I’d like to start this year off with a TED video I just watched – hopefully you’ll find it interesting too. If achieved at a manageable price point, we will have solved a major problem with this World’s future – energy!

Physicist Steven Cowley is certain that nuclear fusion is the only truly sustainable solution to the fuel crisis. In ths video, he explains why fusion will work — and details the projects that he and many others have devoted their lives to, working against the clock to create a new source of energy.

btw: Happy New Year everybody!

I tried switching to green tea awhile back, but I was getting some strange allergic reaction – tiny bumps on my skin all over – so my dreams of Asian enlightenment were obliterated and I just reverted to my longtime favorite: white chocolate mocha.

A video from the WWF is teaching us that industry needs to do more by using less water in the process:

btw: If you pick up the same flavored syrup from Whole Foods or Starbucks, you can make flavored coffee at home for a whole lot cheaper. A little peppermint and cocoa powder, and I’m set!

Woops, I just heard about this one, but I’ll be sure to stay tuned in.

At Power Shift ’09, they are striving to:

1. Push the new administration and Congress to pass bold, comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
2. Prepare our leaders and our movement for the international climate negotiations in December 2009 where we will help build and ratify a strong global climate agreement – one that allows all communities to participate and benefit.
3. Develop a comprehensive strategy for continued political pressure and accountability and a shared vision to facilitate the development and implementation of individual and group action plans for local, state and national campaigns.
4. Strengthen the bonds between diverse youth constituencies while we train and empower each other with the skills needed to create one movement that tackles climate change, environmental injustice, and economic failure.

NPR says the cost of a digital frame has dropped below $20 and sales are picking up. But this could be bad news for the environment. If each U.S. family had one frame around the house, the country would need five new power plants to keep pace with the new demand for electricity.

Well, to tell you the truth, we just got a small frame for X-MAS, and I think it’s awesome. The way I get around all the electricity usage is by turning it off when I’m not in the room. And guess what? It’s on top of the TV, and since I’m on the computer much, much more than any TV being turned on, guess how much electricity is being wasted by our digital picture frame? Next to nil IMO.

“Obama’s administration needs to act quickly to stimulate our ailing economy. One possibility for both stimulating the economy, preventing the collapse of the auto industry, tackling climate change, & promoting oil independence is to offer “cash for clunkers” – drivers could be given vouchers toward the purchase of newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles, with the old vehicles scrapped to get them off the road.”

I think those Brookings dudes may have something here. It certainly sounds like a plan to me; I’ve got an ’89 I’d trade in for better gas mileage in a heartbeat!

Instead of spending gobs of money to build a dirty coal fired power plant here in S.C., one possible resolution to high energy costs is something that could lie underground, but it’s not coal or oil, it’s CAES – compressed air energy storage.

From Uncle Sam’s Sandia National Laboratories:

CAES facilities function like big batteries. Electric motors drive compressors that compress air into an underground geologic formation during off-peak electric use times like evenings and weekends. Then, when electricity is needed most during high-demand times, the pre-compressed air is used in modified combustion turbines to generate electricity. Natural gas or other fossil fuels are still required to run the turbines, but the process is more efficient. This method uses up to 50 percent less natural gas than standard electricity production.

Dear President-elect Obama,

It’s time to Repower, Refuel, and Rebuild America.

We need to get our economy moving by building a clean energy future. We applaud your efforts to make energy a top priority, and look forward to working with you toward these goals:

* Move to 100 percent electricity from clean sources such as wind and solar.
* Cut our dependence on oil in half.
* Create 5 million new clean energy jobs.
* Reduce global warming pollution by at least 80 percent.

We call on you to announce a plan that will reach these goals and to use every opportunity including the federal budget and economic stimulus initiatives to get us started.