Green Options

I just generated 20 minutes of green power. It took me less than five minutes. How did I do it? I added the Facebook application Green My Vino to my Facebook account and then sent one green power minute to 20 of my Facebook friends.

Green My Vino was launched earlier today by Village Green Energy. It allows Facebook users to give free online gifts worth one minute, five minutes, or ten minutes of renewable energy. Village Green will then purchase the equivalent amount of energy on behalf of the Facebook user.

Once Facebook users have gifted 10,000 minutes of solar and wind power to their friends, the first of four wineries who are already signed up for the program has committed to powering their entire operation with renewable energy. The first winery is Iron Horse Vineyards located in Somoma County.

Regular readers of sustainablog know that I’ve become a big fan of St. Louis-based Solar Night Industries since company president and founder Jason Loyet first reached out to me in early 2006. Jason and team have been kind enough keep me in the loop about new developments, and I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen — they’ve gone well beyond solar flowers! In September, I sat down with Jason, CEO Tim Corbet, and Director of Operations Molly Salinas to take a look at their latest product, the Modern Energy Plan. The application is designed to answer a fundamental question for potential renewable energy adopters: what’s the best technology to use in terms of location, cost and return on investment.

Think of it this way: many of us who’d like to add renewable systems to our homes or businesses often already have a particular technology in mind. We don’t think “I’d like to add a renewable system to my home to produce electricity”; rather, we think “I’d like to put solar panels on my house.” Depending on costs and location, though, solar panels may not be the best option for us. Because we’re focused on a specific technology, installers have to spend time educating us on the pros and cons of the systems we’d like, and also on other options that might work better to meet our goals. For many consumers, this may feel more like a sales pitch than an education; for installers, this educating takes time away from the activities that make them money: installing systems.