Away back in September, six months ago, I reported on an unusual clock that uses just water and salt to run on. I thought it was a unique product that would be fun to tell you all about, but figured that the Bedol water clock would probably be in need of constant fussing – I was very wrong!

Until this week, the clock lost no time what-so-ever, and because it is a sealed system, it also didn’t lose water due to evaporation. I added a teaspoon of salt on Wednesday and the clock is right back on track. Just one teaspoon of salt for six months of reliable operation.

It doesn’t get much more energy efficient than that!!

This week, Congress debated an auto industry bailout bill of $25 billion. The executives of the Big Three Automakers – Ford, Chrysler and General Motors – testified at congressional hearings (after spending tens-of-thousands of dollars to fly in on their luxury private jets, one of which cost $36 million) and asked for federal support.

Reactions to the Detroit automakers’ requests have been mixed, from support to flat-out opposition.

The Civil Society Institute (the organization behind 40MPG.org and CLEAN) sent out an action alert at the beginning of the lame-duck session, asking its supporters to contact members of Congress and President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team in support of a Green Auto Bailout. The goal being to have conditions on a bailout that would require the car manufactures to develop and produce more hybrids, clean diesels and fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as drop their lawsuits against states with higher global warming emissions standards, such as California, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Mexico.

“If taxpayers are going to be put at risk by guaranteeing new loans, then any such new help should be conditioned on the U.S. car companies ending their campaign to frustrate state-level efforts to clean up car and light-truck emissions that cause global warming,” said 40MPG.org founder Pam Solo. “Further, Congress should insist that every penny of the $25 billion in new loan guarantees that Detroit is seeking to building the cars of tomorrow, not the gas-guzzling dinosaurs of yesterday.”

Although Congress is leaving for Thanksgiving break, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said they may call Congress back in session at the beginning of next month to continue work on the automaker bailout bill and other economic issues before the next holiday break.

40MPG and CLEAN are still encouraging people to sign and e-mail the action letters, since the issue is still on the table.

There is some support for environmental preconditions in Congress, but others argue clean energy restrictions might make the bill more difficult to pass. It is estimated that if even one American automaker goes under, more than 2 million jobs will be lost in 2009.

Here are some links to other articles on this topic:

MSNBC

CNN

The New York Times

Fox News

We received a most unusual product in the office last week – a clock that runs on water. No batteries, cords, solar panels ….. just salt water!! How you might ask does this work? Chemistry!

The innards are made of two opposing metals and the ions in the salt water create a charge that produces the “electricity” to power the Bedol water clock. Now don’t get too excited and think that this is the cure for our energy woes. The amount of electricity produced by this chemical reaction is very small. But still, no batteries are required – so all of those disposable batteries that required manufacturing, shipping, selling and disposing of will never be needed to operate this clock.

The clock I received last week hasn’t lost any seconds since I added the salt water and set it. It will be fun to see how long it goes before I need to add more salt. In the meantime, I’m really enjoying this attractive, very low-tech addition to my desk top.

We receive a lot of questions from readers about the affordability of renewable energy alternatives, such as solar and wind and other ways to conserve energy such as buying energy efficient appliances or adding insulation. 

They usually want to know if there are state or federal incentives and rebates to help them offset the costs.

There is a wonderful Web site run by the North Carolina Solar Center, The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), which is an overview of state, federal, local and utility incentives, rebates, exemptions and loan programs in each state. Within each state’s sections are links to other offices and Web sites for further information.

If you are just beginning to gather information on the possibility of investing in a renewable energy system or upgrading your home to be more energy efficient, then you will want to spend time reading your state’s information on the DSIRE Web site.