Putting one of those giant wind turbines in my backyard has never seemed like a great idea – aside from the zoning issues, they just aren’t very attractive. A couple of small 400W wind generators like the one pictured here are far more to my liking. They wouldn’t be enough to power the electric heater in my home, but they would provide some light and handle some of the other basic power needs. The Air X Wind Generator charges 12V batteries providing an effective remote power source. The system is smart enough to automatically shut down when your battery reaches full capacity, extending the life of the unit. Best of all the price (minus a mounting tower) is just under $600, which should mean the units will get even cheaper over time. Two moving parts on the entire unit mean you hopefully will avoid needing any maintenance for the 3 year warranty period. I haven’t seen any data to indicate whether these are a threat to birds the way the industrial sized units tend to be, but I’m definitely interested in a sustainable way to have some reserve power. More details at SunForce.

The Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii can be tapped like a maple tree for a natural diesel that needs only to be filtered before it can go into diesel trucks and tractors. Purdue University says that an acre of 100 mature trees might be able to produce 25 barrels of fuel per year and the trees give up the good stuff  for up to 70 years. The US uses about 7.3 billion barrels of oil a year, which equals 292 million trees which is about 3 million acres of land needed to keep up with our needs.

That’s a lot of trees. But hey, we need to plant more trees to reduce the carbon emissions of the cars anyway. It’s just a shame that it takes 15-20 years for the trees to reach maturity and the oil it produces is only good for 3 months.

The Copaifera langsdorfii probably isn’t the most practical solution to our oil problems, but I’m sure it would help out if anyone would do anything about it.

SRS roofs allow homeowners to decrease their energy bill, and relieve the utility of supply needs during peak demand hours. The patented SRS connection system eliminates the complex system wiring normally found on solar roofs, making the tiles easy to install. The energy created on the roof is inverted to AC energy and fed into the electric grid or stored in batteries for use during non peak hours.

As solar technology continues to improve, SRS’s roofing systems will remain on the cutting-edge by integrating the very latest and greatest. Groovy.

Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and other city officials announced in 2006 that they wanted to build turbines under the Golden Gate Bridge to harness energy from the tidal currents, expecting up to 38 megawatts (enough for approx. 38,000 homes). But a new study by URS, an engineering firm, says that there would actually only be just 1 or 2 megawatts produced at a cost of tens of millions to build, and high yearly maintenance expenses. Though the taxpayers’ money would clearly be better spent elsewhere, Mayor Newsom doesn’t seem to care. “I don’t care about the arguments against it. I care about the arguments for it. I am going to find a way to make it happen.”

I’m all for clean energy, but it has to make sense. This is a waste of money and resources for something that isn’t even worth it.

If we all want to reduce personal energy consumption over time, here are 7 ways to do it that go far beyond replacing bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and driving hybrid cars. Most of them are things we all say we want to do anyway.

Eat less and more healthily – If you currently live in the Western world, you likely eat too much. You also likely don’t eat healthy food regularly. Changing your diet to reduce intake of industrially produced meats and mass produced goods to locally grown organic foods makes a big impact on

Exercise more – This doesn’t mean getting on an electric treadmill and racking up the miles. You get more exercise by walking places or bicycling. The net win is this also drops your overall annual energy consumption.

Spend more time with your family – We all want to spend more time with family. By eating as a family unit at home, riding places in the same car instead of driving separate ways, and generally finding more common activities, you reduce the energy consumption of your waking hours.

Live closer together – Living closer together doesn’t mean opening a commune. Living near your family and friends actually has the benefit of reducing energy consumption because you’re not driving or flying.

Spend less time commuting – As a stay at home worker, I dread any morning where events in my life throw me into the morning commute. I don’t know how people face it on a daily basis. Finding ways to spend less time commuting, like convincing your boss to let you work from home, can have a huge impact on your personal energy consumption.

Less business travel – Unless you’re one of those rare people that enjoy living in hotels, you’d likely love the opportunity to travel less for your job. Use the technology we have available to replace face-to-face meetings with video conferencing, chatting, and other social tools for communication.

Purchase Higher Quality Products – Spending a few extra dollars for higher quality products can make a big difference in how long things last. The cost of manufacturing higher quality goods from an energy perspective is not dramatically higher than the cost to produce cheap goods. Extending product lifespan does make a huge impact, because it reduces total consumption.

Cleaner Air and Water – This is more of a byproduct of reduced energy consumption. Cleaner air and water improve quality of life, theoretically reduce CO2 in the air, reduce disease, and should net lower energy consumption.

How would you go about incorporating these 7 things in your daily life? Or are you already doing it?