Amory lovins is big into the negaways/efficiency thing.
While everyone croons about renewable energy it turns out generating energy - renewable or not is <i>expensive.</i><p>But saving energy is cheap, you pay for more insulation, your bill goes down for life. It also gives you more freedom - you're less affected by energy price shocks. At some point, you can even go very close to off grid (< $5/mo electricity bill) Which is nice.