Solar Decathlon' requires diesel generators (wait... what?)

The Dept. of Energy's "Solar Decathlon" kicked off yesterday under cloudy skies in Washington DC. (Who says God doesn't have a terrific sense of humor?)

Teams of students representing 19 colleges from all over the world are given a $100,000 (Taxpayer dollars from the DOE) and they try to construct energy-neutral buildings for home and work use.

Students on Team Canada were working well into the night under the glare of some pretty bright lights... powered by DIESEL GENERATORS!

The clever minds over at Thought Nozzle made a terrific point, posting on Yoono.com

The Solar Decathlon: College teams building zero-energy green homes-- while lit by a battery of 6kW TEREX Amida diesel generator light towers. Diesel gennies can produce 50 to 60 times the NOx pollution of gas-fired grid plants. No cleaner alternatives?

For continuing coverage on the Solar Decathlon - CNET.com has posted a slide show of the homes and is all over the event;

For the past two Solar Decathlons in D.C., the Technische Universitat team from Darmstadt, Germany, came away with the first prize. But Germany's high-tech home came in with a price tag of near $800,000, more than three times higher than the $250,000 limit this year.

(That last line sounded a bit like the Solyndra business model - make it for $6 and sell it for $3...)

H/T To Bob West of Thought Nozzle