Green Thoughts Blog

How does your energy bill match up to your neighbors? Where you live in the country will affect how much electricity you need to use (and how much you pay too). According to the U.S. Department of Energy, here are the average annual energy bills for a household by region:

• Midwest $1,768
• Northeast $2,319
• South $1,758
• West $1,491

Learn how to lower your energy bill

As an update to our post about the Google PowerMeter, Google has announced the first set of utility companies that will be taking part in the Google PowerMeter pilot program. The pilot program is taking on a global scope by including utility companies in Canada and India and includes both small and large scale utility companies. The program is currently limited to certain customers of the utility companies, but Google will be expanding the rollout later in the year.

California: San Diego Gas & Electric
Canada: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited
Florida: JEA
India: Reliance Energy
Kentucky: Glasgow EPB
Missouri: White River Valley Electric Cooperative
Texas: TXU Energy
Wisconsin: Wisconsin Public Service Corporation

In February, we reported on BrightSource Energy signing the world's largest solar energy deal with Southern California Edison for 1,300 Megawatts of electricity. BrightSource has now broken its own record and signed a deal with PG&E for 1,310 Megawatts of electricity. The deal includes seven solar facilities that will be built in California's Mojave Desert by 2017.

An area of concern for BrightSource is navigating its way through the license approval process in California. Estimates for when the licenses will be approved put their projects behind schedule by several months and the company is also dependent on energy transmission lines being installed. As an alternative, BrightSource is also investigating building power plants in Nevada where they can get their projects approved faster.

The deal with PG&E brings BrightSource up to an impressive 40% of all large scale solar deals in the United States.

Image Credit: BrightSource Energy

When you think of Google, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a cutting-edge high tech company. However, in an effort to lower the company's carbon footprint, Google is going low tech by using goats to mow the lawns at its' corporate headquarters instead of gas lawn mowers. Google rents 200 goats from start-up company California Grazing once a year for about a week to eat the grass and also fertilize the land (via goat droppings). Google says that it costs the same amount to have goats graze the fields once a year as opposed to hiring a landscaping company to mow the lawn and the goat droppings also help to make the ground more fertile over time.

The Piaggio MP3 Hybrid three-wheeled scooter, is gearing up to become the first plug-in hybrid vehicle available in the United States. From the makers of the Vespa scooter, the Italian scooter should be available to U.S. consumers in the first quarter of 2010. The plug-in hybrid will go 40 miles on a standard charge and includes a gas powered motor, giving the scooter an estimated 141 miles per gallon. The battery pack is composed of lithium batteries that can be charged in 3 hours from a standard wall outlet. In addition to being charged by plugging it in, the battery pack for the electric engine can also be recharged while running in gas engine mode. The driver can easily switch between electric and gas mode by flipping a switch on the handlebars. The company has not said what the price tag for the Piaggio MP3 will be, but it is being estimated in the $8,000-$10,000 range.

A new green technology initiative was announced in Miami which aims to connect almost all of the homes and businesses in Miami-Dade County to a new smart grid by the year 2011. The project comes with a hefty price tag of $200 million, but approximately $100 million of the funding will come from the Obama administration's federal stimulus plan.The Energy Smart Miami project is a collaborative effort between industry heavyweights and also a green technology startup company.

Florida Power & Light is the local utility company which will be tying everything together. FPL will be installing smart meters provided by General Electric in all of the county's homes and businesses. These bi-directional meters will allow FPL to communicate with the home electrical system to monitor and control electricity use. The monitoring and control will be provided by software from California based startup company Silver Spring Network. Silver Spring's design is based on an open architecture which will allow different systems to work together. Cisco Systems is also involved in the project and will be providing hardware and network technology.

An early pilot program will consist of approximately 1,000 homes which will have smart meters and thermostats installed. For more information vist: Florida Power & Light, General Electric, Silver Spring Network and Cisco Systems.

Today is Earth Day 2009. Founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, Earth Day is meant to increase awareness of environmental issues. This year's theme is "The Green Generation Campaign", which focuses on three key principles:

• Ending our dependency on fossil fuels.
• Encouraging individuals to adopt a green lifestyle.
• Creating "green collar" jobs.

What will you be doing to celebrate Earth Day? Check out our list of Going Green Tips to get started.

For more information on Earth Day, visit Earth Day 2009.

Struggling automaker General Motors announced a partnership with Segway to develop a two seat version of Segway's electric personal transporter. In order to receive additional bailout funds from the government, GM must present a new operating plan that the government agrees to. Teaming up with Segway is one step towards proving to the government that the company can start producing efficient alternative energy powered vehicles. But one must wonder if this is too little of an impact coming much too late. GM will need to do a lot more to revolutionize the way they do business and survive during this economic downturn.

The two seater Segway, nicknamed "Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility" (P.U.M.A.), is targeted towards city driving and will have a range of about 35 miles. We view this as more of a niche product, kind of like the original stand-up Segway. With other electric cars like the Aptera 2e offering longer distances and (slightly) roomier accommodations, it might be difficult for P.U.M.A. to catch on in a large scale way. While P.U.M.A. is an innovative idea, GM needs to show the government innovative ideas that will be big sellers that will help them to survive as a business.

The three-wheeled all electric 2009 Aptera 2e is soon to become a reality. Aptera is planning on making its 2e model available in California later this year, where it will be classified as a motorcycle because of its three-wheeled design. Some specifications include:

• 100 miles per charge
• Charges in 8 hours on a standard 110V household outlet
• 336V lithium iron phosphate battery (weighs 500 pounds)
• Seats 2
• Approximately 1500 pounds
• 90 mph top speed
• Equivalent of 70 horsepower
• $25,000 to $40,000 price tag

The Aptera 2e also has other eco features such as interior fabric that is made from recycled materials and the dome lights use LED bulbs. There's also an "Efficiency Meter" for realtime energy usage monitoring. One of the design goals of the Aptera was to minimize wind drag and the designers liken its shape to that of a bird. The wind drag coefficient is 0.15, which even beats the 0.25 coefficient for the new Toyota Prius.

The company is also developing plug-in hybrid and gas versions of the Aptera. They are predicting 250 mpg for the hybrid model and 100 mpg for the gas powered model.

When shopping for electronics, it's important to purchase products that consume a minimum amount of energy, are made from non-hazardous materials and can be recycled. Today we take a look at the Sony VAIO VGN-NS235J/S Laptop. It's features include:

• 15.4 inch display
• 2.16 GHz Intel Dual-Core T3400 Processor
• 4 GB RAM
• 250 GB Hard Drive
• Built-in webcam

It is a good multi-purpose laptop for everyday use and its lightweight design makes it easy to carry around. The VAIO line of Sony laptops are very popular and have a good performance track record. From an environmental standpoint, the Sony VAIO VGN-NS235J/S Laptop meets the following criteria:

• Energy Star 4.0 certified.
• Silver EPEAT designation, which means it satisfies 23 required criteria plus at least 50% optional criteria for reducing environmental impact.
• RoHS compliant, meaning restricted use of lead, mercury and other hazardous materials.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour began in Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses simultaneously turned off their lights for one hour. The following year, Earth Hour expanded past Australia to include 50 million people turning off their lights. This year, the WWF has set an aggressive goal of 1 billion homes and businesses turning off their lights for an hour. Major landmarks and companies around the globe will be participating this year to make it known that they care about the environment and the effects of global warming. To participate in Earth Hour, simply turn off your lights on Saturday March 28, from 8:30pm-9:30pm local time.

The Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has completed installing the largest roof top solar system in the United States. The solar system contains 13,321 photovoltaic panels and can produce a maximum capacity of 2.4 megawatts. This equates to approximately 26% of the convention center's electricity and will lower its greenhouse gas emissions by over 2,300 tons per year. The solar panels, owned and operated by Pepco Energy Services, cover 290,000 square feet of roof top space on the 500,000-square foot building.

The Obama administration's commitment to clean energy in the stimulus plan is starting to pay off -- literally. When Steven Chu was appointed Energy Secretary, he committed to providing loans to clean energy companies to help the industry and to help create jobs. Last week, the Department of Energy provided solar startup company Solyndra with a $535 million loan guarantee to partially fund construction of a new manufacturing plant in California. The construction project will create about 3,000 construction jobs and over 1,000 jobs once the factory is operating.

Solyndra's photovoltaic system utilizes panels of tube-shaped solar cells that can absorb sunlight along the entire 360 degree surface. The Solyndra system is targeted towards flat/low-sloped commercial rooftops. The company estimates that there is approximately 30 billion square feet of commercial rooftops in the United States that could utilize their PV system. Because of the tube-shaped solar cells, the Solyndra panels can be flat mounted and installed closely together, thus maximizing the amount of rooftop space used.

As part of Walt Disney's "Corporate Responsibility Report", the company is setting aggressive environmental goals for itself to lower the company's carbon footprint and impact on the environment. The company plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% over the next 4 years and reduce its electricity usage by 10% over the next five years. The goals also include reducing water consumption, utilizing clean energy and reducing garbage. The initial focus will be on the theme parks which consume the most energy and produce the most waste.

Disney theme parks have already implemented some green projects. For example, in 2007 the Disneyland Railroad and Mark Twain Riverboat were converted to run on biofuel made from the used cooking oil from Disney's restaurants. While the biofuel costs more, it saves Disney over 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year and reduces their greenhouse gas emissions dramatically. Disney also uses natural gas to run the trams that connect the theme parks and hotels.

Previously we reported on the Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE) and how Tendril's application programming interface (API) and use of the OpenADR standard would be a benefit to their products. One example of this is the Tendril Vantage Mobile application for the Apple iPhone. The Vantage Mobile application will allow users to monitor and control the energy in their home from their iPhone, no matter where they are (as long as they have a cellphone connection). By using open standards and API's, Tendril is enabling other companies to create software applications that can work with their systems, which in turn can increase the number of users.

The application currently supports cost/usage data and price change events. New enhancements also include historical data for your utility bill and hourly/daily data which will allow users to make short term adjustments to how energy is being used in their home.

Image credit: Tendril Networks, Inc.

NRG Energy announced a project to develop 3 solar power plants in southern California and the Southwest, which could total up to 500 Megawatts of clean energy. This will be NRG's first solar power project and the solar plants will be built using concentrating solar power technology provided by eSolar.

eSolar's design is similar in concept to the BrightSource Energy "Luz Power Tower", in that it uses a field of reflective heliostats to concentrate the sun's rays onto a thermal receiver (a.k.a. power tower). Water is pumped into the thermal receiver so that it can be converted to steam by the heat from the concentrated solar rays. The steam is then used to power a turbine to generate the electricity. The eSolar design also reuses the steam after it passes through the turbine by cooling it, which converts it back to water, so that the water can be fed back into the system. eSolar uses a modular design where multiple 46 Megawatt power units can be combined to scale up for large installations. Each power unit contains 16 power towers.

For more information visit NRG Energy and eSolar.

As a plug-in to their Microsoft Dynamics AX business management software, Microsoft is providing their "Environmental Sustainability Dashboard" free to Dynamics AX customers. The dashboard will allow businesses to collect data needed to monitor and calculate their carbon footprint, with the goal of being able to reduce their energy usage and utility bills. Dynamics AX works with existing Microsoft products to help mid-size and large businesses improve their productivity and operational efficiency.

We previously reported on the release of the Google PowerMeter. The Environmental Sustainability Dashboard will now put Microsoft and Google in competition with each other yet again. The main difference being that the Google PowerMeter will be a free online service to residential homeowners and businesses and Microsoft's Environmental Sustainability Dashboard requires purchasing the Microsoft Dynamics AX product, which is used by businesses only. While the two products differ in their approach, they both share the same goal of being able to analyze energy consumption so that users can save on their utility bills and lower their carbon emmissions.

First Solar announced on Monday that is was buying the assets of rival solar start-up company OptiSolar in a $400 million all stock deal. The deal will give First Solar control of all of OptiSolar's in-progress solar projects, including the much anticipated Topaz Solar Farm in California which will be the world's largest solar farm producing 550 megawatts of electricity. The Topaz project is scheduled to start supplying Pacific Gas & Electric Co (PG&E) with power in 2011.

Despite a slowing economy, First Solar continues to secure deals which is putting it ahead of its competitors. Major California utility companies, such as PG&E and Southern California Edison, have all turned to First Solar to help them reach the mandated goal of 20% of their generated power from renewable sources by the year 2010.

The Energy Star 5.0 specification, which goes into effect July 2009, will specify stricter requirements for computers and their accessories such as power adapters. The specification will also include gaming consoles for the first time. Some highlights of Energy Star 5.0 include:

• 85% minimum efficiency at 50% of rated output.
• 82% minimum efficiency at 20% and 100% of rated output.
• "Sleep modes" which consume less energy.
• Increased power adapter efficiency to 87%.

Some early adopters of the new Energy Star 5.0 specification are companies such as Apple, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens and Lenovo. Check out The Better Planet's list of the top selling green desktop computers and laptops.

A lot of material is wasted with over-sized packaging that isn't necessary. Manufacturers can cut costs by using minimal packaging for their products which not only saves them money, but also reduces the amount of garbage being sent to landfills. When shopping, looks for products with minimal packaging.

Healthmate: Specialty air cleaner with 60 sq. ft. of medical HEPA, certified to remove 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 microns and larger. Contains 15 pounds of granular carbon and zeolite for the adsorption of odors, gasses and chemicals. Stands 23" tall and 14.5" wide. Effectively cleans an area of 1500 sq. ft. (with normal ceiling heights). The HealthMate Plus includes FREE GROUND SHIPPING for order deliveries in the Continental United States! For all other shipping requests please contact Green Nest LLC direct at 888-GRENHOME or 888.473.6466

The launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a satellite which would have measured CO2 emmissions around the globe, ended in failure Tuesday morning as it failed to reach orbit. The NASA satellite which was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California crashed into the ocean near Antartica a few short minutes after take-off. The $273 million satellite would have helped scientists to predict climate changes from CO2 greenhouse gas emmissions. The cause of the crash is currently being investigated.

Samsung Electronics, has unveiled their new environmentally friendly "Blue Earth" cell phone. It will be a full touchscreen phone with a solar panel on the back for charging the phone. The "Blue Earth" will be made from recycled plastic called PCM (which is made from recycled water bottles), will come in post-consumer recycled packaging and will have a low power eco-friendly charger for those cloudy days.

The phone will also sport other neat eco features, such as "Eco Walk", which uses a built-in pedometer to count your steps and calculate how much CO2 emmissions you have saved by walking rather than driving. You can also put the phone in "Eco Mode" which changes setting to save power. "Blue Earth will be available in the second half of 2009.

As noted in our Phantom Load article, cell phone chargers are notorious sources of phantom loads, meaning they are drawing electricity even when they are not in use. In the case of cell phone chargers, this is when the battery is fully charged or when the charger is plugged into an outlet without the phone connected. At the Mobile World Congress, the GSM Association announced a new universal phone charger that will use 50% less standby power. Not only does this reduce power consumption, but it will also mean less garbage in the future. Combining the high rate of innovation causing cell phones to quickly become obsolete, With cell phones using different types of chargers, the cell phone industry has been contributing a large amount of non-recyclable garbage to landfills. The universal charger, which will use a micro-USB connection, will be available later this year and will allow all cell phones to use the same charger.

BrightSource Energy, a privately owned California company backed by investors such as Google.org, announced a 20 year contract with Southern California Edison to provide the utility with 1,300 Megawatts of electricity. This contract shatters the record of the previous largest deal of 553 MW supplied to California's PG&E by Solel.

As part of the project, BrightSource will build seven solar power plants in the desert outside of Los Angeles. The project will utilize BrighSource's "Luz Power Tower" (LPT) technology, which uses mirrors (heliostats) grouped together into a "Solar Power Cluster" to concentrate the sun's rays onto a water tower. The water is quickly heated to around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and the resulting steam is used to power a turbine. Each cluster can generate approximately 33 MW of electricity.

The first of the seven solar power plants (located in Ivanpah, California) will generate 100 MW and is scheduled for completion in 2013. The project is still pending approval by regulators.

Freescale Semiconductor, which is a privately held company based out of Austin, Texas, is a supplier of power management circuits. At the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, Freescale unveiled their new low voltage DC to DC converter integrated circuit which can boost the efficiency of solar panels. The increased efficiency will come from allowing solar panels to operate at lower voltages and this is particularly important when several solar panels are networked together. If some of the solar panels that are linked together are not producing electricity due to lack of sunlight, Freescale's converter will let the other panels continue to operate by letting them run at a lower voltage.

Freescale's power converter will make numerous other solar applications possible in the future because the lower startup threshold of their integrated circuit will make it possible to charge cellphones, laptops and other small devices with a single solar cell.

Freescale's power converter will be available in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2009. For more information, visit the Freescale Semiconductor web site.

Whether a wind turbine is a horizontal axis or vertical axis turbine, it will have four main components: a foundation, tower, nacelle and rotor. Some components, like the foundation are relatively simple, while others, like the nacelle contain high tech instruments, but they are all critical to ensure that the system operates safely and at peak efficiency. Read the full article >>

Google is currently testing its new PowerMeter software, which will allow consumers to monitor their energy usage. PowerMeter, which is currently in the prototype phase, communicates with smart utility meters and other devices so that energy usage can be stored, analyzed and viewed. PowerMeter will be a free service and users will be able to view the data via iGoogle, which is a customizable Google page.

A smart meter, along with a utility company that is part of the pilot program, is required to use PowerMeter. Currently, about 40 million smart meters are installed throughout the world and that number is expected to more than double over the next few years. Part of President Obama's economic stimulus package also includes installing millions of smart meters throughout the United States over the next 3 years.

By viewing detailed energy usage data, consumers will be able to spot trends in their energy consumption and also see how cost effective various energy saving strategies are. The data will be stored securely, with access controlled by the consumer, and Google is also working with the government and other agencies to standardize the data that will be captured so that it will be in a non-proprietary extensible format. Google also plans to make an application programming interface (API) available for PowerMeter so that third-party vendors can develop software applications that can work with PowerMeter.

Tendril, a Colorado based smart grid start-up company, is a provider of demand-side power management technologies. The company's product, Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE), is helping to bridge the gap between power companies' electrical systems and residential homes, by letting the two systems communicate with each other. TREE uses Zigbee based devices connected in an in-home smart grid system along with custom software to let the home network communicate with the utility company.

Tendril offers basic products that let home owners monitor their energy usage, to more advanced solutions that let the power companies communicate with in-home meters. To further the usage of their products, Tendril also offers an application programming interface (API) to their software and devices so that third party companies can develop software that can work with Tendril's products. This is the same concept that is used in software development and with Internet applications, and puts the company in a good position to benefit from the innovations of other companies. By offering an API and following the OpenADR standard, Tendril is simplifying the development of third party applications and shortening the time to market.

What sets Tendril apart from other companies is that it is focusing on the residential homeowner, not the utility companies. TREE allows homeowners to monitor and control their energy usage with a simple installation that they can perform themselves. Utility companies also benefit because it gives them greater insight into energy usage and flexibility with controlling usage.

For more information on Tendril, visit the Tendril website.

While China currently has less than half of the wind power capacity as the world leading United States, the country added 6,300 MW of wind capacity in 2008 to double its total capacity. China currently ranks fourth in total capacity and continues to aggressively add more wind power. They shattered their 5,000 MWs by 2010 goal and are well on their way to reaching their 30,000 MWs by 2030 target.