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Energy

In our everyday lives it is easy to take energy for granted. When we want light, we just flip a switch; if it’s cold, we turn up the thermostat; and when we want to head to work most folks just hop in the car.  On the trail, far from the nearest power grid or road, our muscles propel us from place to place, and power for heating, cooking, lighting, and charging our computers and other electronics is hard to come by.

We use solar panels and batteries, small camp stoves, and good old-fashioned campfires. Trail life makes you slow down and realize where your energy is coming from in addition to conserving the little power that you use, whether it is white gas for cooking or solar power for camera batteries and computers.  

Wilderness preservation starts at home with energy conservation and the use of clean renewable power. We hope this section of our website will provide you with energy-saving resources and encourage you look for ways to reduce and refine your energy consumption.  Small changes can have a big impact on your wallet and the environment.

Editor's picks

Energy tax credit overview

Database for state incentives for energy savings

Fuel effecent driving techniques

Easy home energy saving tips that save money

Energystar lighting (easy way to save money and energy)


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Tests start on "super skimmer" for Gulf oil spill

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A supertanker adapted to scoop up oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico began tests on Saturday amid a report that some major investors expect the energy giant to replace its top executives. The vessel named "A Whale" and dubbed a "super skimmer" is operating just north of the blown out well as part of a two-day test watched by the U.S. Coastguard, said Bob Grantham, spokesman for TMT Shipping Offshore, which owns the ship. If all goes to plan TMT hopes to sign a clean-up contract for the ship, which can remove up to 500,000 barrels (21 million gallons) of oil and water mix from the sea surface a day, according to crew members.

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Energy Efficiency: Twice the Impact of Renewables, Nuclear and Clean Coal. Combined.

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australias energy efficiency opportunity photo Photo: Sydney City, via Energy Efficiency Council "The International Energy Agency estimates that energy efficiency will deliver 65 per cent of worldwide carbon cuts in the energy sector by 2020, and 54 per cent by 2030. This means that in 2020 energy efficiency could have almost twice the impact of renewable energy, nuclear power and clean coal combined." Such were findings of the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) of Australia, who late last month released report entitled Energy Efficiency: Australia's Low Carbon Opportunity, with the subhead of Boost Profits, Cut Emissions...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Feds Back Big Solar Power With Nearly $2 Billion in Loan Guarantees

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sun flare photo photo: Cam Vilay While you were watching fireworks this past weekend, the Department of Energy has announced $1.85 billion in loan guarantees for some big solar power projects--what promises to be one of the world's largest concentrating solar power plants in Arizona and two thin film solar panel manufacturing plants in Colorado and In...Read the full story on TreeHugger

HP Turns Dairy Farm Poop into Data Center Power

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dairy cow photo Photo via chefrandan When it comes to greening up data centers, most IT companies focus on reducing power consumption through better server cooling methods and smarter building structures. A smaller handful, such as Google, have been looking into renewable energy as a greener power source. But one company is looking where most of us turn up our noses - cow manure. Yesterday HP released a paper showing how dairy farm waste can be used to power up data centers. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Fish-Inspired Wind Farms Are 10x More Powerful

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fish school wind turbine image Image via davitydave and Mariah Power Marine life has proved itself a rich source of inspiration for renewable energy innovation. Sharks and kelp have sparked ideas for harnessing wave and tidal power, and humpback whales have bumpy fins that turn out to be perfect for improving wind turbine blades. Now, researchers at the Read the full story on TreeHugger

Harnessing Apollo's Fire: Interview with Congressman Jay Inslee

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Apollo-fire-book-thinner.jpg The disastrous oil crisis still unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico is only the most recent reminder that America is overdue to start a major transition to a clean energy economy. And meaningful energy reform is something that Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) has been pursuing for years. His book, Apollo's Fire, co-authored with Bracken Hendricks and with a foreword by some guy named Bill Clinton, is a veritable road map to how the nat...Read the full story on TreeHugger

China says dams not to blame for low Mekong levels

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China on Monday denied that its dams were reducing water levels on the Mekong River and blamed problems along the river on unusually dry weather, but it also offered to share more data with its neighbors. Leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, badly hit by the Mekong's biggest drop in water levels in decades, met in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin to discuss management of Southeast Asia's longest waterway. Some 65 million people depend on the river. China sent vice foreign minister Song Tao to rebut criticism of the eight hydropower dams it has built or is building in its south.

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