Americans adopting green energy ideas

A new poll gives us some telling tidbits about how Americans are incorporating green energy practices into their own lives – and what behaviors they might change in the future.

It doesn’t reveal that we’re ready to make a wholesale movement toward alternative fuels as a nation or that we’ll all be driving a hybrid car a few years from now.

But there are results which show Americans spend time thinking about their energy use and alternatives, believe we need to make changes, and will take steps, even if they are small ones like adopting SmartMeter technology, in the future.

Use of SmartMeters, which have been controversial in some communities, is followed by purchase of a hybrid car as the new technology consumers are most likely to adopt in the future. About 30 percent of respondents said that they would probably buy a hybrid vehicle. Installing solar panels at home came in third with 21 percent saying they will consider purchase of the green technology.

One respondent said: “We Americans are gas junkies. We complain and think of alternative fuel sources when prices are high but we go back to our bad gas guzzling habits when the price of gas decreases. We need to invest in alternative clean sources of energy which in itself would create jobs. We need to build small hybrid electric and gas vehicles and we need to improve on our rapid methods of transportation.”

It’s also worth noting that the majority of respondents think that they, along with members of their household, are doing a good job addressing energy issues, while they feel government officials and energy companies are not. But over 33 percent admit that they aren’t that knowledgeable when it comes to energy issues, and would like to gain more insight on the subject.

Polling was conducted by the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business in 2011.

What changes are you planning to make to energy consumption practices in the next year? How about five years from now?