Here’s The Story of Bottled Water; a brief look at how drinks manufacturers managed to convince us to pay for bottled water.
So in honor of World Water Day say “No!” to bottled water, grab a reusable bottle and home water filter, and lobby your local government to invest in our public water infrastructure.
My Emissions Exchange is a new market place that enables you to sell reductions you make in energy use as credits to people and organizations that are looking to offset their carbon footprint. The service works by tracking your energy bills and calculating any reduction in energy use that you manage to make. Savings that you do make can then be sold by My Emissions Exchange on your behalf or you also have the option of donating them to an organization of your choice.
The first thing to do when you sign up to the service is to set your baseline usage over the past 12 months. You enter your energy data manually on the site but once you do this you must ‘lock it in’, after which it can only be changed by MyEex staff. You will need to make copies of your energy bills and send them in to be verified. The process isn’t entirely fluid, but the verification of carbon credits is extremely important. False claims of carbon savings, e.g. when people tried to get paid for energy savings that would have happened anyway. This is the concept of additionality and is a challenge for all sellers of legitimate carbon credits.
Its also important that 12 months of data is used to create the baseline so that corrections can be made for seasonal variations. In other words, if you live in a cold climate you can’t claim you have reduced your energy in the summer just because you are using less heating than during the winter. In order to actually claim that an energy saving has been made, you need to demonstrate that your usage is lower in comparison to the same month from the previous year.
Much like the service EarthAid we recently reviewed, the next step is to go about reducing your energy usage. The site provides some tips and resources to enable you to do this. There is enough information to cover all the important basics which are where the most important savings can occur. They are also categorized and contain estimates of the amount of energy/monetary savings you can expect from them, which can help you prioritize your actions.
If you manage to achieve savings over the comparable month from the previous year, then comes the payoff. Once MyEEx verifies your savings they will certify and broker the trade. And how much can users stand to gain? Tami and Randy Wilson of Harrisburg, Pa received $17.50 for the metric ton of carbon dioxide that they saved, which would seem to compare reasonably favorably to market estimates. A recent study from the Environmental Protection Agency suggested prices between $13 and $26 indicating there should be demand for carbon credits available on the MyEEx marketplace. Of course, users also stand to benefit from reduced energy bills.
My Emissions Exchange is a for profit company and currently take 20% commission on trades. Project manager Paul Herrgesell believes the economic incentive is an important one, saying that MyEEx
“is a system that incentivizes you to save energy on a personal level and aligns with your economic interests”
Ensuring that energy savings are accurate and legitimate is a challenge that MyEEx will have to face. Verifying actual energy bills seems like a reasonable way to do this, but is still potentially vulnerable to some types of fraud. However, I don’t consider this to be in anyway insurmountable. There are many industries which have to cope with an inability to extensively audit at such a granular level. Instead, researching an appropriate quantifier is all that required. For example, if you can verify that 1 credit in 100 is fraudulent, then the market price for credits on the MyEEx exchange would just be 99% of the price on the worldwide carbon market.
Challenges aside, My Emissions Exchange is a very exciting prospect with the potential to be an industry disruptor. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the service develops and how the market at large reacts to what this company are doing.
Back since Google PowerMeter was first announced I had been excited to try it out. Initially PowerMeter was only available from Utility providers that had partnered with Google. Unfortunately the energy provider we use in our California office was not one of these and we started to consider switching just so that we could take PowerMeter for a spin. Then Google announced that the PowerMeter service would become available to those who use select energy monitoring devices, the first being the TED 5000. Great, I ordered one of these immediately, but too quickly to even read the small print which says that the TED 5000 will only work with 2-phase power supplies. Inevitably, when I checked ours I found it is a 3-phase system and thus incompatible. Of course, all of this only served to increase my anticipation.
So, when UK company AlertMe was announced as the second device partner, I finally got my chance to try out the elusive service. AlertMe’s energy monitoring gadget is designed to monitor in real-time how much electricity you are using. The system comes in two parts, the first being the ‘Meter Reader and Transmitter’. This consists of a clip that attaches around your main electricity line. Not an electrical connection though, it simply sits outside the wire’s shielding. The clip is connected to a transmitter which will send the meter readings wirelessly to the second part of the system, the ‘Nano Hub’. This gadget will receive these meter readings and via an ethernet cable will send your energy data over the web for you to access 24/7 from anywhere.
In addition to allowing you access to Google PowerMeter, AlertMe also provide their own dashboard to view your data, which is very functional. Below you can see the initial snapshot view of whats going on. You can see clearly your current electricity draw and a calculation of what it has cost you so far for the day. Your personal cost per KWHr and currency is fully customizable. The history feature is also quite detailed, you can view a graph of energy use for anywhere from one day to an entire year. It can also be downloaded as a spreadsheet (csv). Data is updated every 5 minutes so you can get a very detailed break down of your energy usage habits. For example, you can clearly see peaks in the graph when your heating kicks in or when you put the kettle on for your morning cup of coffee. (more…)
We are giving away a free Sunforce Solar Panel to anyone who retweets this page. The Panel has an output of 1.8 Watts and can be used to top up your car battery. Simply plug it into the 12V cigarette lighter plug in your vehicle and it will immediately start charging your car battery.
For a chance to win all you have to do is retweet this article, or send out a tweet that contains “@PlentyWays” and a link to this page (http://bit.ly/rttQy) or any other page on our website.
For those of you who aren’t on Twitter (!) you can also write a blog post and link to us. Let us know by sending us a message. No more entries after midnight next Tuesday 6th October.
I have recently been hearing a lot of news about UK Company Belu, who have developed a fully biodegradable bottle for water. The raw material for the bottles is corn, after undergoing a fermentation and distillation process. The end result is a bottle that is effectively grown, that feels and looks just like the regular plastic water bottles that line our supermarket chains, convenience stores and, of course, our garbage dumps.
Belu also made the production of the bottles carbon neutral in 2006 and even donates the profits to projects that deliver clean water to parts of the world that lack access to it. As a non profit organisation with such impeccable green credentials, it has seen some very strong growth in its sales. From a base of $13,000 in 2006, its launch year, it just came off the back of a $4 million year in 2008.
The corn used to make the bottles can be grown in 100 days. It can be broken down by commercial composting methods in 12 weeks, and by home composting in about a year. Therefore, there is the potential to grow the corn, make the bottles and return them to raw bio mass to the soil in under 200 days, a pretty awesome example of nature in action. Nothing created or destroyed, but a massive and rapid form transformation.
A selection of Belu biodegradable bottles
The US alone uses 1.5 million barrels of oil each year to make water bottles from polyethylene terephthalate. The vast majority of which are landfilled or incinerated. It would be great if we could simply shake our bottled water habit, but there are situations where a bottle is required so Belu’s bottles are an important innovation. Furthermore, donating all profits to water projects such as WaterAid is truly a noble action. It’s yet another example of the growing trend of social enterprises that shun monetary profit in aid of a greater social purpose. We wish them the best of luck.
Google Powermeter is a new software tool that has been developed to help people track and analyze their home energy usage. The tool will provide a graphical interface that shows, in real time, how much electricity your house is pulling in from the grid. The pictures Google have made public indicate that the software will help you identify how much of your total energy usage is being made by each individual component in your house. Using energy intensive utilities like dish washers and kettles will provide a characteristic spike in your electricity usage so you will be able to identify the electrical footprint of all the utilities in your house. Knowing Google, there will be a few unexpected extras thrown in there as well. It’s currently still in beta but it is slowly starting to become available to more and more people.
Example of Google Powermeter
So why is energy usage monitoring important? Studies have shown that the mere act of measuring energy will actually cause energy usage to drop by an average of 5-15%. This is presumably because many energy saving actions will become very obvious. If you can see in a simple visual format the effect of running a dish washer or dryer you will immediately realize its a good idea to only run them only when they are full.
Why is Google getting involved in this? Google understands that when it comes to the environment the stakes are high and has always set a good example of corporate social responsibility. If each household in America used PowerMeter and got a 10% saving in energy usage because of it that would be the equivalent of taking more than 17 million cars off the road. Not bad for a simple software tool that is relatively inexpensive and simple to implement. The savings for consumers are also huge. One Google engineer in the video below claims to have dropped his bill by 64% and saved almost $3,000 already.
This is exactly the philosophy behind the project. In order to change something you need to be able to measure it. Google is going to arm you with the information you need to understand your energy usage, therefore enabling you to make the most effective changes to reduce it. Google will provide many tips on what you can do to save energy (and money) and the collaboration between users will be very exciting: sharing energy saving actions; calculating how effective each action is based on feedback from many people’s PowerMeter results; detailed aggregate data of energy usage; are just a few ideas that come to mind.
At the moment Google is forging partnerships with utility companies to bring the service to the public. If you use any of these providers, then you should be able to test out PowerMeter right away. In the US the partners are JEA in Florida, TXU Energy in Texas and San Diego Gas & Electric. We are considering switching our provider in our California office to San Diego Gas & Electric in order to take advantage of this. This google map of utility providers that use ’smart grid’ technology is likely to be a good indication of the utility companies that will adopt PowerMeter in the future, as such technology is required to make it work.
Electric cars are a very promising technology in reducing the carbon footprint of transport. Although we are likely to see much innovation in this field in the future, many people do not realize that the technology to produce cars that run on electricity is already here. Electric cars in general produce far less emissions than the best fossil fuel cars on the market. Furthermore, if your electricity supplier uses renewable energy sources, the emissions of your electric car will effectively be zero. So with out further ado, lets take a look at the top electric vehicles which are available now, or will very shortly be in production.
The REVA G-Whiz is currently the most popular batter powered electric car in the world. Manufactured in India, the REVA is a smart 3-door city car that will fit two adults in the front and two children in the back. A full charge will take around 6 hours and will cost less than $1.50 meaning running costs are an astounding 2c per mile. The newest version includes higher performing Lithium Ion batteries that extend the range to 75 miles.
The Th!nk City is another 3-Door Electric vehicle running on sodium or lithium batteries. A product of Norwegian firm Th!nk, the City car is available in Norway and European markets with plans to come to the US soon. It is one of only two crash tested and highway certified fully electric vehicles. (The Tesla Roadster is the other). The car is designed so that it can be recycled after it has been decommissioned helping to further reduce its environmental impact.
Available next year, the Smart ED is the first all electric vehicle from SMART, manufacturers of the pocket sized city cars that are ever more popular in Europe, and – believe me – they look even smaller in real life. The ED follows much the same design as other Smart vehicles, but behind the fuel cap is actually a standard mains plug. The Smart ED can fit only 2 passengers and will take around 8 hours to charge the batteries to capacity.
The Tesla Roadster is without doubt the cream of the crop of electric vehicles. With a stunning design and performance to rival some of the best fossil fuel powered sports cars, the Roadster is truly a break through vehicle that demonstrates that you don’t have to make cutbacks on quality if you want to go electric. It combines a 0-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds, with an efficiency that is up their with the best electric vehicles – achieving a breathtaking 120 miles per gallon equivalent (mpgge). The only drawback would be the over $100k price tag, however the Silicon Valley company behind the Roadster is planning a more accessible sedan version known as the ‘Model S’, which will cut the price in half.
Whilst not technically a fully electric vehicle, the Toyota Prius with its hybrid engine deserves a mention here. The greenest vehicle by the world’s largest automaker is an important milestone and a very advanced specimen of technology. The hybrid engine means the car will run on fuel but will also use advanced techniques such as regenerative breaking (which captures a vehicles kinetic energy whilst breaking) to charge an onboard battery. When the battery has sufficient power stored up, the engine can switch to EV mode, whereby it is propelled purely by electrical energy. This hybrid engine results in 54.7 mpg rating, although the 3rd generation models will bring this up to 60.3 mpg. Its no surprise to learn that worldwide sales of the Prius reached 1.2 million in early 2009.
The Lightening GT is in a similar mould to the Tesla Roadster. The British made Lightening features a sleek design and a 0-60 mph time of under 4 seconds. A killer feature is its fast charging lithium-titanate battery which, given the right high capacity power source, can charge in 10 minutes. On standard mains power this would be more like overnight. The lightning GT is a 2 seat convertible and is available to order now for 2009/2010 delivery in the UK and is set to reach the US market ’soon’.
The iMIEV from Mitsubishi Motors Company is due to start production in 2010. It can fit four full sized adults but has a greater efficiency than the G-Whiz, getting around 100 miles from 16 KWh and has an impressive top speed of around 80 mph.
The Mega City available from NICE (No Internal Combustion Engine) is a french made 2-seater city car. NICE also have a large truck version, the “Mega Mutitruck” and a pickup style version, the “Mega Worker”.
The Vectrix was the first high powered electric scooter available on the market. Its great design and 0-50 mph in 7 seconds made it very desirable. The company unfortunately went in to liquidation earlier this month and won’t be able to continue existing in its current form. However, Vextrix scooters are still readily available second hand and the technology could be given further life if a suitable company swoops in to buy the remaining assets.
The Cargo Scooter is a Dutch Made Electric Scooter that has been picked up by Domino’s Pizza to equip their fleet of delivery vehicles. Taking only 2-3 hours to charge, it is adept for traversing short distances quickly, cheaply and environmentally. It is available now in both European and North American markets.
Clearly there are very good options for fully electric vehicles on the market right now and even more in the near future. It is exciting to think that the technology is still in its infancy and there are further gains and innovations to be had. There are many advantages to driving electric cars over their combustion engine equivalents. No more trips down to the pumps, electric cars all work off standard mains electricity that we have at home. No more remembering to check the oil level in the engine, electric cars don’t require the stuff. No more shouting over the sound of the engine, electrical engines are near silent. Some even worry that this may be a safety hazard as people can’t hear the cars coming down the road. It would be trivial however to add an artificial sound and it would surely be engineered to remain as quiet as possible to those within the vehicle. Also bear in mind the running cost of an electric vehicle is far less than a petrol/diesel powered vehicle. Take a look at the following calculation for a demonstration. Note that it does not include various subsidies and reliefs that you can get for driving an environmentally friendly vehicle, which are only likely to increase further in the future.
The average American vehicle does 20 miles per gallon. At $2.80 a gallon, this is around $0.14 per mile. As noted above, the G-Whiz costs around $0.02 per mile. The average American drives around 12,000 miles per year, which will cost $1,680 in your gas guzzler, or around $240 in your G-Whiz, giving a massive saving of $1,440 a year. The car will pay for itself in no time.
Now imagine a more extreme case: You drive a gas guzzler that manages 13 mpg, fuel hits $4 a gallon again and you drive an amount towards the upper limit of the US Average (say 15,000 miles per year). In this scenario your car costs around $4,615 a year to run, compared with the same $240 for your G-Whiz! A truly amazing difference.
Update: Just stumbled across ZapWorld as well, who seem to do a range of electric vehicles. If anyone has any knowledge of them let us know in the comments.
Reduce, reuse, recycle should be the mantra for every eco-friendly lifestyle. However the order of the phrase is no accident. With so much talk about recycling it’s important to remember it should be a last resort. Rarely can 100% of an item actually be recycled, and the parts that can require large amounts of energy in transport and processing.
Let’s look at some simple tips to Reduce. We’ll follow-up with a Reuse and Recycle edition later in the week:
Half of food in the US goes to waste! The main culprit is household waste – US households discard 14% of the food they buy, adding up to a staggering $43bn a year. Reducing food waste will save you money, and reduce the environmental impact of intensive farming, landfill use, and food transportation.
To reduce food waste try the following simple tips:
In recent years the rise of massively discounted imported clothing has created a trend in disposable fashion. Cheap, poor quality, seasonal items bought, worn for a month or two and then thrown out. These clothes mostly end up in landfills, wasting energy that was used in manufacture and transportation. Good quality clothing may cost a little more upfront, but can last you for years and is much better for the environment.
Don’t forget to try and buy Fair Trade – can that $2 t-Shirt really have come from a happy place?
Reducing your electricity use saves you money and reduces your CO2 footprint. With a household electricity monitor you know exactly what items in your house are energy hogs, and make sure you turn them off when not in use. Studies show using an electricity monitor can reduce your electricity use by 5-20%.
See here for my experiences with my home monitor.
One third of the world’s mail is US junk mail. The Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. The one-time $1 fee will put your name and address on a delete file, and made available to all companies who use DMA’s data. See here for more details - DMAchoice.org.
Notice their Learn More section (here) has some dubious claims. Remember: they don’t want you to sign up!
‘Mail is made from a renewable resource.’ – perhaps, but almost no unsolicited mail companies use Forest Stewardship Council approved paper, much less post-consumer recycled paper.
‘Mail represents only 2.4% of America’s municipal waste stream.’ - only?! 2.4% is a heck of a lot of material to keep out of our landfills (most mail is junk mail; statistics seem to range from about 50-90%.)
It’s actually not that hard to go tree-free at home. Here are a few tips:
Bottled water is an unnecessary waste of energy and materials (and money!). Combine a water filter and drinks bottle and enjoy delicious, pure drinking water without the waste.
These are just the tip of the iceberg (enjoy that metaphor while there still are icebergs!). Share any more great ideas you have in the comments.
Here is a real time graph of my household electricity use. I’m sharing this so that over the next few months I can share a few tips on trying to save energy around the home. I’ll be posting a guide on how I got this set-up. In the mean time, here are some interesting things I’ve noticed:
1. We seem to have a raft of appliances around the 2.4 kW mark. The kettle, cooker, dishwasher and dryer all seem to use about this much.
2. Our kitchen lights use a lot of power. 6 small spotlight bulbs managed to use just over 200W between them.
3. Lights use a surprising amount of energy! We have just moved into the house, and all the lightbulbs are the standard power-hungry filament bulbs. So as they all die hopefully we’ll be able to see energy reduce as we switch to energy efficient bulbs.
Use your up/down keys or mouse scroll to zoom in/out. The Home key takes you back maximum range. Double-click on a point to zoom in maximum.
A few things to note:
1. Although I am a full-time partner at PlentyWays.com, and our main office is in Laguna Hills CA, I am currently living in Dublin, Ireland. The wonders of the digital age! Therefore the machine I use to record my 230V house electricity usage is a monitor called CurrentCost. There are similar devices compatible for use in the US, some of which we will review on our site soon.
2. The house is a 2 story, 2 bedroom (+ box room) house about 700 sq ft in total. Just my fiancee and I manage to consume all this power.
3. Heating is gas, but cooker is electric. Shower runs off the gas heated water tank, dishwasher is cold feed. I’m looking around for some gas/water usage monitors and if I find any I’ll add that data too.
