Each year U.S. electric utilities waste tens of billions of cubic feet of natural gas on "spinning reserves, " for example, generators that are running below top efficiency so they can supply electricity on a moment's notice.

FORBES: Juicing the System

For more detail on each individual charity, including financial efficiency calculations and top pay, click here and then click on the name of the charity.

FORBES: The Largest U.S. Charities For 2012

Last year, Kingdown School took the top prize for schools when its aerodynamic car reached a 1, 980 mile per gallon efficiency.

BBC: Car built by Wiltshire pupils clocks 2,000 mpg

One efficiency increaser for me in the native app are the double arrows in the top right corner that appear while reading messages that let you move to the previous and following message without revisiting the inbox.

FORBES: How Does The Gmail iOS App Compare To The Native Mail App?

For a country that imports all its hydrocarbons, energy efficiency will, the government says, be pushed to the top of the agenda.

ECONOMIST: What Lee Myung-bak still needs to do