Kermit Was Right
(... it's not easy being green)
Embedded Files
Kermit was Right: It’s Not Easy Being Green … But it’s Possible and Profitable
Here you'll find documentation of my own efforts to walk the talk and eliminate my own home and cars' carbon footprint. Thanks primarily to energy efficiency improvements, followed by electrification, and then a small amount of grid-provided solar+geothermal power, we made it to zero, earning an 11% return on our investment.
Documentation:
Los Angeles Times op-ed (print version here). Follow-on Letters to the Editor (print and online).
Interview and real-time walk-through on KZYX Ecology Hour (Audio)
Total energy bills (home and two cars) before and after electrification. The avoided costs for pre-electrification energy use (blue curve) are projected using current energy prices. The implemented measures are shown in the first chart above. The project was completed in November 2023. Annualized cost savings as of December 2024 were ~70% (approx $1000/month), including all energy uses in the home plus a Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3.
Page updated
Report abuse