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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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Smart Light Sydney: Seeing the Light Whilst Reducing the Energy

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Smart Light Sydney Opera House photo Sydney, Australia was the city that pioneered Earth Hour, turning off its lights to highlight the energy issues inherent in the climate change dilemma. Now, and for the next three weeks they are turning the lights on for the same cause. Smart Light Sydney is about celebrating “sustainable innovations and the future of low-energy lighting design.” An element of the larger Vivid Sydney festival, Smart Light Sydney is also running a eco lighting symposia looking at how “new t...

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What Obama Will Say at Notre Dame About the Environment

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obama-panels.jpg Via Flickr Today President Obama will give the commencement speech to the graduates of Notre Dame. In the advanced copy of Obama's planned remarks, he has a few hopeful words to say about climate and energy, and he called the students to action to help save the planet....

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Need a Little Help Reaching Your Environmental Goals?

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Reaching Your Goals Photo Photo via: James Jordan We all need to have goals. Goals help guide us and give us wings to reach new heights. Becoming green is not a natural process for everybody, and in fact, many of us could use a little help here and there. Maybe we are trying to reduce consumer spending, red meat consumption, or energy consumption. Whatever your environmental goal, they are actually no different than any other s...

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China's Suntech Will Build Solar Panels in U.S.

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suntech-china-us-solar-manufacturing.jpg Biggest Solar Manufacturer Could Provide 1,000 US Jobs Suntech, China's solar leader and the world's largest producer of photovoltaics by volume, will build a factory in the United States. "We believe in the outstanding long-term prospects of the solar energy market in the United States," said Shi Zhengrong, Suntech's CEO (and erstwhile richest man in China). "A number of favorable developments have l...

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1.3 Gigawatts of Solar Thermal Power in California to be Developed by PG&E and BrightSource

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solar thermal power tower image image: BrightSource In what both parties are characterizing as the biggest solar deal in the world, utility PG&E and solar thermal power developer BrightSource have announced that they have signed an agreement to develop seven solar thermal power plants in California totaling 1.31 GW, the first of which, in Ivanpah, is expected to come online in 2012: ...

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Top Ten Twitterers to Follow for Cars and Transportation

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Twitterers to follow image Find out some of the best Twitterers to follow in the realm of transportation, who will keep you updated on the greenest ways of getting from here to there....

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Update from Boaz on the Un-Road Trip: A Car-Free Journey Across the US

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boaz unroadtrip photos Photo: Boaz Frankel One Man, One Mission, Many Vehicles (Except Cars) Last month, we wrote about the beginning of the Un-Road Trip, a project by Boaz Frankel who decided to travel across the United States, going through as many states as possible, in anything but a car. Now that the un-road trip is well under way, it's time for an update. More photos and videos below!...

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