Fuel cells hit the headlines this week. The big splash came thanks to CBS News’ 60 MINUTES and the heavy hyping of a stationary fuel cell developer, Bloom Energy, emerging from stealth-mode development. The Bloom Box will use stacks of solid oxide fuel cells to electrochemically turn natural gas into power, claiming to eliminate the pollution that comes with fuel combustion. We hope there is some substance behind the hype… time will tell.

One of our favorite initiatives Porchlight by OneChange now has Ed Begley Jr. as it spokesperson. See his video below:

New Type of Wind Power Generation?

Shawn Frayne talks about his new method of transforming wind power into electric energy. http://www.humdingerwind.com

Enter Ice Bear

The Ice Bear distributed energy storage system enables a powerful change in how — and, more importantly, when — energy is consumed for air conditioning. The system is designed to absorb off-peak load and dispatch it on-peak, while consuming an equal or lesser amount of energy on each building.

The Ice Bear unit is incorporated into a building’s standard AC system and is designed to absorb off-peak load and dispatch it on-peak, while consuming an equal or lesser amount of energy on each building, creating the industry’s first effectively lossless storage solution.

Using thermally efficient, off-peak power to produce and store energy for use during peak hours the following day, the Ice Bear system reduces peak energy required by conventional AC systems. AC energy demand – typically 40-50% of a building’s electricity use during peak hours – can be reduced by as much as 95%.

Decoupling daytime air conditioning use from peak energy demand, each Ice Bear distributed energy storage unit reduces an average of 7.2 kW of source equivalent peak demand for a minimum of 6 hours daily, shifting 32 kW-hours of on-peak energy to off-peak hours.

The breakthrough technology features of the Ice Bear unit includes the industry’s first effectively lossless storage with unlimited deep discharging, unlimited storage cycles, very low maintenance, no chemicals or heavy metals, and a 25-year asset life.

How It Works

Iced Coils

The Ice Bear energy storage system works with a standard commercial air conditioning system. Requiring no modification to existing ductwork, each Ice Bear unit can be applied to 85% of air conditioners ranging from a 3-5 ton system to a 20-ton system, providing 30 ton hours of cooling.

The Ice Bear energy storage unit operates in two basic modes, Ice Cooling and Ice Charging, to store cooling energy at night, and to deliver that energy the following day.

During Ice Charge mode, a self-contained charging system freezes 450 gallons of water in the Ice Bear’s insulated tank by pumping refrigerant through a configuration of copper coils within it. The water that surrounds these coils freezes and turns to ice. The condensing unit then turns off, and the ice is stored until its cooling energy is needed.

As daytime temperatures rise, the power consumption of air conditioning rises along with it, pushing the grid to peak demand levels. During this peak window, typically from noon to 6 pm, the Ice Bear unit replaces the energy intensive compressor of the air conditioner.

The Ice Bear unit, fully charged from the night before, switches to Ice Cooling mode. The Ice Bear uses the ice, rather than the AC unit’s compressor, to cool the hot refrigerant, slowing melting the ice as it travels through a series of copper coils. A small, highly efficient pump pushes ice-cold refrigerant through a modified Ice Energy LiquidDX® evaporator coil installed in the conventional air conditioning unit.

The Ice Cooling cycle lasts for at least 6 hours. Once the ice has fully melted, the Ice Bear transfers the job of cooling back to the building’s AC unit, to provide cooling, as needed, until the next day. During the cool of the night, the Ice Charge mode is activated and the entire cycle begins again.

The company is headquartered in Windsor, Colorado, with offices in Lake Forest and Sacramento, California. For more information, visit www.ice-energy.com. See their Product Video for a demonstration of it.

Obama’s State of the Union Address Highlighted Renewables’ Role in Recovery

In his first State of the Union address, US President Barack Obama highlighted the key role that renewables should play in the economic development of the USA, especially with regard to new JOBS.  His view on an investment in renewables can be simply summarized by this quote:

Obama continued with: “We can put Americans to work today building the infrastructure of tomorrow. From the first railroads to the Interstate Highway System, our nation has always been built to compete. There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products.”

The State of the Union speech also clearly stated a need to move to more bipartisan politics especially with the recent wake-up call of a recent Republican Senate victory in Massachusetts. President Obama then warned of the consequences of delaying legislation saying: “Washington has been telling us to wait for decades…China is not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany is not waiting. India is not waiting. These nations, they’re not standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They’re making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs.”

Interested in a Renewable Career? See our JOBS SECTION.

As part of my yesteryear push of looking back to see how things were done, prior to all the high tech gadgetry ways to save time and money, I will write about some of the old ways to achieve the same results.  Here is a first in a series of low/no tech cost effective ways to save money.

The clothesline

Inverted Umbrella Clothesline

You may remember the visual above from your childhood days when your Mom hung out the clothes on one of these inverted umbrella type rigs or perhaps via stringing a line between the house and a nearby tree.

Well what is old is new again, at least when it comes to saving energy. My wife and I have begun doing this especially when it comes to drying heavy things like towels and jeans. The money we saved by using the dryer less often was measurable, almost 12-14% off each months electric bill. I am sure if you use a gas dryer you will get similar savings as well.

Environmental concerns and sky-rocketing energy costs have also prompted many state and local governments to pass “right-to-dry” laws allowing their use.

Advantages of a clothes line

• Saves money
• Zero greenhouse gas emissions per load(2 kg of greenhouse gas emissions from the average mechanical clothes dryer per load)
• Laundry smells “clothesline fresh” without using chemicals while saving additional money
• Less wear and tear on your clothes fabrics
• Laundry items tend to not shrink from the hot air from a mechanical clothes dryer.
• No static cling!!
• Laundry items stay softer as mechanical clothes dryers tend to remove short, soft, fine fibers.
• Laundry items may be less wrinkled as items not immediately removed from clothes dryer tend to get wrinkled.
• Laundry items may dry more quickly on dry or sunny and windy days.
• No risk of toxic fumes as gas-powered clothes dryers can potentially leak gas.
• Avoids airborne lint and reduced air quality.
• Eliminates heating up the inside of a house by a clothes dryer especially helpful during the summer months.
• Eliminates the internal house noise from the running clothes dryer

Disadvantages of using a clothes line

• Laundry items need to be hung indoors during rainy weather.
• Neighbors may find it aesthetically unpleasant so it is best to erect it in an inconspicuous place.
• Laundry items may be more stiff which is easily remedied by giving them a short dryer spin.
• Wind, temperature, and humidity can vary the drying time^.
• Environmental contaminants such as soil, dust, smoke, pollen and animal droppings can come in contact with clothing.

Drying laundry indoors

Laundry may be dried indoors for a variety of reasons including:

• inclement weather
• physical disability
• lack of space for a line
• legal restrictions
• to raise the humidity level indoors
• to lower the air temperature indoors
• convenience
• to preserve privacy

Several types of devices are also available for indoor drying. A drying rack or clotheshorse can help save space in an apartment or clothes line can be strung in the basement during the winter. Small loads can simply be draped over furniture or a shower curtain pole. The drying time indoors will typically be longer than outdoor drying because of the lack of direct sun and wind.

Legality

In the United States, Florida, Colorado, and Utah have passed laws forbidding bans on clothes lines. Perhaps these states should rethink and repeal these laws.

In Canada, the Province of Ontario lifted bans on clothes lines in 2008… a smart move!

To learn some other quick inexpensive ways to save money visit the SAVING $ page on this blog to start saving energy and more importantly money today!

Only a Very Small Percentage of Retired Phones are Recycled

While the huge number of retired phones continues to grow and the demand for refurbished phones is accelerating, only a very small percentage of displaced phones are actually making it into the recycling channels.

Nokia estimates that 74 percent of people are not even aware that their old phones can be recycled and most others don’t know how or where to recycle them. From the results of a worldwide survey done in 2008 by Nokia, only three percent of displaced phones are being returned for recycling – even less than the four percent that are being thrown in landfills. The rest remain in our respective drawers at home.

So Where Can They be Recycled?

The first thing you should attempt to do is to clear your mobile phone of all data and get it back to its original state. If you still have the manual you can easily find how to do it. If you do not , you will have to scroll through the set-up and or mechanical menus to find the option to do this. Another method that I recently did to clear my Blackberry of data before selling it on eBay, was to search the internet via your favorite browser search engine with “erase data on XXXX” where XXXX is the manufacturer and model on your phone. This popped up a number of  sites to assist me through the process. While also doing a search, key in “cell phone recycling” to get a list of places to either resell, donate or eco dispose of it.

Some sites we like are:

• Charity Guide
• GRC Recycling
• Gazelle
• EcoCell

This a small listing of many you will find if you search the Internet as mentioned above. Many of the large office supply chain stores also offer drop boxes as well as many of the cellular phone providers either at their retail locations or via programs on their websites. The bottom line is to get rid of the old ones cluttering your draw to save some space, make a few bucks or to donate to the less fortunate. Don’t delay do it today!

The winter months are upon us. We are now continually running the heat and leaving the lights on a longer. During the winter months, you will take notice of your increased energy bills. No worries though, below are some online resources that can help ease the pain. They probably won’t cut your bills by 50%, however they do offer suggestions that will help you out.

ENERGY SAVERS

When you go to Energy Savers, you can learn all about energy conservation. The site has content on renewable energy, ways to reduce your energy consumption, and more. It also has information on how to perform home-energy audits to see what you could do to reduce your energy bill. All in all, Energy Savers is an extremely useful site if you plan to reduce your energy bill.

ENERGY STAR

Energy Star has quickly become a buzzword in the home-energy space, but its Web site is one of the most useful in this roundup.you get to Energy Star, you can do quite a bit. I used the site to find information on energy-efficient appliances. The content it provided was outstanding. Aside from that, Energy Star features tips on how to address some inefficient energy issues in your home. One of the site’s best resources is its list of potential tax credits that you can get by acquiring Energy Star products. The page provides several links for you to find the products that help you qualify for the credit. I really liked Energy Star. If you’re looking to find appliances that match your financial goals, this site is for you.

HOME ENERGY SAVER

The U.S. government’s Home Energy Saver tool is a great way to determine if your home is up to par when it comes to energy efficiency. When you get to the page, you’ll need to enter your zip code. From there, the app calculates the average energy cost in your area. It also displays what an energy-efficient home would cost in that location. Next, you’ll need to input information about your house, including its square footage, how many windows it has, what kind of heat you have, and more. It takes a little while to fill out the form, but once you do, the audit tool helps you find several ways to maximize your energy efficiency. I took it and was surprised to see if I completed all the tasks that were required, a savings of $900 was in store for me. Definitely worth the time to try it out.

LOW IMPACT LIVING

Low Impact Living provides several tools for you to figure out just how efficient your energy use is. It also offers tips on how to improve your usage and awareness through one of the best impact calculators outlined in this summary. When it’s complete, the quiz turns out a bunch of ideas of how to reduce your energy bill. For me, those suggestions included replacing my refrigerator, changing a few lights to compact fluorescents, and use low-flow showerheads. Following all the suggestions the site offered could save me up to $1,100 per year.

MICROSOFT HOHM

Microsoft might not seem like the most obvious choice for a company that will help you reduce your energy costs, but its Hohm service will do just that. When you sign up for Hohm, you’ll be asked to fill out an energy profile, detailing how you’re using up energy each month. Once complete, the service displays a full evaluation of your energy efficiency. It also gives you tips on how to improve and thanks to formation of the Hohm Community, you can also connect with others to share your best practices. It’s more than worthy of trying it out.

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

If you’re wondering how much insulation your home may need, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a page that will help you find out. When you get to the site, you’ll need to fill out some basic information about your home, including your zip code, whether it’s new or existing, and what kind of insulation you currently have. From there, the site will determine what kind of insulation you should install in your house to make it more efficient. Worthy of a look.

GOOGLE POWER METER

Another site I like is Google’s power meter application. PowerMeter is a free electricity usage monitoring tool that provides you with information on how much energy your home is consuming. Google PowerMeter receives information from utility smart meters and in-home energy management devices and visualizes this information for you on iGoogle (your personalized Google homepage). And, Google PowerMeter is free.

Also check out the SAVING $ tab on this website for other money saving tips for this winter and all year around.

Innovative Device which is Easy to Install for Energy Savings

The path to energy efficient lighting takes another step forward with the introduction of the Wireless Occupancy Sensor from Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
Providing a simple way to go green, the innovative sensor is specifically designed for easy installation in conference rooms, copy rooms, small offices, classrooms, living rooms, bedrooms, restrooms, and other spaces where automatic lighting shut-off is desirable.

It installs in minutes. Simply place the sensor on the ceiling and replace your standard light switch with a compatible Lutron dimmer or switch – no wiring is required to the sensor. The sensor contains front-accessible buttons for easy setup and an illuminating lens to verify ideal locations.

The sensor contains cutting-edge technology to detect fine motions and perform reliably. It has user-replaceable batteries, designed to last up to 10 years.

For flexible and scalable energy-saving retrofits, up to 10 dimmers or switches can communicate with a sensor via radio frequency, and users can add up to 3 sensors for superior coverage.

The sensor saves energy by turning lights off when a room is unoccupied. Each Lutron Wireless Occupancy Sensor can save up to $85.00 a year.* What’s more, using a compatible Lutron dimmer, with the sensor, allows you to automatically turn lights on to a dimmed level rather than to full-on, saving even more energy.

The Lutron Wireless Occupancy Sensor can be programmed to operate as an occupancy sensor (automatic-on and automatic-off functionality) or a vacancy sensor (manual-on and automatic-off functionality). A vacancy-only model is also available to meet the California Title 24 Energy Efficiency Standard requirements.

The Wireless Occupancy Sensor is compatible with the Lutron Maestro Wireless® dimmer (as well as with Maestro Wireless® switch); the Vierti® Wireless dimmer or switch; and GRAFIK Eye® QS Wireless light and shade control.

“We are very excited about this break-through product. Now homeowners, facility managers, and contractors can retrofit a space in minutes to save energy and money, without any rewiring,” says Eric Lind Director – Commercial Marketing for Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.

For more information about the new Lutron Wireless Occupancy Sensor, please visit www.lutron.com/occsensors.

*Actual savings may vary depending on use and application. Stated savings based on 1200W lighting load, 20% occupancy sensor savings, 14 operating hours per day for 250 days, and an average electricity cost of $0.102/kWh. Dimming adds additional savings.

Brochure

It’s not only what is inside that counts this holiday, but how you wrap your presents that matters as well. All of those lovely gifts can lead to a pile of boxes, gift-wrap and plastic packaging destined for the landfill. In 2007 Americans threw away 78.5 million tons of packaging, making up more than one third of all solid waste in landfills.

It’s in the Wrap

Everyone will appreciate gifts wrapped with recycled love. Comics are favorites, but outdated maps, yellow pages and finished coloring-book pages also can have a nice wrapping effect. And how about cutting the brown paper bags from the grocery store. Cut them open and use the inside for a crayon or paint canvas custom designed by the artists you have at home. If you must use wrap, look for recycled or at least partially recycled brands.

Gift Bags, too

Reuse last year’s gift bags if you can, but if you’re low on supply, try one made of natural fibers or recycled content, or make your own. Brown (recycled) lunch bags are always good as are the paper sack from the grocery store. If you must buy some new ones, once again look for at least partially recycled products.

One site we like is Green Field Paper. Of course there are many more just Google “Recycled Wrapping Paper” and you will have many to choose from. We are certain that with a little extra effort your holiday, be it Hanukkah,Christmas, Kwanzaa or Winter Solstice will be greener and more meaningful.