December 10, 2006 - It's not enough money-yet-to stop polar ice caps from melting, but the pot has been sweet enough to lure Wall Street bankers into the fight against global warming. Nearly $23 billion will change hands this year on a new market that the European Union has created in a bid to save the planet through free enterprise. That's more than double the value in 2005, the inaugural year of the Emissions Trading Scheme.

There are some very simple thing you can do to affect your electricity bills for lighting and appliances.

There are some simple thing you can do to positively affect your home heating costs. Many of these tips will also save on air-conditioning costs during the warm summer months.

Wide open spaces like warehouses can mean trouble for wireless lighting networks. Node and point-to-point network systems can be cost-prohibitive because of the number of nodes or repeaters needed to operate a network in such a large space. A new wireless lighting control system is designed for warehouses and other spaces between 50,000 and 2 million square feet. The new system uses a mesh network in which signals are sent from unit to unit. There is no need for nodes or repeaters to enable information to travel longer distances from fixture to fixture.

December 12, 2006 - The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today issued an order approving $13 million in low-income energy efficiency grants to eight organizations. "These grants will help reduce energy costs for low-income families and seniors just as we enter another heating season," said MPSC Chairman J. Peter Lark. "The improvements made as a result of these grants will help reduce energy costs for years to come."