Perpetual Innovation

Category: Energy efficiency

  • Climate-change deniers are in retreat – The Washington Post

    Climate-change deniers are in retreat – The Washington Post:

    It will be nice to move past the non-debate about is there global warming, and move off into the real debate.

    We are all living unsustainable lives with non-sustainable business models. What is our plan to move toward sustainability. Singly and collectively?

    The argument that it doesn’t do any good for us to do something if China and India continue consuming is sad and ironic.

    For a century, we in the US with only 4.5% of the worlds population, have consumed about 1/4 of all the worlds resources consumed/used… Coal, Iron, Gas, etc.

    We have produced about 1/4 of the worlds byproducts for a century (pollution and CO2).

    We at this blog like to focus on those things that can be done within weeks, not decades. Energy Efficiency (EE) initiatives can pay for themselves in weeks, with a perpetuity of savings forever after. Telecommuting can result in a perpetuity of savings for ever (until you start a new job that requires a commuting).

    We argue that nobody anywhere can reasonably believe that the price we pay at the pump of oil and at the meter for coal power is accurate and represents the true cost. Gas taxes continue to pay less and less of the US road maintenance, for example.

    Economist generally settle on a carbon tax as a better solution than either subsidizing green energy/cars or a cap-and-trade mechanism. There will never be a better time to initiate a carbon tax then 2014 when oil prices are half and should be reasonably low for a year or more.

    Or, we can continue to consume oil and gas like as if there is no tomorrow.

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  • Energy Efficiency & Renewables… Good signs for both.

    In one recent edition of the New York Times, there were two very positive articles on energy efficiency and improving the cost/kwh of renewables.  The Monday, November 24, 2014, issue featured “Good News on Energy,” by Ralph Cavanagh of theNatural Resources Defense Fund, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/opinion/good-news-on-energy.html? and “Solar and Wind energy Start to Win on Price vs. Conventional Fuels,” by Diane Cardwell, http://nyti.ms/1yJq2r0.

    From Cavanagh, peaked energy use occurred in the US in 2007 and has trended downward since with a small increase in 2013.  And, economic growth is increasing more rapidly than the growth in energy usage because technology is making energy sources more efficient.  The LED light bulb is a good example.  Improvements over the last 40 years have done more to meet US energy needs than the combined contributions of oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear power.

    Electricity consumption has decreased since 2000 despite the introduction of new consumer electronics.  Moreover, oil consumption by homes, businesses and vehicles is down 12% since the peak in 2005.  June, 2013, began a 12-month period in which the combined usage of renewables exceeded hydroelectric power.  More than 12% of our energy supplied comes from renewables and that category is growing faster than the others.

    In her article, Cardwell confirms that the cost of providing electricity from wind and solar has dropped significantly in the last five years, so much so that in some markets renewable generation is now cheaper than coal or natural gas.  Several utility companies in the Great Plains and Southwest where wind and sunlight are abundant have signed power purchase contracts, known as “power purchase agreements,” for solar and wind at prices below that of natural gas.

    According to Lazard, an investment banking firm, the cost of utility-scale solar energy is 5.6 cents/kwh with wind as low as 1.4 cents/kwh.  Without federal subsidies that are up for renewal by Congress in 2016, solar costs are about 7.2 cents/kwh and wind would be 3.7 cents/kwh.  Natural gas is at 6.1 cents/kwh on the low end and coal is at 6.6 cents.

    Both renewables and fossils have limitations.  For renewables, the wind has to blow and the sun has to shine as electrical storage technology needs a break through.  For the fossils, there are regulations and costs due to carbon emissions pollution.  One can expect this hybridization of fossils and renewables to continue for a considerable period of time.
    Minor edits: 12/17/2014.

  • Day Light Savings Time… And Energy Efficiency… and Sustainability

    While you are are staying up late, thinking about saving time and saving money…
    Give a look at the past blog post here on EE and DST and California’s discussion about Daylight Savings Time.

    This is the heart of sustainability: things that we can do right here, right now, to move toward more sustainability. Some of them might be only small changes, like adjusting the clock to start earlier in the day, when sun gets up earlier…

    One other idea is to move to LED lights. If 10% of our utilites comes from lighting, and LEDs will save us about 70%…. That cuts about 7% of our electric production. if utilities are about 2.5% of our $16.15T GDP… That’s $28B per year. Every year. As a perpetuity at 5% interest that would be a half trillion dollars ($565B). These are rough numbers, but the concept holds up nicely.

    GDP Factor $16.15
    		 T
    $ Energy 2.50%  $  
    403.75     		B
    % Lights 10%  $    
    40.38     		B
    Savings 70%  $    
    28.26     		B
    Perpetuity 5%  $  
    565.25     		B

  • The Energy Quiz | ExxonMobil

    The Energy Quiz | ExxonMobil:

    Try the energy Quiz from ExxonMobil:  exxonmobil.com/quiz
    It has 4 categories related to energy: people, sources, uses and savings. There are 5 questions in each section.

    Interesting that the actual quiz lives here: http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/company/advertising-campaigns/energy-lives-here/quiz
    Under the advertising campaign.

    I didn’t do well on the quiz. And you probably won’t either. I do take issue with at least one of the 5 questions in each category. I don’t like how they state projections as fact. (Make sure not to over think it.)

    BUT this is a very cool quiz and provides very nice information for people to think about.

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  • Dell Wants Employees To Work From Home – Business Insider

    Dell Wants Employees To Work From Home – Business Insider:

    Dell is following a “Do Good” plan for 2020. Remote work, packaging and shipping. Working with supply chain and customers as well. Looks pretty GOOD!:-)

    As it pertains to telecommuting… Dell seems to be saving a lot and doing “Good” as well. Telecommuting and other initiatives are outlined in Dell 2020 Legacy of Good Plan.

    Here’s a calc and additional info on Telecommuting savings: http://www.globalworkplaceanalytics.com/calculator

    So Dell is saving lots of money. $14m last year, and reducing impact on the environment, including almost 7 thousands barrels of oil/gas reduction.

    Sounds like a Good Plan, pun intended.:-)

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