A little known fact is that the catchphrase Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is actually listed in order of the most importance. The most important thing that we can do to reduce the amount of pollution that we produce is to reduce the quantity of resources that we are consuming. The easiest way to accomplish this is to utilize energy efficient means.
Given the current technology dependent generation – visual aids tend to capture people’s attention more than spreadsheets. That being said, I would like to create a program that would allow you to build a 3D model of your house with standard appliances. When you run the program it would take you through a typical day and visually show you how much each appliance utilizes during the day while adding up the daily total. After the daily consumption report was complete, it would give you the opportunity to swap out appliances for newer energy efficient appliances so you could run a comparison. In the comparison summary, the program would calculate how long it would take you to recap your investment given the amount of money that you’d save through reducing your consumption. This would help average homeowners be able to easily tell where they could have the biggest bang for the smallest investment.
My target audience would be manufacturers of energy efficient appliances. However, the program could also be modified to show the difference that new windows or additional installation could make, which would increase the variety of customers that I could sell the program to.
Hi Cheri,
I like the visual online model idea – a class I took last year used a similar concept to demonstrate energy efficiency for an online lab (I think it was EGEE 102). You might be interested in the smart grid technology that helps people monitor consumption on a real time basis, or the ‘kill-a-watt’ adapter that performs a similar function.
– Marielle
Hi Marielle,
I actually had a kill-o-watt meter before I learned how to calculate loads manually (it was really neat). I currently work in the PV (solar photovoltaic) industry and (over the last seven years) I’ve created a plethora of excel based design tools to help people be able to adequately size a PV array. With the advent of smart phones and web based lab classes (they’re really neat aren’t they) I foresee the next generation relying heavily on visual aids which (in my opinion) is bringing to a close the day of Excel based datasheets and tools. I personally think that having a drag and drop design tool as being more useful than an excel spreadsheet that you have to select different PV modules from a drop-down menu. To expand that outside of a classroom that is in a format that the average Joe with no prior experience could utilize (and comprehend), I personally think would help people realize what they can do to help initiate change.
Thank you for the discussion.
Best Regards,
Cheri
Hi Cheri. I really liked the title of your post, especially since you were able to tie your name in as one of the Rs. Very creative! What types of government policies could be implemented to encourage people to reduce, reuse and recycle? Do you think that the recent EPA proposed rule that places a greater emphasis on energy efficiency in meeting targets might pave the way for your business idea? Just a thought. The electric cooperative for which I work has been very aggressive with energy conservation and efficiency. In fact, the tremendous amount of kilowatt hours saved coupled with a flat load growth for the past 5 years or so is wreaking havoc on balancing a budget and holding rate increases down. Energy efficiency is good for the environment and good for an electric consumer’s pocketbook, but can be a challenge for an electric utility. I have been in the business for about 30 years. You may read more about my business idea (and find a link to the EPA proposed rule) on my post at http://engr312.dutton.psu.edu/2014/09/12/lesson-3-energy-efficiency-model-based-on-pnw/.
Hi Christine,
As sad as it is, I’m a huge fan of utilizing finical incentive to enact change. Mind you I’m not talking about rebates, or subsidizing, what I’m referring to is being penalized for not adhering to change.
As an example – my car – my gas guzzling car got a whopping 17 miles to the gallon. If gasoline was not taxed as heavily as it is now it could (for argument sake) still be around the $0.90 a gallon that it was when I started driving. I currently commute 3,000 miles a month, which would have cost me177 gallons of gas (3,000/17) which at $0.90 a gallon would only be about $159 a month (177 x 0.90). Considering a new energy efficient car would cost me about $14,000, given my circumstance I wouldn’t have a finical incentive to buy a new car.
Now with gas actually being around $4 a gallon, I’m looking at a monthly bill of $708 (177 x 4)… now I have more of a financial incentive to purchase a new car. Assuming I bought a basic commuter car for $14,000 that has 38mpg and I drive this car the same 3,000 miles, I’ll only consume 79 gallons (3,000 / 38) as opposed to 177 which will cost me $316 (79 x 4). This would give me a savings of $392 (708-316) a month and considering a $14,000 purchase price, I’d be looking at a 36 month payback on my investment (14,000/392). Given the financial penalty that I’d be facing if I didn’t purchase a new car – I bought a new car.
In one of my other classes I wrote a report about how to encourage people and utilities alike to go solar PV (Photovoltaics) and what I recommended was that all utilities charge a flat rate that (at minimum) they need to maintain the lines and produce power at night, then charge per kWh consumed on top of that and only allow people to offset the additional charge with their PV. Having a rate increase like that would make PV seem more affordable and still havening an interconnect fee for the utility would make allowing PV on their grid more sustainable and scalable than it is now.
So to answer your question – I think that taxing dirty energy consumption will both make consumers want an alternative and encourage businesses to move toward clean energy investment.
Thank you for the discussion.
Best Regards,
Cheri