Now this is what I am talking about. There’s a new type of home furnace which not only provids heat, but also generates electricity!

There’s a new fad starting, which might eventually prove to be more a revolution than a fad: an efficient furnace that also generates electricity.The “micro-combined-heat-and-power” units, or CHPs, turns natural gas into hot water and generates up to $800 a year in electricity, the Christian Science Monitor reported Tuesday.

They seem kinda pricey at $20,000. But estimates  are that these will pay for each other within 3-7 years. I wonder if they qualify for tax rebates, too, for people who live in an area that provides alternative energy tax breaks? All I know is that, when our furnace finally kicks the bucket (and I’m hoping that’s at least a decade away), I’m signing up for one of these puppies!

Big news out of California last week, as Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California’s new solar power policy into law:

The bill, which cleared the state Senate last week, calls for the installation of 1 million rooftop solar panels on homes, businesses, farms, schools and public buildings by 2018.

The solar systems would generate 3,000 megawatts of power and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 3 million tons, equivalent to taking 1 million cars off the state’s highways and making California the third biggest solar producer after Japan and Germany.

It is hard to over-state how big this is for the environment. Solar power production will skyrocket, reducing the need for generating electricity from fossil fuels. When done on a small scale, this would have a small impact. When done on a scale as large as California, the impact will be enormous.