All Entries in the "Green Energy" Category

Want the Power Company to pay you to use electricity?

Photo courtesy Floyduk, Flickr

It isn’t a common occurrence, but if you live in certain part of the U.S. it does happen.  During the night in west Texas and Illinois, power plants that produce energy from the wind sometimes generate more electricity than their customers can use.  The result?  Well, if the power plants shut those turbines down they would lose the 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour tax credit for generating electricity, so shutting down isn’t an option.  Instead the customers are paid to use the electricity, which works as long as the customers are paid less than the power companies receive as a subsidy.  Essentially the power companies receive taxpayer money for generating energy from renewable sources which they then pass a portion of back to the taxpayers.

Operating at a negative isn’t feasible for extended periods of time.  After all, think of how much energy the average American household would use if they were being paid to use it!  Wind power companies are investigating different ways to harness and store wind energy as  compressed air that can be released during times of peak demand, or when the wind isn’t blowing.  Click here to read more about the storage process and the companies involved.

UAE sets new Green goals

See how much power you’re using instantly

Who would have thought that a device this simple to install could be so helpful.  The PowerCost Monitor by Blue Line Innovations, is a  helpful tool to let you visualize in real time exactly how much energy you are using.  Installation is fairly simple.  One device goes on the outside of the home or office, at the meter, and the remote monitoring device goes inside, up to 100′ away from the outside Sensor Unit.   From the indoor device you can see a digital readout of how much electricity you are using at that moment, how much it is costing you, as well as how much you’ve used over the past 24 hours.  Walk around, turn off some appliances or electronics and watch your power usage drop.  It’s helpful for grown-ups and also a great tool to help children understand electricity usage.

Bye Bye Incandescent Bulbs

The incandescent light bulb has served us well, but its days are definitely numbered.  Europe has now banned all sales of incandescent light bulbs, and the U.S. may be set to follow.  A preliminary deadline of 2012 has been proposed to end incandescent bulb sales in the United States. 

Curious about the reaction in Europe?  It hasn’t been all good.  From a pricing standpoint Compact Flourescents will be the immediate choice for replacement bulbs.  While the CFLs have an excellent lifespan and offer a tremendous energy savings, there are some people who object to the quality of light or have other sensitivities to flourescents.  Look for LED lighting to gain in popularity as an effective alternate to CFLs.  The lifespan is even longer and the energy use further reduced.