Powering Up with Microsoft Hohm

We've written a few times in the past about the myriad of energy tracking tools available on the Web for consumers looking to beef up on their energy efficiency.There's Google PowerMeter of course, as well as EnergyCircle, a tool that helps parents show their kids about conservation. One of the newer entries into the bunch happens to be from software giant Microsoft.

Microsoft Hohm is a service that allows you to monitor your energy usage for the purpose of saving money.As someone that's interested in that, I thought I'd sign up and give it a whirl.

I think one of the more interesting features of Hohm is just how thorough it is when evaluating your home energy situation. It asks for information about your house, including the year it was built, the structure, what kind of insulation you have, the surface area of the windows, etc. The information is organized in a way that's easy to use and surprisingly fun to fill out.

Once you're done with that, you move on to your heating/cooling and lighting, where you input the amount of light fixtures in your house and the kinds of bulbs you use. It's actually kind of eye opening to think about each room and where you could be saving money by just swapping a few bulbs or by leaving the lights off more.

After all of that, there is even a field for you to share your electricity info, including the amount of kWh you use per month, and the rate you're paying. With all of this information, Hohm constructs a chart of your average utility costs, and what you can do immediately to make your home more energy efficient and save money.

All in all, I would definitely recommend checking out Hohm if you have been thinking about ways to lower your utility costs or how to upgrade your home. It's in beta right now, and you'll need a Windows Live ID but I'd say it's worth it to give Hohm a trial run.

Do you have any energy monitors that you use for your home? Which ones are your favorites?

Georgia Natural Gas First in Georgia to Get Recycled Natural Gas from Landfill

Georgia Natural Gas (GNG) recently announced that it is now the first and only natural gas marketer in Georgia to get recycled natural gas from a landfill, helping to conserve Georgia’s precious natural resources. Specially designed equipment at the landfill collects the methane gas and makes it ready for consumer use.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), landfills are the largest single human source of methane gas emissions in the United States, accounting for 25 percent of all methane sources. Methane is a greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential. Landfill methane gas is generated during the natural process of bacterial decomposition of organic material contained in municipal landfills. New technologies have made it possible to capture and combust the methane gas, breaking it apart to form water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other compounds that are less volatile than methane.

GNG says it began purchasing the recycled gas in early 2009. The landfill is capable of producing enough natural gas to fuel approximately 15,000 Georgia homes and has a potential life cycle of about 20 years. GNG has exclusive rights to purchase all of the recycled gas produced at the landfill through 2011.

Find out if Georgia Natural Gas service is available in your area.

Charge Your Cell Phone with Just a Flick of the Wrist

Okay, so I’ve written about some cool green ways to charge your cell phone before including solar power and yo-yo power, but I think I may have found the coolest, most dangerous way to charge a phone with clean energy yet.

Designed by Mikhail Stawsky, the Rotel is a cell phone concept that harnesses the awesome power of spinning things around your finger. You simply put your finger through the phone, spin it around your finger and wait as the battery charges with free electricity. It remains to be seen exactly how much spinning would have to be done to get a full charge, but I suspect it would take quite a while.

It may not be the most practical everyday way to juice up your cell phone, but it does look like a fun party piece that could come in handy in a pinch. Just make sure you don’t lose control and smack yourself in the face with your phone.

Image via Yanko Design

8 Ways to Have a Green Thanksgiving

It’s that time of the year again, where as a nation, we collectively devote an entire day to gorging ourselves on rich foods and having awkward conversations with obscure family members. This year, why not help the planet alongside all the overeating with some of these stress-free green tips:

• Buy organic food—Organic foods are not only more healthy, but also keep dangerous chemicals out of the eco-system. For extra green points, see how much of your meal you can buy from local producers.
• Decorate with natural materials—Instead of buying some cheesy store-bought decorations, make your table green and classy at the same time with an assortment of pine cones, leaves and mini-pumpkins.
• Buy carbon offsets—If travelling is part of your Thanksgiving plans, consider buying some carbon credits to offset the carbon emitted during your travels.
• Eat leftovers—Sure, after a few meals turkey can get a little boring, but using the food that you’ve already cooked saves both time and energy. One great way to use leftovers is to make a soup with leftover vegetables and stock made from leftover turkey.
• Use your dishwasher—It may seem a little counter-intuitive, but studies have found that dishwashers actually use less energy, soap and water. Just make sure you air dry the dishes, as heat drying wastes electricity.
• Plant a tree—What better family activity could there be than to take time to go outside and plant a tree? Bonus: yard work can help burn off some of the calories from that second slice of pumpkin pie.
• Don’t put hot food in the fridge—It may be tempting to just throw everything in the refrigerator when the eating is through, but waiting a little while can help keep your fridge cooler, which saves both energy and money. Just don’t leave it out for hours on end, as you will probably end up with a nasty case of food poisoning.
• Always remember to reduce, reuse and recycle—These three concepts are the keys to green living. Use them to see if you can find some inventive new ways to cut your energy consumption. If you do, let us know about them in the comments!

Are Solar Panels for the Birds? New Solar Powered Birdhouse Debuts

Oooms, a Dutch design firm, recently introduced a birdhouse outfitted with a solar panel on the roof. Okay, I can already hear you all asking, “Why would a bird ever need electricity?” As silly as it sounds at first, there’s actually a pretty neat explanation for the solar panel. 

During the day, the birdhouse gathers solar energy via the panel and charges a small battery. Once the sun goes down, a small light attached to the birdhouse’s perch is illuminated. No, it isn’t so the bird can read in bed, it’s actually designed to lure nocturnal bugs right to the opening of the birdhouse—essentially the bird version of late-night pizza delivery.

This seems like a neat way to enjoy having a birdhouse and feeder, without having to ever actually put out any birdseed. That said, I might be a little worried that I was messing with the birds’—and the bugs’—natural behavior just a little too much. What do you think?

If you’re interested, you can purchase your own solar birdhouse from the Oooms store, for the bargain price of 70 Euros.

Image via Oooms

Save Money and Go Green by Upgrading Your Home’s Insulation

Yahoo! Green has posted an in-depth guide on how to lower your bills and reduce your carbon footprint by upgrading your home’s insulation. On average, heating costs make up about one third of a home’s energy budget, making insulation upgrades one of the quickest ways to make your home more energy efficient.

The article walks you through how you can identify trouble areas in your home and how to choose your new insulation. Included is an in-depth breakdown of every style of insulation on the market, featuring innovative new green choices like bio-based fibers, radiant barriers and blown-in insulation. To help you determine which type of insulation is best for your situation, the guide even provides a link to a handy cost-to-savings calculator.

With winter just around the corner, there’s not much time left to protect your home from the cold before temperatures drop and energy rates soar, so consider upgrading your home’s insulation today.

Amazon's Kindle Greener Than Printed Books?

If Amazon's Kindle is on your wishlist for this holiday season, you might end up greener than your book buying friends and family.

Cleantech Group found in a study that e-readers could have a major impact on improving the sustainability and environmental impact of the publishing industry, one of the world’s most polluting sectors. In 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million trees, not to mention wastewater that was produced or its massive carbon footprint.

The Cleantech Group’s report, The Environmental Impact of Amazon's Kindle, found that, while e-readers are still a niche technology with a little more than 1 million units sold to date, they could have a more positive impact on the environment in the future. The report indicates that, on average, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of a Kindle is fully offset after the first year of use. The Cleantech Group forecasts that devices like the Kindle and Sony's Reader purchased from 2009 to 2012 could prevent 5.3 billion kg of carbon dioxide in 2012, or 9.9 billion kg during the four-year time period.

Learn more about the study's findings here: Cleantech Group report: E-readers a win for carbon emissions.

TXU Energy Earns the ENERGY STAR® for Superior Energy Efficiency

TXU Energy recently announced that it has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) prestigious ENERGY STAR for its corporate headquarters. The designation is a national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. This signifies that the building's energy performance rates in the top 25 percent of facilities nationwide.

TXU Energy implemented numerous energy efficiency steps that earned the ENERGY STAR rating, including a retrofit of the parking garage to LED lights, upgrade of the building automation system lighting controls, and improved operating procedures.

Commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The EPA's national energy performance rating system provides a 1-100 scale that helps organizations assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. A building that scores a rating of 75 or higher is eligible for the ENERGY STAR. Commercial buildings that can earn the ENERGY STAR include offices, bank branches, financial centers, retail stores, courthouses, hospitals, hotels, K-12 schools, medical offices, supermarkets, dormitories, and warehouses.

To learn more about the program, check out The ENERGY STAR for Buildings and Plants.

Charge Your iPod, Phone and Other Gadgets with Yo-Yo Power

While solar powered chargers are great for giving your gadgets a quick charge when you’re away from a plug, what do you do if you’re inside, or the sun isn’t shining, when you run out of juice? Easy Energy has a solution for that situation: the YoGen, a small yo-yo inspired generator.

By pulling on a string attached to its body, the handheld YoGen generates up to five watts of clean energy to charge your device via an included connector. While it will probably get rather repetitive after a few minutes, on the plus side, you might be able to burn some calories and build some forearm muscle in the process.

Easy Energy claims that the YoGen has a better ratio of energy input to energy output of any similar charger on the market, but have yet to announce just how many pulls it will take to charge a device. At a price of $39.99, it’s not exactly cheap, but could be just the thing for a quick charge while away from home.

The YoGen is available to preorder for a release date of November 15^th from the Easy Energy store now.

Image via Easy Energy

New Study Finds More Than One Third of Employees Telework

According to new research from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, nearly two in five employed U.S. online adults work from home at least one day a month. The study, The Telework and the Technologies Enabling Work Outside Corporate Walls, also shows that most teleworkers plan to spend at least $925 over the next year on technology products to help them work from home.

More than 38 million employed U.S. online adults, or 37 percent of the total U.S. workforce, work from home at least once a month. Employees say focusing on tasks without disruptions and running a business from home are the top reasons for teleworking. The top benefits include flexible hours, reduced travel time/costs and fewer disruptions/greater productivity. Ninety-eight percent of teleworkers use computer/IT technology, 90 percent use communication technologies and 75 percent use CE accessories.

The increasing number of teleworkers has benefits for the environment as well. CEA research has shown that a single day of telecommuting saves between 16 and 23-kilowatt hours of electricity or the equivalent of up to 12 hours of an average household's electricity use. One day of telework also eliminates the need for 1.4 gallons of gasoline and reduces CO2 emissions 17 to 23 kilograms. A worker with a one-way commute of 22 miles, commuting five days a week, will also save about 50% of the annual electricity consumption of the average household by working from home one day each week.

For more on the study's finding, check out the CEA press release.