LENO8217;S REAL GREEN ROOM

When he isn8217;t hostingThe Tonight Show, Jay Leno is busy greening his garage

Jay Leno likes anything that rolls and explodes and makes noise, and his Big Dog Garage offers proof. Its 17,000 square feet are packed with rolling, exploding and noisy things8212;most of them four-wheeled, rare and expensive. But lately, the 57-year-old host of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno is showing an interest in things that act quietly8212;solar panels and wind turbines and grease-eating microbes. He8217;s greening his garage, with self-generated power, energy-efficient heating and nontoxic cleaners.

8220;My thing is: Even if you don8217;t believe in global warming, don8217;t you want to screw the oil company or gas company or utility company?8221;

On a recent weekday morning, his solar panels were generating 33 kilowatts8212;enough electricity to run the air conditioning, overhead lights and power tools and to return some power to the city, in effect assisting Burbank Water and Power.

When he isn8217;t hosting The Tonight Show or performing stand-up 160 dates a year, Leno spends his spare time here, at his garage adjacent to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. When I met him, he looked more like a mechanic than the wealthy host of the country8217;s No. 1 late-night talk show.

8220;I like projects,8221; said Leno, who was futzing with the plumbing on a newly acquired 1907 White Steamer. The steam car is one of about 150 vehicles in his collection8212;from 100-year-old motorcycles and European coupes to 1960s muscle cars and high-performance exotics, such as a McLaren F1.

Leno drives a different vehicle each day, but he tries to minimize the environmental impact. He lives only eight miles from work. He recycles. He8217;s a frequent visitor to the Fat Spaniel computer system that monitors his homemade power.

8220;Right now, I8217;m using all the power I want, and I8217;m generating more power than I8217;m using. Why would anybody get mad at you for that? It8217;s important to try and be a good citizen. And you can.8221;

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It8217;s just expensive. Leno, who so far has spent 450,000 to party8212;and that8217;s just for the solar power. He has partied away an additional 19,000 and installed a 10-kilowatt wind turbine, which spins into action at night, when the sun goes down and the breezes pick up. 8220;I8217;m just trying a lot of different systems to see which will gain me the most amount of power,8221; said Leno, who anticipates adding additional turbines and solar panels in the coming years.

He acknowledges his green conversion has been expensive.

8220;I guess I8217;m a rich guy,8221; said Leno, who makes an estimated 25 million annually. 8220;I can afford to do it, so why don8217;t I be the one that experiments with it and tries it out? And if it works, if enough people like me try it, then it passes down and becomes more affordable.8221;

-Susan Carpenter LAT-WP