The Clean Energy Life is a lifestyle brand that advocates for a carbon-neutral lifestyle. The Clean Energy Life seeks to educate individuals about the benefits of adopting clean and renewable energy financially, environmentally, and socially.

A low-carbon diet prioritizes low-carbon foods, such as locally sourced fruits and vegetables, over foods, like meat and processed foods, that emit lots of carbon and methane to produce.

Solar panels typically pay for themselves in under ten years and last for well over three decades, saving you significant money in the long-run. Solar panels can also achieve grid independence with a solar battery backup installed or users can sell excess energy back to their grid provider for a rebate on their utility bills.

Sustainable living promotes an ethically-based view of lifestyle practices, which seeks to reduce the consumption of our world’s limited resources as much as possible while consciously  maximizing the efficiency of those abundant natural resources we do use.

Even people with the greenest of thumbs sometimes have plants that struggle or die on them, I certainly do.  Having a garden and growing plants is mostly about the willingness to learn and try, being patient and then doing something different if you don’t get the results you want.  There are thousands of options but here are a few great YouTube Channels we recommend on the subject:

• CaliKim29 Garden & Home DIY – Making gardening quick, simple, inexpensive and FUN way is the motto at CaliKim Garden & Home DIY!
• The Rusted Garden – This channel is dedicated to tomato and vegetable gardening.  Gary tries to make each videos short and to the point.
• Some of the Best Vegetables to Grow in a Time of Crisis – Its important to grow proven winners in our vegetable garden, these include staples that we know will perform well, store well and preserve well.

From our travel & research our sense is that Europe’s long history and limited space compared to the US has led to a culture where behaviors and regulations mean lower consumption as a way of life.  Mass transit and fuel-efficient vehicles are everywhere, A/C and dryers are less prevalent, carbon taxes are usually the law of the land. Here are a few good references we recommend on the subject:

• What Makes Europe Greener than the U.S.? – The average American produces three times the amount of CO2 emissions as a person in France. A U.S. journalist now living in Europe explains how she learned to love her clothesline and sweating in summer. YaleEnvironment360 BY ELISABETH ROSENTHAL • SEPTEMBER 28, 2009
• China Emits More TOTAL C02 Than The US and EU Combined – In the last decade, the EU has reduced its annual carbon dioxide emissions by 681 million tons. Forbes, Robert Rapier, July 2018
• Reducing carbon emissions: EU targets and measures | News | European Parliament – Read what measures the European Union is taking to meet targets to reduce carbon emissions in different sectors in order to prevent climate change.  

I’m on the smart energy committee for my town and we’re struggling with the adoption of electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar due to scary upfront costs that each of these technologies offer. What ideas can you offer?      

When individuals, elected officials, economic developers and clean energy task forces (such as the one you participate in for your town) are looking for ways to increase their participation in clean energy technology – high upfront costs are often the biggest barrier to entry. The good news is that clean energy technology costs continue to decline, and subsidies such as taxpayer-funded grants, rebates, tax credits are still readily available to enable access to these markets.  Even better news is that for both residential and commercial customers, this market is no longer entirely dependent on these incentives as clean energy financing structures continue to evolve. Depending on the borrower, structure and assets being financed, it is becoming easier to find a financing mechanism to fund clean energy needs. The cost of installation of Electric Vehicle chargers (EV) vary widely in cost. In the Upstate NY area, typical installation costs between $2,000 and $5,000 per port, much of which is covered by NYS incentive programs like the Charge Ready NY rebate program. 

Other Commercial/Municipal financing ideas and options: On-Bill Financing, Commercial Bank Loans (including NY Green Bank), PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Community Solar

Additional Resources:

Energy Sage Solar Financing – https://www.energysage.com/solar/financing/

KeyBank Clean Energy Group – https://www.key.com/businesses-institutions/industry-expertise/energy/energy-efficiency-renewables.jsp

Charge NY (EV Chargers) – https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/ChargeNY

When individuals, elected officials, economic developers and clean energy task forces (such as the one you participate in for your town) are looking for ways to increase their participation in clean energy technology – high upfront costs are often the biggest barrier to entry. The good news is that clean energy technology costs continue to decline, and subsidies such as taxpayer-funded grants, rebates, tax credits are still readily available to enable access to these markets. Even better news is that for both residential and commercial customers, this market is no longer entirely dependent on these incentives as clean energy financing structures continue to evolve. Depending on the borrower, structure and assets being financed, it is becoming easier to find a financing mechanism to fund clean energy needs. The cost of installation of Electric Vehicle chargers (EV) vary widely in cost. In the Upstate NY area, typical installation costs between $2,000 and $5,000 per port, much of which is covered by NYS incentive programs like the Charge Ready NY rebate program.

Other Commercial/Municipal financing ideas and options: On-Bill Financing, Commercial Bank Loans (including NY Green Bank), PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Community Solar

Additional Resources:
Energy Sage Solar Financing – https://www.energysage.com/solar/financing/
KeyBank Clean Energy Group – https://www.key.com/businesses-institutions/industry-expertise/energy/energy-efficiency-renewables.jsp
Charge NY (EV Chargers) – https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/ChargeNY

Is there any concern that lower oil prices might affect adoption of clean energy and thus create disincentives for people to adopt the clean energy lifestyle?

As you know oil & gas prices are volatile. As it applies to The Clean Energy Life, low oil & gas prices could suppress the adoption of Electric Vehicles in the short term but will have little or no impact on individual utility energy costs unless you heat your home with heating oil. In the long term however our dependence on foreign oil will inevitably decrease as electrification of the transportation sector yields lower costs due to higher efficiency and greater independence. Most recently an economic and political dispute between the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia has sent a flood of cheap oil and gas into global markets just as the COVID-19 pandemic stifled demand. This excess demand resulted in an excess supply of ~20 million barrels of oil per day, in some areas of the country oil prices were negative meaning that oil producers were paying people to accept their oil.

Here are a few good references we recommend on the subject:
•Will Lower Oil Prices Affect Renewable Penetration?

•Could the Oil Price Collapse Drive More Investment Into Renewables? – Oil companies have long argued that renewables projects offer lower returns. “That argument no longer holds at $35 per barrel.” GreenTech Media Jon Parnell March 13, 2020

•No place to go: Oil storage filling up amid collapsing demand, excess production – S&P Global Market Intelligence April 6, 2020

As you know oil & gas prices are volatile.  As it applies to The Clean Energy Life, low oil & gas prices could suppress the adoption of Electric Vehicles in the short term but will have little or no impact on individual utility energy costs unless you heat your home with heating oil.  In the long term however our dependence on foreign oil will inevitably decrease as electrification of the transportation sector yields lower costs due to higher efficiency and greater independence.  Most recently an economic and political dispute between the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia has sent a flood of cheap oil and gas into global markets just as the COVID-19 pandemic stifled demand.  This excess demand resulted in an excess supply of ~20 million barrels of oil per day, in some areas of the country oil prices were negative meaning that oil producers were paying people to accept their oil.   Here are a few good references we recommend on the subject:

• Will Lower Oil Prices Affect Renewable Penetration? –
• Could the Oil Price Collapse Drive More Investment Into Renewables? – Oil companies have long argued that renewables projects offer lower returns. “That argument no longer holds at $35 per barrel.” GreenTech Media Jon Parnell March 13, 2020
• No place to go: Oil storage filling up amid collapsing demand, excess production – S&P Global Market Intelligence April 6, 2020