August 31, 2011

Tap Into Your Renewable Energy

It’s spring! And indeed it is a gloriously warm and sunny day here in Perth, Western Australia on the 1st of September.

The garden is feeling it and thriving on the home-made compost we add regularly and the soil is still holding moisture from the winter rains, under all that mulch. Vegetables include cabbages, broccoli, silverbeet, beetroot, onions, tomatoes, lettuce (tons of it from last year’s self-sown seed), garlic and parsley. Passion fruit and Cape gooseberries are doing well.

But is this a Utopian dream of eating what you can grow yourself, when living in the city?

Half the world’s population lives in cities and its people rely on their food being brought in. What happens when, say a fuel shortage happens? Starvation within three days.

Now there is also a growing movement of city community gardens and farms, which address that problem.

An added benefit of this movement is that we can relearn to be in touch with soil, fertilizer, growth, seasons and cycles, rebuilding our inner capacity for caring about our environment.Because in cities many people never see where their food comes from, and what it takes to grow it.

Such care, based on real needs, not just wants, is the richest of renewable energies that we have left mostly untapped. With it we can do anything. Even build towards a sustainable, flourishing planet.

What do you think?

Want to save on your energy bill fast? You can.


Energy auditing is an Earth-friendly career.

Cannot afford a hybrid or electric car? Convert your car to electric!

August 28, 2011

Climate Change Effects On Human Mental Health

The Climate Institute of Australia has released an important report about the effects of climate change on mental health. It seems that climate change effects are affecting our levels of anxiety, fear, maybe depression. Children are particularly affected.

So the circle is unbroken. Human-caused climate change is a product of an unbalanced world attitude to life and living on this finite planet. A kind of mental illness underlying our unsustainable world culture.

Now the effects of our individualistic ways of living contribute to further mental instability. Where to from here? Can we not read the many signs thrown at us every day?

What do you think?

Wishing you well!

Want to make a planet-healing contribution AND have a rewarding career? Take an online energy audit course.

Take some anxiety out of rising energy prices. Choose your best rate for lower energy costs here.

August 15, 2011

Lower Energy Costs Quickly In Home And Business

You know there is no such thing as a quick fix – least of all in climate change where longer-term human behavior has produced current problems.

But with a man-made thing like money it’s different. You can actually achieve lower energy costs in your home and business within minutes. We’ll return to that.

Generally, we know that if we want to work towards a sustainable world we need to do two things:

1. Save energy. We generally use far too much – much more than we really need. You will know all the usual energy saving tips such as getting an energy audit done and implementing its recommendations. Then come turning the thermostat down, the extra jumper and so on…

2. Changing the way we think about ourselves and our place in the world.

But, to come back to the quick fix: yes, by regularly comparing your gas and electricity prices, choosing the cheapest/best-for-you rate and switching to your preferred energy supplier you can make substantial savings. Hundreds of dollars, Pounds or what have you, in fact.

switching is easier than you might think, with no cost to you. It can be done quite painlessly online. You get the same gas, electricity and keep the same meter. What’s different is you have just achieved home energy savings, or in your business, the difference of which you will feel straight away.

Don’t forget, energy price rises are here to stay. Switchin energy supplier is just getting the cheapest price on a continuously climbing curve. Do the energy saving stuff too to keep happy!

March 13, 2011

Energy Audits – Your First Defense Against High Energy Bills

Saving energy through energy audits is a first-line strategy, before you even start thinking about getting solar panels, solar heating or wind power connected to your home.

A typical home energy audit identifies around 30% of energy savings. That could be 30% off your power and heating bills for a start. And you can include savings on water use too.

Furthermore, various cities and states offer free energy audits to the householder – where the auditor gets paid by them. Of course there is a follow-up cost for you in acting on the energy auditor’s recommendations. But that’s way cheaper than going for the renewable technology options first.

Even so, various places have free energy efficient light bulb replacement schemes. Caulking your windows and taping gaps under your doors is not going to break the bank. And there’s help out there… Energy efficient mortgage loans and tax deductions for energy efficient homes and businesses are available. So are energy efficiency personal tax credits and many states and localities offer subsidies and other support with weather stripping and caulking.

You’d be mad not to take advantage of these schemes while they are here.

It’s no wonder that energy audit training is filling a growing gap in qualified people entering this career or as an energy-saving business.

Energy audits are not necessarily complex. Got your R20 roof insulation? Energy efficient windows? Blocked all drafts? But there is more. Do you know which appliances take most power? Time to replace those guzzlers with energy star rated ones? Which times you run your washing machine or dishwasher at the cheapest rates?
By all means, after you took care of all that look into renewable energy too and save money and greenhouse emissions.

July 25, 2010

Energy Audit For Europe-Clean Energy By 2050

Filed under: energy audits,saving energy — Tags: , — admin @ 7:57 pm

Neither side of politics in Australia has the conviction, nor the guts, to display leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The American Republicans oppose Obama’s modest cap and trade scheme.

Any points of light, before the lights go out?

The Greens propose a 100% renewable energy scenario for Australia. Is this realistic?

Well, ask the Europeans.

According to the European Climate Foundation Europe can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent. It will thereby reduce its energy bill by 350 billion euros (US$476 billion) per year. All this can be done by 2050 if it acts within five years.

Not bad.

This means the 27-nation European Union will to lower its carbon- dioxide discharges by 20 percent from 1990 levels Pollution is to be reduced by 80 percent to 95 percent in the next forty years.

The Foundation is adamant these goals are realistic. It believes zero-CO2 electricity can be provided as reliably and economically as now.

It is not surprising that energy auditing is the Foundation’s first-line defense strategy. It is being subsidized and practiced in many countries.