Moving Towards the Light: Home Backup Power Systems
A home stylist’s vision of battery backup. CNET/Petmal/Getty Images We’ve previously highlighted California’s new climate paradigm marked by increasingly extreme weather events. The reliability of a home backup power supply has become more critical than ever. […]
EV Battery Considerations: Chemistry & Mining
Lithium hard rock strip mine. Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/The Carter Center In 2022, the State of California established a plan to make all new vehicle sales zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. No doubt this will be a tremendous […]
EV Charging, the Front & the Back
With the exception of the propietary Tesla Supercharger, the de facto standard level 3 plug is the Combined Charging System (CCS1) Type. Via Ars Technica. Rechargeable batteries are now virtually everywhere, powering more and more components […]
Paradise by Bus: Getting Around Oahu
The sun and sand on Lanikai Beach. My wife and I have challenged ourselves to always use local mass transit to get around every destination we visit on vacation. We recently traveled to the Hawaiian island […]
EV Decision Factors: Checking All the Boxes
Chevrolet announced the end of the production line for its popular Bolt in favor of EV versions of their much larger, heavier, more cyclist and pedestrian-dangerous and profitable Sierra and GMC Orion EV models. Upcoming Chevy […]
Earth Month Resolution: Start Your IRA Electrification Plan Now!
Your home electrification plan impacts the current state of you electric panel. Most consumers can “watt miser” their existing service. This is the second part of our series on the Inflation Reduction Act & You; the […]
Inflation Reduction Act Update: Patience, Patience…
Kaitlen Brito, Washington Post The Inflation Reduction Act was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in August 2022. Among its many provisions, it addresses climate change and energy security throughout the US […]
Turning Brown to Go Green
Turning Brown to Go Green by Greg Larkins We always pride ourselves on having one of the nicer yards on the block. Something I inherited from my father, who had my brother and I always doing […]
Home for the Holidays
Yes, it’s the time of year for holiday celebrations and our suggestions for greening them. Keep these tips in mind to improve the sustainability of your gatherings for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & New Year’s Eve, whether […]
First Person Report: Foreign Travelers Using Mass Transit to The Max
First Person Report: Foreign Travelers Using Mass Transit to The Max by Greg Larkins My wife and I recently challenged ourselves to use mass transit as much as possible on a trip to Paris and Amsterdam. […]
Seriously Saving Water: From Barrels to Cisterns
Richard Vogel / Associated Press Build your own rainwater harvesting system for outdoor use Let’s start with a quiz: say you have a roof that measures 1700 square feet (average for the US) and your area […]
The REGENERATIVE COMMUNITIES Manifesto
Santa Clara Agrihood – Steinberg Hart The Bay Area, like much of California, is facing record heat, chronic drought, housing affordability/access issues, strained electrical grids, and a democratic crisis at the community level–to name a few […]