2008: A Banner Year for Wind Energy

Wind farm near Ellsworth, IL- David B. Vernon eScapesPhoto.com

As our newspapers are filled with gloomy economic report day after day, it is easy to lose sight of the accomplishments we have been able to achieve in the past year. Renewable energy development had a banner year in 2008 elevating the United States to become the largest producer of wind power in the world. Recently, Kathy Belyeu, manager of industry information services at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) wrote an article in the February 2009 issue of Windletter documenting the remarkable strides we have made.

Some highlights:

"In 2008, the U.S. wind industry activated over 8,300 MW of new capacity, swelling the U.S. cumulative total by 50% to over 25,000 MW."

The new turbines are estimated to produce over 7 billion kWh. The equivalent of the electrical demand of 7 million average US households.

The Capricorn Ridge and Buffalo Gap had phases added in 2008, increasing their total capacity to 662.5 MW and 523.3 MW, respectively.

Aside from these large projects getting larger, smaller community wind farms also achieved a significant rise in capacity. Just like PSP blog's favorite at Bureau Valley High.

"There are now seven states in the "Over-1 [GW] Club," with Colorado and Oregon joining the top five states of Texas, Iowa, California, Minnesota and Washington."

Building on the resounding successes in 2008 will be more difficult in the credit choked atmosphere in 2009. However, future development will by no means cease. As much as 4000 MW of capacity is scheduled to begin construction, due to projects that were delayed in 2008 because the wind energy production tax credit was not continued until the end of the year. The AWEA also believes the stimulus package that was recently passed in Congress will allow additional projects to come on line in 2009.

The numbers may be down in 2009 versus 2008, but progress is still being achieved at a rapid pace.

Article found via RenewableEnergyWorld.com.

More information on the American Wind Energy Association.

GeoBulb II - LED on the Market

GeoBulb II is on the market as a direct replacement for a traditional 60 watt incandescent lamp. Their website claims a 30,000 hour life span (compared to just 1,000 for an incandescent and 2,500 for a CFL). The light bulb gives off the same amount of light while using just 7.5 watts which comes out to around $3 a year in electricity costs. An incandescent would be closer to $30 without including the cost of replacing a burned out bulb. There is no hazardous material (unlike the CFL which has a trace amount of mercury). All this sounds too good to be true right?

Well, it is true. However there's a catch. This bulb costs $120. At such a price it would seem like there would be no way to justify this purchase, but if you look at the numbers it's clear. According to their website, over the 30,000 hour life span the GeoBulb II costs (electricity + initial price tag) $147. During that same span an incadescent will run you $243. But today, the solution for cost effectiveness is the CFL which only costs $107 over 30,000 hours. When the price of the LED comes down to $80 it will be competitive over its life span with the CFL.

The lesson here is that despite the extremely high initial cost this one light bulb can save you over $100. That's one light bulb at a price that is surely to come down. Imagine all the light bulbs you have ever seen and multiply that by 100. That is the price and energy savings that will come with a dramatic shift to LED lighting.

This dramatic shift will not come without consumers. It took the CFL a few years after being introduced into the market until it was successful on the shelf next to an incandescent. Research and development money will need to continue to work towards lowering the initial cost of an LED. It is not hard to believe that this will happen, and if the price tag of the GeoBulb can get to $5, the total cost of the bulb would be a miniscule $32 (over $200 savings off an incandescent).

Check out GeoBulb here.
Savings comparison chart here.

Stimulus Tax Credit Guide

As we all have heard, the stimulus package has tons of tax credits for energy efficiency home improvements. However, I don't have the time to look through the 1000 pages of complicated legislative language to figure out what's exactly in there. Thankfully, Treehugger has has done the work for us. The website has compiled a slideshow outlining the various available credits and their criterium to get the full benefit.

Check it out here.

New Smart Grid video at GE

There is a great new video over at ge.com about their smart meter pilot program with Oklahoma Gas and Electric. It has some really interesting interviews with people who are on the program. The changes all come from one little in home display that tracks how much people are using and how it much costs.

I included Google at the top because currently the two companies have teamed up to lobby the knuckleheads in Washington to learn more about the aspects of this type of investment.

www.ge.com - The video should come up on their homepage. Its called "Building a Smarter Grid."

Google.org Blog - Google and GE go to Washington

A Conversation with SolarJohn

SolarJohn is a Power Smart Pricing participant from Fairview Heights in the Metro East area. His home is equipped with solar panels, and he writes a blog that is a great resource for both homeowners looking to install renewable energy and for those who already have. He provides excellent insight into how to get the most out of your system with smart and simple solutions.

He is constantly looking for the next breakthrough on lowering his costs and improving his efficiency. Especially in the areas of integrating his system with Power Smart Pricing's hourly rate. I recently asked him a couple questions to expand on how and why he chose Power Smart Pricing.

Why did you choose to sign up for Power Smart Pricing?

1. To save money. I have solar panels on my roof. I can use solar-provided electricity when utility rates are high, and use electricity from the grid when rates are low.

2. I want to avoid using electricity from coal-fired power plants as much as possible. Doing so is harmful to the environment, and is not sustainable. I want to do my part to protect the planet, and to conserve natural resources for future generations.

What do you enjoy most about Power Smart Pricing?

I like knowing how much I'm going to be charged in advance so that I can adjust my energy use accordingly. I sometimes charge batteries when rates are low, and use electricity from those batteries when rates are high.

I not only monitor the amount I pay each month for electricity, I also carefully watch the amount (kwh) I use. I save money because I've signed up for Power Smart pricing, but by monitoring my actual use I can tell if my efforts benefit the environment.

Switching to CFL lights, and purchasing energy-efficient appliances, are some of the other things I've done recently to reduce my electricity usage. It's easier to stay motivated when I can see the results of my actions.

I also blog about my acitvities (http://solarjohn.blogspot.com), hoping to inspire others to do similar things. If we all do a little, it will help a lot.

I encourage everyone to go to SolarJohn's blog. Make sure to read through the archives to get some really interesting stuff. His ability to explain the steps he his taking is highly motivating for homeowners who are looking to save money and help preserve the environment's natural resources for future generations. John, thanks for the contribution.

The Electricity Productivity Gap

The Rocky Mountain Institute has issued a new report entitled Assessing the Electric Productivity Gap and the U.S. Efficiency Opportunity (pdf). The report analyzes the size of electricity productivity gap between the states. Electric productivity is the ratio of gross domestic product to electricity consumption. The highest performing states include New York, California, and Connecticut. RMI claims that if the lowest performing states like Kentucky and Mississippi closed this gap, "30 percent of current electrical consumption could be curtailed nationwide."

This report shows that this gap is the most significant near term method to improving our nation's energy efficiency. The next step, according to RMI, is to determine how to achieve this with the greatest cost effectiveness.

Check out all the results with this great web tool.

For more info click here.

Interesting Design Concept

We love our Price Light. It provides great information with a remarkably simple medium. For those of you who are new to the glowing orb, the Price Light glows a different color that corresponds to the current price of electricity for Ameren's Power Smart Pricing program.

The device is small and handy, and it is a great conversation piece. However we are always looking for the "next" Price Light. That's where this new design concept comes in. Rocco Avallone submitted his energy consumption display idea to Yanko Design called "Our Energy Information."

The device can be placed on the wall like a light switch, and it provides a ton of useful information. You can set the display to show your household usage, the current price of electricity, and your consumption compared to your neighbors. The best feature is the innovative and creative displays. It reminds me of the Price Light with its high level of information you can get from a simple glance.

Here are more pictures from Yanko Design. Good luck getting this developed Rocco!

Google Announces Smart Grid Initiative

Up until today, the companies driving innovation and competition in the Smart Grid field were smaller start ups like Tendril, Greenbox, Control4, and numerous others. Google's endeavor begins with the announcement of PowerMeter which will become an open platform for energy information.

The device will display the information being picked up from your home's smart meter. As their slogan indicates, "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." This quote from one of the Google employees testing the prototype shows the energy and cost saving potential of this type of product.

"By monitoring my energy use, I figured out that the bulk of my electricity was caused by my two 20-year-old fridges, my incandescent lights and my pool pump, which was set to be on all the time. By replacing the refrigerators with new energy-efficient models, the lights with CFLs and setting the pool pump to only run at specified intervals, I've saved $3,000 in the past year and I am on track to save even more this year! " - Russ, Hardware Engineer

Its current form lacks some of the sophistication that the other start ups have developed, but the Google brand and reliability will be quite appealing to consumers and vendors (utilities) alike. Although Google has been talking with prospective clients, this announcement officially declares their entrance into the field. The timing also coincides with the Stimulus Plan that is moving through Congress that will have money designated for Smart Grid expansion.

For an interesting nugget of what might be next on the horizon: Google is set to co-host an event with GE called "Plug into the Smart Grid" on February 17th in Washington, DC.

Check out this demonstration of PowerMeter:


PowerMeter official website.
Smart Grid News article.
New York Times article.
Treehugger post.

IHC Lecture Series comes to So Illinois

The Illinois Humanities Council is giving a series of statewide free public programs examining key oil and water issues. All-Consuming: Conversations on Oil and Water has two lectures scheduled in Carbondale and one in Edwardsville this month.

On February 10th (Carbondale) and 17th (Edwardsville), the IHC will hold a panel discussion called Crosscurrents: Ethanol, Oil, and Water in Southern Illinois. The program will begin to answer some of the pressing questions about the Ethanol industry including:

What is the promise of ethanol and what are its limitations?

How does producing ethanol influence the supply and demand for water?

What are the environmental and ethical choices involved in the making of ethanol?

On February 24, the IHC discussion called We All Live Downstream: Whose water is it? will outline the implications of the choices we make within the Mississippi watershed and the Ohio River system on a regional, local and personal level.

Each of the events are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

For more information:

Illinois Humanities Council
Crosscurrents: Ethanol, Oil, and Water in Southern Illinois
We All Live Downstream: Whose water is it?

Evolution of Green Marketing

Green Inc is a new blog written by staff at the New York Times about "energy, the environment and the bottom line." A recent article written by Ciara O'Rourke outlines the effort the beer industry has made to show off their green credentials. Her specific example details the changes to marketing material New Belgium Brewing Company (Fort Collins, CO) has gone through over the past few years.

Starting in 1999, New Belgium began getting wind power through their local utility. In doing so the company began heavily marketing this fact on their products. As the ad campaign went on, claims of greenwashing began to get more vocal; peaking when a former employee went to the media showing the inaccuracies of New Belgium's marketing slogan, "100 percent wind powered."

Overall the energy consumed through their products stretch much further than the wind power credits they purchase. They burn natural gas, their trucks do not run on wind power, and the glass bottles and ingredients they use come from outside suppliers that do not follow the same sustainable strategies. Although New Belgium initially denied any falsehoods, it is clear that their operations were not "100 percent wind powered."

In 2007, the company modified their slogan. In doing so, New Belgium also issued its first sustainability report outlining all of its energy usage. The transparancy and record keeping will enable the company to follow the responsible business model they are looking to achieve.

Consumers are wising up. It is no longer acceptable from a marketing stand point to make extragavant claims without the transparancy of those actions.

Green Inc article.

USA Today mentions Power Smart Pricing

Paul Davidson of USA Today wrote an article over the weekend covering the expansion of Federal investment in smart grid technology in the stimulus package that is currently being discussed in Congress. As exciting as that sounds, it gets even better here...

"Consumers that choose time-of-use pricing are prodded to cut air conditioning use on hot days when the grid is stressed and shift, say, their laundry to later in the evening. Utilities avoid building plants needed only at peak hours. Customers on variable pricing in southern Illinois save about 10% on their bills, says program coordinator CNT Energy."

Not bad. (Although I hope you don't feel like we prod you.) Getting mentioned in the USA Today is positive acknowledgment of the work we have put in here at CNT Energy, and what you have accomplished in your homes.

Here is the link: Buzz grows for modernizing energy grid

Super Bowl Smart Grid Ad (Video)

To be honest I missed it. Apparently it aired, oh well. Here's the video.



To see other ecomagination tv ads click here.

Update: Here is another ad. This one is on wind energy.