Expression GreenExpressing the need for a healthy green lifestyle

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(Photo: Jim Motavalli)

NISKAYUNA, NEW YORK – We hear a lot of talk about the “smart grid,” and it sounds high-tech and cool, not to mention just around the corner. A look at how General Electric is preparing for this brave new future was both exhilarating and sobering.

Exhilarating, because it promises to give consumers considerable control over their energy efficient destiny. We’ll be able to order our energy-conscious appliances to run only when the time-dependent rates are low, and switch to half-power when peak use sends those rates soaring. We’ll see our real-time power use displayed on “smart meters” and home energy managers. We’ll plug in our cars, and let the grid decide on an optimal charging time.

Sobering because it isn’t here yet, and won’t be tomorrow either. There are 140 million electric meters in use in the U.S., and just making them “smart” will take at least 10 years, GE officials said. Replacing all the transmission lines that make our grid “dumb” — i.e., unable to move wind power generated in North Dakota to, say, New York, where there’s a big population waiting to use it — will take much longer and cost much more. Estimates of total cost range from $100 billion to $2 trillion.

The Obama administration’s $11 billion in smart grid stimulus funding certainly helps, but even the most optimistic estimate sees a relatively long timetable and huge investment for the full vision to be realized.

Dialing in the smart grid at GE in Niskayuna.
(Photo: Jim Motavalli / iStockPhoto)

While at GE, I watched a technician simulate what it would be like for the grid to take control of my power use, and visited the “kitchen of the future,” a row of cutaway appliances (with neon tubes substituting for stove burners) at General Electric’s Global Research HQ in Niskayuna, New York. A computer monitor would allow me to cut my dryer’s electric use from 4.5 to 2.5 kilowatts when rates spike (and increasing drying time in the process, of course).

GE unveiled what it called the “Net Zero Energy Home” concept, but it didn’t say whether it would actually build one for us to play with.

An Ipsos poll commissioned by the company shows that three out of five people would “change their electricity consumption behavior” after the smart grid was introduced, because they could see how, for example, leaving a light on affects their bill. Some 73% of respondents (in the U.S. and the UK) wanted to learn more, and half of Americans (a third in the UK) were willing to pay more per month for smart grid benefits).

Electric vehicles (EVs) are also part of the smart grid, of course. In fact, its appearance appears to be neatly timed to coincide with the first plug-in hybrid cars — which will mostly be charged during off-peak hours. According to GE’s Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, charging an EV uses as much power as your whole house is likely to consume in a day. If every plug-in hybrid owner came home and plugged in at 6 p.m., grid disaster could soon ensue.

EV startup companies, from Aptera to Bright Automotive, are equipping their cars with software to interact with the smart grid when it’s available. My guess is the cars will be on the road before the grid is ready.

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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

Now I am not talking about a vegitarian diet…I’m talking about an ORGANIC diet! 

I know for a fact that in the last 3 years, organic foods have really hit the market hard. Almost everyone of us could look through our kitchens and find organic dairy, produce, or meat products (along with everything in between).

With organic foods and products flooding the market, the idea of leading a healthy life is no longer just an idea…it’s a reality…for anyone! I know for a fact that my overall level of feeling healthy, has increased dramatically since I started replacing what I eat with organic substitutes.

I never would have thought that what I had been eating and buying from the store for years, was actually playing a part in my over all health…even though I was doing everything I could to lead an above average healthy life. Due to the addition of healthy organic foods into my life…I feel I am finally reaching my standard of a healthy life.

 Non organic foods contain so many things that in my opinion are harmful to our bodies. Things like non-organic chemical based fertilizers, pesticides, and herbacides put into the mix of the growth process with all of our normal produce from the grocery store. Then you have the wonderful advancement in our food production… GMO ’s (genetically modified organisms) which involve the process of modifying the genetic structure of what we eat!

 I’m sorry I just want food…I don’t feel that it is right to have all of these harmful chemicals introduced to us via what we eat. We eat to live and be healthy…not to line the pockets of mass food producers….bottom line.

I know eating organic and living a healthier ‘green’ life seems like it is somewhat out of reach due to the cost factor…but it is a must to really think about you and your family’s overall health. I’ve had to cut back on some of my family’s luxuries like going out to eat all of the time…but I know for a fact that I am dodging the bullet when it comes to the exposure to harsh chemicals and genetically modified foods. And not only that…I know for a fact that when we sit down for dinner every night…my family is gaining the right nutrients they need to live a healthy ‘Green’ life.

Think about the following the next time you go shopping for you and/or your family:

- Your buying food that has been introduced to chemicals

- The safety of your children…because it is a fact that children ARE more vulnerable to everything (this also includes the safety of people over 65)

- The organic produce, meat, and dairy products that are available to you, more than likely traveled  half the distance to your grocery store than your non organic foods (meaning they are fresher). Not only that, they are normally produced by MUCH smaller farms.

- In reality organics really are not more expensive. I know the price tags are higher(which with conventional produce this can be a sign of underpaid workers) but there are many hidden costs in conventional foods including: billions of dollars in federal agriculture and energy subsides favoring big business, chemical regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal, and environmental damage (and the cleanup involved). These are not necessary and are harmful to us and our planet.

- Organic foods TASTE BETTER and have higher level of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial nutrients.

- Finally the organic foods you see, as you browse though the grocery store, are required (in order to be certified USDA Organic) to be free of: GMOs, rBGH or rBST (growth hormones in dairy products), antibiotics, and the arsenal of chemicals that are introduced to conventional non-organic foods. 

I hope this post hits home a little bit and brings you and your family closer to a ‘greener’…healthier lifestyle.

Thank you for reading and don’t stop expressing your green!

You wouldn’t guess that a bit of green slime could do so much. But from from food to fuel, PetroAlgae, Inc. seems to have thought of everything. This Florida-based renewable energy company has developed a technology in which algae and other microorganisms produce fuel to feed cars, animals, and even humans…and say they can do it cheaper than anyone else.

With the addition of a few basic nutrients, algae gather most of their energy from the sun. The result is a protein and carbohydrate-rich slime that can be converted to a variety of products. First, the protein is extracted and processed into animal feed or blended into human food products. PetroAlgae actually lists one of its products as “meal replacer”, conjuring images of our new Utopian future in which chewing is obsolete.

After the protein extraction, what remains is a “lipid-carbohydrate mash”. PetroAlgae claims that this material can be sent directly to a petroleum refinery and processed into diesel, gas, or jet fuel without the need to retro-fit any of the refinery’s conventional equipment. Algae cultivation requires very little square-footage relative to conventional crops, can be grown on non-arable land, and consumes up to twice its weight in carbon dioxide as it grows.

In addition to algae, PetroAlgae draws from a large pool of microorganisms including diatoms, cyanobacteria, and micro-angiosperms (tiny flowering plants). While exact species remain unnamed, the company conscientiously notes that they use only species indigenous to the region in which a production facility will be installed. They have already begun licensing their technology to commercial facilities in Asia, and are poised to complete contracts with the U.S. and several European countries this year. Each licensee is promised the potential to produce 1.5 million barrels of transportation fuel per year, or the equivalent of 1.4 billion miles for a single truck. If PetroAlgae’s assertions hold true, the cost of fuel production is essentially paid for by the revenue from food and feed products, meaning that their microbe-derived fuels will remain competitive with fossil fuels, at any price.

PetroAlgae is in the business of licensing its technology rather than building the algae plants itself. It already has deals with algae farms in India and China and is currently working on deals in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Via BioFuels Digest

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With all the sun that hits our home’s roof, we’ve got to do something with it, right?  The good news is solar panels are becoming more popular and more affordable.

Solar panels, or cells, are photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into electricity.  The photovoltaic cells are made of a semi-conductor material, such as silicon. When the sunlight strikes, the energy is partially absorbed into the semi-conductor material, shaking the electrons loose, which forces them to flow in a current, yielding the energy to power your house.

The cost for home solar panels ranges from $8,000-$30,000, depending on what kind of system you want.  The least expensive systems are for smaller units that aren’t looking to be completely, “off-grid.”  Being off-grid means that you are completely independent, and if your solar fails, you don’t have the option to use conventional energy.

The more expensive systems are for large houses that use a lot of energy and want to be entirely energy independent.  While many people will want to have energy independence, there are a few incentives for staying on the grid.

For instance, when you have more energy than you need, you have the option to sell your excess energy back to the electric company.  Alternatively, if you live in a cloudy area, it might make more sense for you to use solar energy only part of the time.

You will need to have a professional come out to access your home.  One of the aspects of your home that’s evaluated is the orientation of your roof.  Solar cells typically need to be on a south-facing roof with no shade. Shading as little as one little square of your solar unit can cut power in half.

The “smart grid” is a hot topic these days: it’s in the press a lot, and gets tons of play in Washington D.C. However, the average citizen is still pretty hazy on the details.

Many people confuse the smart grid with smart meters; which are the smart grid’s most noticeable aspect, but only one piece of the puzzle. It’s all really pretty intuitive, once you see it on paper.

Definition

The term “smart grid” is an umbrella term, defining the modernization of the electricity infrastructure in the U.S. It will take a decade or more to fully revamp the grid with the latest technologies. It’s a project the Department of Energy (DOE) compares to the national interstate highway system and the Internet, both of which took decades to develop.

Our electricity grid includes several components: generation, transmission, distribution, and end consumption. Electricity storage is currently inefficient and costly, but storage may be a major component of the system in the future. The “grid” refers to the portion of the electricity infrastructure between the power plant and end-user: transmission, distribution, and storage.

Smart meters and other advanced metering infrastructure and smart devices which communicate digitally, more efficient transmission lines, software allowing households and businesses to voluntarily reduce demand at certain times, and energy storage technology are all components of the smart grid.

According to the DOE, our electricity infrastructure includes “9,200 electric generating units with more than 1,000,000 megawatts of generating capacity connected to more than 300,000 miles of transmission lines.”

The National Academy of Engineers called it: “The most significant engineering achievement of the 20th Century.” Every time we flick on a light switch or surf the Web, we have the electricity grid to thank.

Motivation for an upgrade

If the current grid is so great, why should we change it?

New technology:

It’s said that while Alexander Graham Bell would not recognize today’s communications infrastructure, Thomas Edison would be very familiar with our electricity infrastructure. We have the technology to digitize the electricity grid to increase communication between its various components, we just need to implement it.

Efficiency:

It’s estimated that $150-$180 billion are lost every year in the U.S. due to blackouts and poor quality electricity. 7% of energy is lost in transmission and distribution. Making the grid just 5% more efficient would be equivalent to permanently eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars. Part of modernizing the electricity infrastructure would be realizing potential efficiency gains.

Demand response:

A big goal of the smart grid is to level out demand. Currently, there are certain time of the day and certain periods of the year when demand spikes — peak demand episodes — requiring excess capacity to deal with those rare occurrences.  In fact, according to the DOE, “10% of all generation assets and 25% of distribution infrastructure are required less than 400 hours per year, roughly 5% of the time.”

By informing users of real-time electricity prices — which rise as demand rises — the smart grid will allow consumers to level out demand and remove the need for many excess power plants and a lot of extra infrastructure.

Distributed power generation:

Large-scale implementation of solar and wind power — above 20% of total electricity — will require advanced energy management techniques, according to the European Wind Energy Association.

With 30 states having developed and adopted renewable energy standards requiring certain percentages of electricity to come from renewable sources by certain dates (California’s being the most ambitious: 20% by 2010), this will become an important issue in the near future.

“Islanding” is another important result of distributed power generation. When power is cut off to a region because of a natural disaster, military/terrorist attack, or any other reason that region would be able to sustain some of its basic electricity needs (hospitals, grocery stores, etc.) through local energy sources such as solar panels and already charged electric vehicles.

Environment:

Electricity generation is responsible for 40% of CO2 emitted in the U.S., twice as much as transportation. By allowing for more renewable sources, increasing efficiency, and reducing peak demand the smart grid will help reduce our carbon footprints significantly.

Google has been releasing information on their smart meter management software called PowerMeter little by little, but we’ve yet to see a fully-completed product.  Microsoft is hoping to steal some of their thunder by releasing a beta version of their energy management software, Hohm, this week and, at least appearance-wise, it has Google beat.

The web-based software allows users to monitor and control their energy use by logging into the Hohm website with their Windows Live ID and zip code.  Based on that information, the software makes estimates of their home energy use and allows the user to enter specific information by answering any or all of 180 questions, with each answer making the numbers more accurate.

So far the software is only available for use by a few utilities – Xcel Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy – with more in line to start using it soon.  If you happen to live in one of the areas serviced by the list above, your energy use information will be even more comprehensive with historical data available from the utility.

The software will be smart meter-compatible as soon as any of its utility partners begin using them.

Eventually, the software will be used in connection with electric vehicle charging and grid demand management, but those more deluxe features will likely come with a price.  Microsoft has made clear that this software is a product like any other they’ve created and as it’s further developed, cost will start being a factor.  For now, at least while it’s in beta, the energy management tool is free.

via Earth2Tech