, but it could just as easily pick up in activity since the pinnacle of the season is from early to mid-September. If this happens, are you prepared?

If there's anybody that knows a thing or two about being ready for hurricanes, it's Floridians. So if you're uncertain of how to stock your home, the Sun-Sentinel of Florida has a hurricane supply guide with some links to increase your hurricane preparedness. The list covers first aid, supplies and food and water. In particular, the list of non-perishables food items you can buy well in advance is handy.

To read more about what you will need for the rest of hurricane season, be sure to visit the Sun-Sentinel. Besides, it's good to have some of this stuff around the home in general.

Fast-Food Restaurants Finding New Ways to Boost Energy Efficiency

Sure, fast-food restaurants aren’t exactly the darling of the green movement, but that isn’t stopping some of them from looking for clever ways to reduce energy composition and save some money in the process. The New York Times’ Green Inc. recently posted an article about Current Energy, a company that’s helping restaurants find innovate solutions to cut down on wasted energy.

Bassam Odeh, who runs 34 restaurants in Texas and Louisiana, has just installed a Current Energy system that alerts him with a text message whenever his employees leave the door to a freezer or walk-in refrigerator open. A remarkable success, the system has already slashed his electricity bill by 10 to 20 percent.

Current Energy also recently installed a system at a pizza joint that helps cut down on natural gas consumption. Before the system was installed, it was common for all three of the restaurant’s pizza ovens to be up and running, regardless of how busy it was. By monitoring the amount of people in the restaurant, and turning two of the ovens off and on based on occupancy, the system has already cut the restaurant’s natural gas bill in half.

On the energy creation side of the equation, CNET has reported that a New Jersey Burger King franchise is planning on installing a kinetic-energy capturing device in its drive-through. Essentially a speed bump that captures energy wasted when cars are braking, the system will harvest electricity for the restaurant in a similar manner to that of hybrid cars. With more than 150,000 cars a year rolling through the Hillside restaurant, that’s a lot of potential energy. The company that makes the device, New Energy Technologies, is planning on installing them in toll booths, checkpoints and other heavy traffic spots—so be on the lookout for one in your neck of the woods.

Chances are you don’t have a drive-through window, a walk-in refrigerator or three full-scale pizza ovens at your house, but these stories illustrate some tried-and-true green concepts that apply to everyone: don’t use what you don’t need and keep looking for new ways to harvest energy.

Introducing: The Energy Allowance

One of my best summers as a kid was the year that I started getting an allowance. Sure, it was only a few bucks a week, but suddenly having some money to spend on candy, soda and comic books was like a whole new world for me. Obviously, I had to work to get the money, but it was life-changing at the time to receive it, even if it meant doing chores.

Apparently, there is a way to give kids an allowance and teach them about active energy efficiency. Energy Circle is offering a way for you to provide the kids with a monthly allowance based on how much energy they help the family save around the house. It provides some easy-to-use tools for parents, so that kids can monitor their monthly progress and help save on the electricity bill. After that, they share in a percentage of the savings.

This seems like a win-win situation for parents out there. Not only does it teach kids about energy efficiency, it gives them a way to participate in it and see the benefits in a tangible way. To read more, be sure to visit EnergyCircle.