­Everyone loves a fire. But let’s face it — the chopping and storing and constant stoking of firewood can be a drag. Not to mention the worry about whether or not you put it out all the way befo­re you go to sleep. Plus, wood smoke contains hundreds of chemical compounds that can affect your health, and in many areas, wood smoke is a major contributor to pollution. So what’s a fire lover to do? Rest assured there’s an alternative that’s not only convenient, but also cost-effective and environmentally friendly. It’s called a wood pellet stove. Leading up to the 20th century, 90 percent of Americans used wood to heat their homes. Once fossil fuels came on the scene, using wood for fuel fell out of fashion, and by 1970, it’s estimated that about 1 percent of the American population was burnin­g wood to heat their homes. However, the energy crisis of the 1970s prompted people to start using wood again as a renewable energy alternative, and since then, fireplace use has been on the rise. These stoves are electronically sophisticated appliances that offer an environmentally friendly and low-cost heating option for your home. In a time when environmental awarenes­s is at the forefront and families are keeping a close eye on their finances, wood pellet stoves have become all the rage. All wood pellet stoves require the same kind of fuel – the wood pellet. These pellets are the byproduct of sawmills and are made from recycled sawdust and wood shavings. The wood pellets look a lot like rabbit food and are considered eco-friendly because they’re cheap and easy to manufacture. Plus, they have a very low pollution rate. You can also buy pellets made of grass and corn, but they’re not intended for use in stoves specifically designated for wood pellets. In our next section, we’ll examine the inner workings of a wood pellet stove.

But before we get into the pitfalls of the operation, let’s address some of the advantages that proponents describe. For starters, many point out that fracking provides people with loads of accessible resources that are normally trapped in the pores of rock. We’ll see in the next section some arguments against the “clean” nature of fracking. Companies like Chesapeake Energy. Halliburton are also quick to point out that any time the U.S.S. American companies and consumers. And there’s no doubt that hydraulic fracking has been successful at getting domestic U.S. And we can’t forget job creation and its friend, revenue. Fracking — and the oil and mining industry in general — is no mom-and-pop operation. There are big bucks in it, and that’s motivation enough for some. That big payout doesn’t happen though for operators who accidentally tap into water supplies or destroy properties with accidents. While large natural gas reserves occur throughout the U.S., there are a few large swaths known as shale regions.

India and China, two of the biggest players in the developing world, have been transportation innovators for centuries. Now, as their own technology bases take hold and thrive, savvy car companies and engineers are producing a variety of green vehicles. One prime example is the Kanso, developed by Indian automotive wunderkind Kanak Gogoi. The two-seat Kanso runs on gasoline. Energy derived from four solar panels. The Kanso doesn’t have a transmission, but the solar panels can reportedly generate 320 watts of power. How the car uses two forms of energy remains a question. Tara International chairman. CEO Tara Ganguly doesn’t see this as a problem. In fact, Ganguly envisioned the Tiny as an inner-city vehicle that isn’t meant to be driven on the ultra-clogged highways of India. On city streets, an electric vehicle has distinct advantages over its gasoline-powered cousin. Reliability: Due to the car’s simplicity, the Tiny may be more reliable than other cars, simply because there are fewer parts to maintain, replace or ruin.

When many people want to use their electrical appliances at the same time it’s called peak usage time. When you flip on a light switch, electricity travels in an instant to your home and the bulb glows — that’s called demand. When millions of electricity customers all turn on their air conditioners after work, it increases the dem­and load on the grid. ­The power grid supplies only the electricity we ask for, though, and it’s up to us to practice energy conservation. One way to decrease the demand load is a concept called demand response. In broad terms, demand resp­onse programs give us — residential, commercial and industrial consumers — the abi­lity to voluntarily trim our electricity usage at specific times of the day (such as peak hours) during high electricity prices, or during emergencies (such as preventing a blackout). Let’s look at the impact of demand response on the energy industry, the power grid and the environment.

That’s why Tesla’s first car is a high-end sports car only made in limited numbers. However, Tesla has set its sights on a 2008 release of a four-door electric sedan (codenamed White Star). The Roadster seems to be a success within its limited production numbers — the first 100 limited edition “Signature Series” Roadsters sold out, and the next run of 100 is ready for pre-orders. A fully-loaded Roadster will cost $100,000, with a $75,000 down payment required to reserve one. Electric cars will probably always be more expensive than cars that use combustion engines. The savings comes when you look at its the fuel costs and environmental impact. An electric car has zero emissions. Doesn’t add to pollution. Driving an electric car a mile costs a fraction of what it costs to drive a gas-powered car a mile. Critics rightly point out that the energy to power an electric car still comes from somewhere — in this case, a power plant that provides energy to the electrical grid.

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