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North Carolina could get most of the energy it needs as a state from renewable sources including solar and wind. That's according to a report published earlier this year by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. But when it comes to producing wind energy that goes back into the grid, North Carolina is behind other states. In fact, there is only one utility-grade wind turbine in all of North Carolina. Jessica Jones reports for our series, North Carolina Voices:  Tomorrow's Energy.

Over the last three years, North Carolina has seen exponential growth in the use of solar power- from a few panels on homeowners' roofs to heat hot water to large installations that produce energy and send it right back into the grid. Small business owners working in the industry believe what they're doing is good for the state and for the environment. But right now, their prospects are limited. Jessica Jones reports for our series North Carolina Voices: Tomorrow's Energy.

New businesses to help save the planet are popping up everyday.  As a result, your ability to do environmental good may be closer to your finger tips than you think.  Already, there are pockets of households and businesses in North Carolina that are able to control their heaters and air conditioners online or from their smart phones.  They're living on a Smart Grid - that's becoming smarter and smarter every day.

As part of our series North Carolina Voices: Tomorrow's Energy, reporter Leoneda Inge has the story of one smart grid pilot project in Fayetteville.

North Carolina has topped many lists in the past few years.  It's one of the fastest growing states and ranks high for its business climate.  But in energy efficiency, NC is wading somewhere in the middle of the pack nationwide.

Most energy consumers know what they pay for electricity.  But very few of us know why we pay what we do.  Who decides what a kilowatt should cost?  And how does energy policy change that?  In this segment of our series North Carolina Voices: Tomorrow’s Energy, Laura Leslie reports on the complex process of pricing power.

Every time you hit the light switch, half the power you use is supplied by coal.  It's one of the cheapest and most dependable fuels we have.  It's also the dirtiest.  As regulators crack down on carbon and other emissions, some say we should stop using coal altogether.  Others aren't sure that's a realistic goal.  Laura Leslie reports for our series North Carolina Voices: Tomorrow's Energy.

Singer-songwriter Don de Leaumont’s music is part storytelling, part folksy warmth and insight. In October, he released his fifth solo album, called “Planes, Trains, Crickets and Central Air.” Now a resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Don returns to his longtime home of Chapel Hill for a gig at The Cave.

He joins host Frank Stasio in the studio to play some tunes and discuss how he broke his heavy metal addiction.

The balalaika is a traditional Russian instrument with three strings and a triangular body. Oleg Kruglyakov, a native of Omsk City, Siberia, has been playing the balalaika since he was seven years old. Now, he's devoted to educating other cultures about Russian folk music and testing the limits of his instrument by teaming up with pianist Terry Boyarsky.

A love of collecting photography led Frank Konhaus and Ellen Cassilly to include an art gallery in their dream home. Then the couple decided that they wanted to do more than just display art. They wanted to build an in-home studio space for artists to create in. Cassilhaus, the name of Frank and Ellen's dwelling, fulfilled their dream. Now, invited artists from all over the world come to their home to write, paint, sculpt, dance or just generate ideas for upcoming projects.

In the late 1800s, North Carolina's favorite mountain retreat was home to a progressive African-American community that founded the Young Men's Institute. It remains the country's oldest free-standing African-American community center.

Legendary North Carolina fiddler Joe Thompson turns 90-years-old today. He is widely recognized as being the last living link to a time when African American String Bands played for square dances nearly every weekend around here. Thompson's toured the world with his music and is still playing, but now mostly, at home with friends and neighbors.

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Most traditions have plenty of people, history and folklore to back them up. Carolina barbecue is no different. A new book called, "Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue" explores the Tar Heel tradition - past and present.

Saxophone master and Durham resident Branford Marsalis has never shied away from a challenge when it comes to tackling music.  The jazz legend's latest undertaking incorporates his sax into the classical music traditions of South America in a show called "Marsalis Brasilianos: Villa Lobos, Milhaud and the New Worlds of Brazilian Modernism."  

Jan Boxill grew up playing football with her 11 siblings at a time when girls weren’t even allowed to march in the band because it was too strenuous. She went on to help found her college basketball team, and later became a college coach. For more than 20 years Jan served as the Public Address Announcer for Women’s Basketball at UNC and was even an announcer at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

On this day - June 23, 40 years ago, the first interracial couple in Orange County was married. Alvin and Omelia Garner got their marriage license a year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws forbidding such unions. To mark this year’s anniversary, the Garners decided to celebrate in style and have the wedding they never had.

John Rosenthal is renowned for his black and white photographs of New York City in the 1970s. The photos archived parts of the city that were vanishing and eventually disappeared: a dusty model of a ship in a bottle in the window of a social club in Little Italy, for example, or seltzer bottles stacked in wood crates.