Your New Zero Energy Cost Home Must Be All Electric

Xcel Energy currently charges $10.28/month just to hook you up to gas. That means if you do a great job of design and building, and drive your gas usage to zero, you still pay over $120/yr for the privilege of gas heat backup. You can install a huge PV or thermal solar system, but it won't eliminate that charge.

So the easiest way to get rid of it is to eliminate gas to the house.

For all you chefs out there who love to cook with gas, remember that it puts quite a bit of CO into your home. You may want to check out induction cooktops which reduce the chances of anyone burning themselves, and actually heat quicker and more energy efficiently than gas.

GM Will Provide Electric Cars Soon or Die

OK, you gotta keep your old clunker running 2-3 more years until the GM Volt is released.

Current estimates have the Volt going about 40 miles before a little gas engine kicks in to increase range. Five more years of battery development will increase range enough to wean us from gas entirely.

As we all have hoped, technology will get us out of this mess, and please note that the free market economy is what encourages innovations. Government incentive programs should be used sparingly. Case in point, the laws that encouraged ethanol production have affected food prices. It's hard to predict unintended consequences, and the free market is smarter than any of us.