long time, no write

The semester's over, leaving me with much more time to read and blog about the things I'm reading. Today I read US CO2 emissions increased last year. While this isn't a surprise, it is a little dissapointing.

A new(ish) invention is previewed in this video that might help people monitor their energy use. Wouldn't take much, I'm sure to convert this to a CO2 emissions monitor, which would be awsome! There's no mention of price, but having an inexpensive way to monitor your energy use (and consequence CO2 emissions) would almost certainly have an impact on energy use.

Finally, if California is serious about increasing solar energy use in state, it might consider making solar less expensive than regular electricity. I'm not crazy about solar because there are significant cost issues, and the amount of CO2 emissions associated with making them with current technology is roughly equivalent to the emissions they save, but there are also plenty of people working to make them more efficiently, with less materials, or with less energy-intensive materials. Having a market in place for the finished products would probably ease the minds of those investing in the technology.