It's Earth Day: Conserve Instead of Consume

Today is Earth Day and I'm happy to say we're busy promoting our clean tech clients that have developed technologies that will ultimately make the world a better place, such as CleanFUEL USA, Echelon, Freescale Semiconductor, Scuderi Group and Skyonic . Though as important as green technologies are in this world, I think we all sometimes forget how much power the individual has on the power grid.

Yesterday, I attended an energy and governement policy luncheon held by KUT Radio at the Headliners Club in Austin.  Michael Webber, Associate Director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas was on the panel, and he opened up the conversation by talking about energy consumption in a simplistic, yet shocking way.

He stood up from his seat to get his point across. First, he explained that his body length was the measuring stick of worldwide energy consumption. Then pointed to his knees and said the area between the floor and his knees is the amount of energy China consumes per year. Then he pointed to his hips and said the area beteween his hips and the ground is the amount of energy the U.K. uses. Then (you can see where he's going now) he pointed to the top of his head, and stated that this is the amount the U.S. consumes on an annual basis. And sadly (for those of us in Austin), he then said if he had a 6 ft. person standing on top of him, the tip of this person's head would be how much energy a Texan consumes.

A little disconcerning, right?

So, my message is quite simple on Earth Day - be aware of your personal energy footprint, and figure out where to reduce the amount of things you consume and energy you use on a daily basis. Start by turning off the light behind you.