As one of the components in the Energy360™ suite of services, Smart metering makes it easier for you to achieve your financial and environmental objectives. It shows you what your energy and financial commitments really are, while at the same time reducing your administration. In addition – and potentially even more importantly – it can enable you to make significant energy and carbon reductions.

Enjoy greater cost control
It’s a straightforward task to keep a close eye on your energy spend with Smart metering. It uses the same technology as mobile phones to send readings to us remotely at monthly or daily intervals – you decide which. We’ll apply the readings to your account and send you an accurate bill. You can even choose whether you want the bill immediately or in line with your next billing cycle.

See your energy usage at a glance
Smart metering means you have visibility of your energy usage through an online dashboard. It’s easy to analyze the latest state of play, compare readings and spot significant usage patterns. With these insights, controlling and managing your energy usage becomes very straightforward.

Reduce administrative overheads
The technology behind Smart metering means that you know you’ll pay only for what you use; you don’t have to spend time involved in checking figures months after the event. Smart meters also free your time from discussing your estimates and actual spend with your energy supplier. With these benefits there is no doubt that installing Smart Meters is the smarter way to manage your business energy.

British Gas Business offers a range of products and services tailored to the business market, including fixed price energy contracts, boiler and central heating services, an online business insurance comparison service, gas connections, and smart meter service for new energy supplies, conversions and upgrades.

Customers can visit http://www.Britishgas.co.uk/business for further information.

For one of the first times since its invention, lighting is taking center stage. One of the keys to developing a more energy efficient, “greener” world, lighting technology has become highly efficient. Where as other forward-looking measures to save energy, such as bio-fuels and wind farms, are still developing, effective lighting technology is available now. Yet, 85% of existing buildings are still being lit by dated, inefficient systems.

This is just one of the focuses of Lightfair International 2009, the world’s largest lighting trade show and conference. This event, which kicked off on May 5th in New York City, is focusing not only on the need for more efficient lighting and lighting innovation, but also how the latest U.S. government stimulus package will effect this green initiative and the lighting industry as a whole.

At the center of this discussion is Philips, the world’s largest lighting company and the company leading the way in solid state and other energy efficient lighting, as well as assisting governments around the world in the establishment of minimum lighting standards.

For more on Philips at Lightfair International 2009 please visit inr.mediaseed.tv/Philips_36509.

Smart Grid Technology has been gaining steam in the public eye lately, though many are unsure of what a smart grid really is. To understand what a smart grid is, think along the lines of an efficient system of metering, transporting, and controlling the electrical needs of an entire country and continent. A smart grid is a backbone of energy generation and distribution that is highly efficient and maximizes efficiency while providing inexpensive renewable energy. Programmable thermostats, wireless electric meters, self healing and routing transmission equipment, and advanced energy storage methods for responding to peak usage are all different parts of the smart grid model.

With more and more renewable energy projects being planned, the electrical transmission backbone of the United States is showing its age and losing efficiency. Lost efficiency causes us to use more resources and increases electrical rates for everyone. Even a small increase of 5% in efficiency could reduce emissions in the United States, equal to 20+ million cars and 250 billion pounds of CO2. A healthier environment and atmosphere are just a couple of the things that 21st century smart grid technology can provide. Pooled along renewable energy projects such as wind and solar installations, we can begin to develop a more efficient and reliable method of energy transportation.

Google.org is working to make viewing your home and business electrical usage an easy process. The idea is that Google’s PowerMeter will be able to show the user near real-time energy usage, and help the user reduce that usage during peak times. This will help to bring the smart grid into millions of homes across the United States and further bring out energy infrastructure into the 21st century.

In order to move forward with a reliable smart grid, energy storage will need to be revamped and designed to handle inconsistent forms of renewable energy such as wind and solar. High capacity fuel cells and technologies such as Compressed Air Energy Storage are showing promise in delivering energy when it is needed most at peak usage periods.

Smart Grid Technology has the possibility for the United States to put into practice all of the ideas and technologies that are being developed to increase energy efficiency and help keep the environment healthy. As new technologies emerge, a fully function smart grid would be able to incorporate these advances into the functioning power system while maintaining a high level of efficiency and reliability. 

Samsung’s admirable Blue Earth Dream initiative is to reduce CO2 emissions and save energy at every stage of the product life cycle, creating an effective response to climate change. Cell phone waste is rampant with more than 500 million used cell phones littering landfills. These discarded cell phones contain lead, mercury, beryllium, arsenic, cadmium, and antimony…all of which are toxic when incinerated or leaked into groundwater supplies. This phone eliminates those toxic materials while using post consumer recycled plastic called PCM.

The Blue Earth is defintley worth a look and if you do buy a new phone….please recycle your old phone! Otherwise it ends up in our air and water.

Source: Conservation

Written by Shane Petersen
Windermere Real Estate/Northwest, Inc.
Realtor – Certified EcoBroker
GreenLivingSeattle.com
 TheGreenNW.com

If you happen to have a printer and a webcam, you must check out the interactive demostration that shows a creative and innovative technology that has many practical applications.  Even if you don’t, the video below is pretty slick.

Making use of the natural heat from the earth, geothermal energy is a growing force as a source of renewable energy. It has already been used to provide power to 1.2 million homes in the United States. It has far greater potential and to both heat and provide electricity to homes and is yet to be properly utilized. That’s about to change.

Geothermal energy comes from a variety of sources of heat within the earth: decay of naturally occurring substances within the crust, the earth’s core and movement of continental plates as they slide against and underneath each other. Volcanoes, hot springs and steam vents represent the easily accessible points to this energy but most geothermal energy is trapped under the earths crust and must be accessed by drilling into the resource and harnessing the energy. The thermal energy in the uppermost 6 miles of the earths crust contains 50,000 times the energy of all the worlds gas and oil resources.

What Is Geothermal Energy?

Geothermal energy is the heat stored under the earths surface. In some parts of the world where the earths surface is thin or cracked, steam and molten rock can escape. These are usually locations of high seismic activity such as earthquakes and volcanoes. If water finds its way into these cracks, it becomes heated and may come to the surface as geysers, fumaroles, hot springs and mud pots.

Parts of New Zealand, Japan, USA and Europe have high geothermal activity. High grade geothermal energy such as geysers, hot dry rocks, mud pots and fumaroles is used to generate electricity. Geothermal energy can also be used as a heating source, for example in Iceland hot water is brought to the surface through a bore , then sent through insulated pipes into homes and radiator panels which provide heat. Over 80% of homes in Iceland are heated this way.

Although geothermal energy doesnt pollute the air with greenhouse gases, there are other environmental concerns about its use. Scientists are not sure how the long-term use of this resource could affect our underground water supplies. Some geothermal tourist attractions at Rotorua in New Zealand have already suffered a decline in surface activity due to the draw-off of geothermal fluid from the underground reservoir by domestic and commercial uses.

Geothermal energy can be broken down into 4 main types Geothermal energy can be broken down into 4 main types geopressured, magma, hydrothermal and hot dry rock.

Hydrothermal

This is the only type of geothermal energy that is currently producing commercial quantities of electricity and is derived from hot water and steam formed in porous or fractured rock at relatively moderate depths from 100 metres to 5 kilometres.

The hot water and steam come from the intrusion of molten magma into the earths crust or the deep circulation and heating of groundwater through faults and fractures.

To generate electricity, hot water at temperatures ranging from 180 250 degrees Celsius is brought from the underground reservoir to the surface through production wells and is flashed to steam in special vessels by release of pressure. The steam is separated from the liquid and fed into a turbine engine which turns a generator. Spent geothermal water is returned back to the reservoir to help maintain reservoir pressure.

Geopressured

Geopressured energy is derived from hot, pressurised waters containing dissolved methane, trapped at depths of three to six kilometres in sedimentary formations. The water temperature ranges from 90C to 200C.

Three forms of energy can be captured from geopressured sources chemical energy from burning the dissolved methane, hydraulic energy from the high pressure, and thermal energy from the hot water.

Hot Dry Rock

Under certain conditions granite at a depth of 3 to 5 kilometers under the ground can get to 250C. Unlike hydrothermal resources, the fractures and faults required to conduct water to the surface are not present, therefore water must be pumped into the rock at high pressure to create an artificial underground reservoir of steam or hot water.

A number of development projects continue into attempting to make use of hot dry rock to create electricity but factors such as cost and questions about resistance of the reservoir to flow, water loss and thermal drawdown remain. Costs are coming down though and geothermal technology in general will improve enough to make hot dry rock economically feasible.

Magma

Magma is the molten or partially molten rock that is found at depths between three and 10 kilometres beneath the Earths crust and reaches temperatures up to 1200C. While some magma resources are at accessible depths, a practical means of extracting energy directly from magma has yet to be developed, instead magma is used indirectly by exploiting the water it has heated. Magma is only accessible where volcanic activity or tectonic plate movement occurs.

The Future Prospect of Geothermal Energy in the US

An exciting new development in the future of geothermal energy in the United States has just been announced by the Department of the Interior who have promised to make 190 million acres of federal land available for geothermal power development. This is good news because the proposed land includes no environmentally sensitive areas such as national parks or designated wilderness areas.

By the year 2015 it is estimated that electricity from geothermal power production in the United States can reach 5,500 MW thanks to this new initiative. Its a positive move that will promote a form of renewable energy that has been used for years, but perhaps not to its full potential.

Source:  Fumaroles

Today, the Worldwatch Institute published an article detailing a decline in offshore drilling opposition in sharp contrast to the year 1982 when the drilling moratorium was enacted. Further expansions by George H. W. Bush in 1990 extended the moratorium to include the coasts of Florida, California and New England. With the presidency of Clinton in 1998, the ban was again extended until the year 2012.

During this time, the United States government has went as far as to buy back drilling leases off the coasts of Florida from such companies as Chevron, Conoco, and Murphy. In 2002, the Bush Administration paid $115 million to these companies to drop the offshore claims they held at the request of Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Further settlements were proposed to entities such as the Collier family to relinquish mineral rights held in the Everglades. The government offered $350 million in tax deductions and $120 million in cash for mineral rights that the National Park Services and Department of Interior estimated at $20 million and $43 million, respectively. Besides, opening a few areas within the Gulf of Mexico in 2006, expansion of offshore drilling leases has been mostly stagnant.

Recent oil prices and focus on acquiring less foreign oil has begun to change the consensus on expansion of U.S. offshore drilling. Reports by Rasmussen show that 67% of voters favor offshore drilling while 64% feel more drilling will lower high gas prices. It seems clear to why the majority of Americans now support an increase in offshore drilling. Effects on the pocketbook speak very loudly, but this is not the only reason for the change in attitude towards the long held view of offshore drilling, being environmentally unfriendly.

Lumped alongside the bill to lift the offshore drilling ban, are a few healthy nuggets of environmental stewardship. Consumer tax credits for fuel-efficient and clean energy vehicles, renewable energy tax credits, development of alternative fuel sources, and mass transit funding are just a few of the environmental benefits outlined in a plan that many hope will see a vote during this year’s session. Though most environmental groups still oppose lifting the offshore drilling ban, many feel the added benefits are so beneficial to providing clean energy and healthy environment, that a compromise can be made. If a vote is not exercised before the conclusion of Congress this fall, any decision will be left till next year while also including the next President of the United States.

Though Republicans do not feel the Democrats’ plan goes far enough to expand new energy sources, past attitudes of “no new leases”, has swayed with restrictions requiring current leases be explored further, and the added tax incentives for renewable energy energy sources. Safer drilling practices, higher oil prices, and increased pressure on providing an energy independent America, may soon make new offshore drilling a reality along thousands of acres of U.S. coastline.

The earth’s most abundant resource, and still we have trouble finding adequate clean drinking water for nearly 1 billion people worldwide. Climate forecasts can play a role in planning for meteorological events that contaminate and pollute water reserves. With pollution levels rising and frequent flooding throughout the world, advanced warning and proper monitoring could help alleviate some of the growing problems of the water management needed to provide clean accessible water to all.

2 September 2008 – The chief of the United Nations meteorological agency today called for weather forecasts to play a greater role in planning for economic development and poverty reduction because of the impact climate change has on water resources.

Michel Jarraud, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told the World Water Congress that the agricultural, energy, tourism and health sectors are among those most affected by the impact of climate change due to drought, deterioration in water quality, increased run-off and an increase in the salinization of ground water as a result of rising sea levels.

“Mainstreaming climate change in decision-making processes will therefore be central to all development and poverty alleviation efforts,” he said at the meeting, held in Montpellier, France.

Source: un.org

In other water news, water management corruption in impoverished nations leads to a further deteriorating system for providing water to those that are in desperate need. Corruption is said to increase the price for water services by 10-30% worldwide. Many of the people hurt the most by this are those cannot afford basic necessities, let alone the price that comes after bribes and corruption has ran its part.

Africa’s largest water transfer effort, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, plans to supply water to the industrial heartland of South Africa and to generate energy for impoverished Lesotho. The multi-billion dollar investment offers economic growth and greater water security for underserved communities in the region.

The project also presents water officials with countless opportunities to become rich on the side. In 2002, Lesotho courts sentenced the project’s chief executive to prison for accepting bribes from 18 multinational companies that were vying for construction contracts.

The Lesotho case is a rare example of justice. Across the globe, the water sector is particularly prone to corruption, and the world’s poor are usually the ones who suffer the costs.

The pervasive nature of dirty water politics is blamed for much of the stalled progress in improving access to water resources in this year’s Global Corruption Report. It is the first report to assess how corruption affects the water sector worldwide.

The widespread corruption noted in the report reflects the large challenge of solving the world’s water problems. As growing populations compete for shrinking water resources, the opportunities for corruption will increase and the damaging effects will become more severe.

Source: worldwatch.org

The New York Times has published an article on an aging power grid and the potential setbacks to wind energy and other sources of renewable energy.

Current electric transmission lines are not able to handle the load produced my massive wind farms such as the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in New York.  The 200 turbine strong wind farm, is being forced to shut down production at times to cope with fees that are associated with pumping too much electrical current into the power grid.  This bottle neck is limiting the advances of wind power and is one of the major drawbacks slowing down the implementation of a nation wide renewable energy grid. 

While wind turbines located in places like the Mid-West can generate much more power than the same turbines placed on the east coast, there is not yet a reliable way of transmitting the electricity needed across many states.  Since control of power grids is generally left to state governments, there is little incentive to provide better transmission to out-of-state facilities.  Within each state, transmission lines may be owned by many different companies, causing any upgrades to be a painstaking process.  The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allowed the U.S. government to extend approval of transmission lines in the event that states are not providing upgrades and maintenance, through this has led to little direct expansion and infrastructure upgrades, especially in relation to peak supplies of inconsistent energy sources such as wind power.

The issue of transmitting electricity throughout the United States is something that must be recognized and remedied before further goals of expanding our renewable energy base can be implemented further.  The problems facing the aging power grid are by no means new.  In 2001, North American Electric Reliability Council, was advising congress on the problems facing the current power infrastructure.  Seven years later we are still facing the same concerns but on a much larger scale.  Incentives for renewable energy are great, but the United States must realize that it means nothing if transporting electricity can not be carried out in an efficient, reliable manner.

Companies such as MidAmerican Energy, which happens to lead the country in generation of wind power, and American Electric Power are making steps to help improve transmission lines that will carry some of the renewable energy that is generated throughout the U.S.  This proposal shows that energy companies have something to gain by working together to transmit the power that they are producing.  Without partnerships like these, future renewable energy projects can not proceed at a profitable level. 

While, further development in technologies such as Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) and fuel cells, may allow temporary storage of electricity generated by renewable energy sources, transporting energy from state to state is still a needed upgrade to contend with the U.S. goal of energy independence.

Yesterday, PSEG Global LLC, announced a partnership with energy storage expert, Dr. Michael Nakhamkin, to form Energy Storage and Power LLC in order to promote a new generation of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology.  CAES is an innovative process of trapping energy generated by nearly any mass electrical generation technique, and storing it in the form of compressed air, in reservoirs secured within the earth. 

CAES technology functions by compressing air during off-peak hours, that is then pumped underground into air tight mines and reservoirs.  Later during peak energy consumption periods, the compressed air is released and heated using small amounts of natural gas to power a turbine which creates electricity.  This process removes the need to use natural gas to both heat and compress the air during peak periods.  Electrical rates can be better balanced to deal with hot summers and cold winters. 

More balanced electrical rates are not the only benefit to using this technology.  Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, can be used to initially compress the air before it is pumped into the ground.  This gives the electrical grid more freedom from the disadvantages of the intermittent processes of generating electricity from solar and wind technologies.  Energy can thus be stored for future use during the night in the case of solar plants and in periods of calm in relation to wind farms. 

The drawback to Compressed Air Energy Storage currently lies in the fact that it still contributes to emissions by requiring natural gas to heat the air being pumped from the reservoirs.  Though this amount of natural gas is smaller than traditional gas power plants, CAES can not claim to be a true environmentally friendly technology, just yet.  Since natural gas is a finite resource, this is not a viable long term solution in its current state.

PSEG and Dr. Nakhamkin hope to build upon past successes of CAES and develop a technology that is scalable to the current needs of cities and renewable resources projects.  With future innovations, it may be possible to utilize this technology in conjunction with alternative energy sources to create a truly emission free, renewable source of cheap energy.

This technology could prove to be a beneficial addition to areas such as Iowa that already generate large amount of wind energy. Current project plans of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities hope to design a CAES system with a 200MW capacity fed from a 100MW wind farm. This could prove wind power is a viable resource and reliable technology to further promote.

Found on DesMoinesRegister.com
The green slime or pond scum that comes from algae could be valuable after all. Renewable Energy Group of Ames says it has developed a process that takes the oil from algae and turns it into biodiesel fuel.

“Algae oil would give us a third option as a biodiesel feedstock after soybean oil and animal fats,” said Daniel Oh, chief operating officer of Renewable Energy Group.

That would be a breakthrough of seismic proportions for the biodiesel industry. The soybean oil that has been the basic oil feedstock for biodiesel has doubled in price in the last 18 months, robbing operating biodiesel plants of their profitability and forcing shutdowns or delays at other facilities.

Researchers around the nation are trying to skim energy from algae.

“People who have made fun of green slime and pond scum won’t do it in the future, when they find out not only how valuable the oil is but also the byproducts,” said Jimmy Simpson, an algae researcher at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield…….

Read the FULL story at the Des Moines Register.

Mega search engine Google.com, today announced an investment of $10.25 million in advancing the development of green technologies. Google is supporting a technology called, Enhanced Geothermal Systems, to help meet its goal of providing enough green energy to power a city the size of San Francisco. Through Google’s philanthropic entity Google.org, an initiative dubbed “Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal” has been laid out to make this goal a reality.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems generates energy by pumping cool water 2-3 miles into a reservoir lying on top of dry, hot basement rock. The water is then pumped back to the surface at which point in condenses and creates powerful steam that is used to propel turbines. After the steam cools, it is re-injected back into the reservoir to begin the process again. This process allows energy extraction in areas that do not have natural steam pockets and hot flowing water.

The investments pledged by Google will go to help fund 2 companies and a university working on the development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems. $6.25 million will go to AltaRock Energy, Inc, which will work to reduce the cost and efficiency of EGS technology. Potter Drilling, Inc. has been given $4 million to design drilling tools capable of penetrating deeper and stronger rock. Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab has been awarded a $489,521 grant to update geothermal maps and study geothermal resources in North America.

Google has recently been involved in many steps to reduce its environmental footprint and promote green technology. Data centers housing Google servers, are being designed to cut the energy needed for cooling to 50% of similar installations. The idea is not only to save money, but to create a self sufficient business model that promotes clean energy. This initiative is evident in the production of a 1.6 megawatt solar energy plant in Mountain View, California. Other projects include the Climate Savers Computing Initiative to create more efficient computers and servers, and the RechargeIT initiative aimed at developing electric vehicles and infrastructure.

Though $10.25 million may seem like a small amount to a power house company like Google, it shows considerable attention is being provided to changing the way we look at natural resources and energy generation. Google has the resources and intelligence to begin to leave a legacy that varies far from just creating one of the most popular websites of all time. Funding and support by Google leaders will help to attract more corporations with the potential for a green technology revolution. Though energy change falls on the hands of every citizen, major projects can not be completed without the funding and backing of large groups such as Google.

For Google Earth lovers, a map overlay has been provided by Google to show current distribution of geothermal resources. (Must have Google Earth)

Google has also provided an EGS policy brief to outline what the U.S. Government can do to help encourage the production and continued innovation of this technology.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems on YouTube

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the United States is now the leader in wind energy production. Wind energy in 2008 has risen and current wind power capacity is rated at 19,549MW, an increase of 2,726MW from 2007. Germany currently has a wind power capacity of about 23,000MW, but generates less power due to stronger winds in the U.S.

The AEWA also projects that by end of year 2008, some 7,500MW of wind power capacity will be brought online in the United States. This projected capacity demonstrates a 45% increase from 2007. Recent fossil fuel prices and tax incentives have provided a prime environment for wind energy related projects.

One issue causing wind projects to be rushed before the end of 2008, is the uncertainty of federal tax incentives and rebates that are set to expire late 2008. Without these credits, the future of new wind energy projects is in jeopardy. Recent jobs and businesses catering to the wind power industry will have to be scaled back without the benefits experienced in 2008, extended throughout 2009. Though, financial burdens will first be absorbed by the wind industry, these high costs will be passed on to consumers, and create a recess of clean energy production.

AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher stated, “At a time when unemployment is at a 4-year high and the economy needs every stimulus it can get, a rapid extension of the credit should be on any economic priority list for Congress.”

Congress must look to clean energy solutions to help rebuild an economy that threatens the livelihoods of millions of Americans. In addition to providing jobs, wind power can help secure America’s Independence from foreign sources of electricity. The United States has an opportunity to lead the world into new innovating ways of producing energy and electricity, provided U.S. leaders provide incentives to expand the renewable energy infrastructure.