Sorry but I could not resist, it seems The Department of Energy is coming out with a ‘cash for clunkers’ type program to encourage consumers to scrap their old cold-boxes in lieu of  a new more energy efficient one.

The program that kicks in this fall will offer consumers cash to help buy new home appliances. The federal government has set aside $300 million for the program as part of the economic stimulus plan.

There’s no trade-in required, as in the government’s “cash for clunkers” deal with consumer car trade-ins. But rebate checks will be issued that can be used to cover everything from refrigerators and dishwashers to furnaces and air conditioners.  I am waiting for this program to include even more household items like my old 8-track tape deck because I am sure it uses an obscene amount of power.

I thought we would take a break from humor on Funny Fridays and mention a really fun and cool site for kids, www.RecycleZone.org.uk.  Going green is very important to practice but also important to pass on to the next generation, here is a site that accomplishes that in a very big way.  With different zones from Fun to info to recycler this website really captures a child’s attention and still gets across an educational message.

We are starting a new feature where we will take a look at each of our affiliates and give you some background and info on them.  The article was written back in 2005 at www.PartsLocator.com

Matthew and Justin Skidmore and Bill Janssen own a neat, efficient and profitable auto recycling operation (www.BestAutoSalvage.com). They’ve been doing it for nearly 20 years. You can’t eat off the floor, but the veteran staff can take a phone order, locate the part and have it ready to ship in a matter of minutes. It’s what the business is all about.

Read the rest of the article here.

- A recent study by Shelton Group of Knoxville, Tenn.  helps us understand that a typical ‘green’ consumer might not be that typical at-all.   They surveyed 1,007 people who at least occasionally buy green products.  Many  said they know what they should do to save the planet, but often do not take those actions.  “Most green advertising is created as if there´s one pool of green consumers and they´re all motivated by ´save the planet!´ messaging,” said Suzanne Shelton, whose firm conducted the study. “We need a revolution in this thinking. Not all green consumers are the same, they´re not all motivated by the same messages and they´re not all inclined to buy only green products.”

- NASA and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, or AFOSR, have successfully launched a small rocket using an environmentally-friendly, safe propellant comprised of aluminum powder and water ice, called ALICE.

- Scientists are reporting some unsettling news about homes in the residential areas of California. The typical house there — and probably elsewhere in the country — is an alarming and probably underestimated source of water pollution, according to a new study reported at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Over at Standard Auto Wreckers we are so busy we have vehicles flying in!!!

Here is a look at how dependent each state is on liquid gold.  With the hopes of mainstream affordable electric cars still a decade away here is a list of the top 10 most dependent states.

(Credit: David Gardiner & Associates/NRDC)

This feature will likely run only on Monday but as it is the first one I thought Tues. would be acceptable.

Here are some of the more interesting ‘green’  headlines from across the web and the world.

-Southern California Edison has signed a deal under which First Solar will build two solar power generation stations with the potential to provide electricity to 170,000 homes.  The contract, which is subject to the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission sees the First Solar agreeing to complete the two stations by end of year 2015.  Looks bright for their future!

-Here is a bit of cool fuel news, LiveFuels, an algae biofuel start-up, announced a pilot project to grow and harvest algae biofuels in open waters with the help of naturally occurring activities in the ecosystem. The approach is different than other attempts at algae biofuels, in which algae is grown and harvested in a closed environment. The LiveFuels algae pilot farm, set to cover 45 acres of saltwater ponds in Brownsville, Texas, will consist of algae already native to the region.

-General Motors’ announced that it expects that the Chevy Volt will get an eye-popping 230 miles per gallon begs an obvious question: how can the mileage of electric vehicles be compared to gasoline cars? It’s a problem that the Environmental Protection Agency is working on with the Department of Energy, the Society of Auto Engineers, and California.  The EPA also put out a statement saying that it has not tested the Volt for mileage yet and “cannot confirm the economy values claimed by GM.” GM said that its mileage estimate, including triple digit combined city and highway driving, was based on a draft methodology developed by the EPA. The lack of verifiable tests makes us all say, mmmmmmm. But let’s hope for the best and see if we can get North America off of oil dependence.

Some of you might have noticed that I have been posting a bit of humor as of late.  I’ve made an executive decision to only post humor on Friday’s.  So here is a little Friday car humor from theOnion.

GM Selling Cars On eBay

In order to combat its sales slump, General Motors, in cooperation with about 225 dealerships, has begun selling cars on the auction website eBay. What do you think?

Here is another good one that tickled my funny-bone:

I found this one very funny!