Dog Blog
Earth Day 2009: Measure Your Energy, Save the World
Sure, at first glance this may appear to be yet another obligatory “Earth Day” post from a green tech company - but we urge you to read on. Rather than pontificate on the meaning of Earth Day, we thought we’d explore an interesting topic that’s being discussed more and more recently - the question of “How can you manage what you can’t measure?” as it pertains to energy conservation.
Happy Earth Day from the Fat Spaniel Technologies Team
Measure Your Energy, Save the World
Discussing the benefits of measuring one’s energy utilization is an important topic to discuss on any day of the year, but given the goals laid out by www.earthday.net, we find it to be particularly relevant to pick up this dialog today. These goals are:
- A carbon-free future based on renewable energy that will end our common dependency on fossil fuels, including coal.
- An individual’s commitment to responsible, sustainable consumption.
- Creation of a new green economy that lifts people out of poverty by creating millions of quality green jobs and transforms the global education system into a green one.
Let’s take a look at each one of these individually.
A carbon-free future based on renewable energy that will end our common dependency on fossil fuels
This is, of course, an extremely important and noble goal - but how will we get there? There are a myriad of different green technologies and renewable energy systems that have proven incredibly effective and efficient, so the answer to “how” we get there is as varied as the technologies and approaches applied. Perhaps a better question is “How will we know if we’re making progress, and what’s working?” That is where energy measurement comes in.
With all the renewable energy systems and technologies in use today, what we truly need are open energy measurement standards that are capable of orchestrating all of these technologies at once - creating truly integrated renewable energy systems. Only then can we determine the effectiveness of these systems, and see which components are performing well and which one’s aren’t. As we do so, we can tune these components and the entire systems to perform optimally - meaning most efficiently and most profitably.
An individual’s commitment to responsible, sustainable consumption
Again, empowering an individual’s commitment to responsible, sustainable consumption is a great goal indeed. But what the heck does it mean? There are thousands of tools, resources and technologies to help an individual conserve and reduce consumption. From energy efficient light bulbs to ENERGY STAR rated appliances - there are tons of ways to conserve energy. And then there are residential renewable energy systems that not only conserve energy, but create energy that can be exported to the grid. But again, how do you truly know how much energy you are conserving or generating? How do you know what’s working?
Whether you have chosen a solar roof or other renewable energy system for environmental or financial reasons, you will want to know how well the system is working, and how much energy it is producing. Energy intelligence solutions will quantify the energy and display the environmental benefits with accurate, real-time data. This enables you to keep tabs on your system’s performance anytime, anywhere, live on the Web. Clear and dynamic graphics show how much potential pollution you are preventing by generating energy with your system. This enables you to maximize your savings by scheduling your heaviest use of electricity when energy is cheapest, while exporting energy to the grid during peak demand times.
Creation of a new green economy that lifts people out of poverty by creating millions of quality green jobs and transforms the global education system into a green one
This is a big one. Given the boom in demand for renewable energy systems and the enormous support from governments around the world given in the form of tax credits and government funding, the renewable energy industry is now not only expected to produce energy, but also to become one of the largest producers of jobs!
We’ve said before that we have complete confidence in this industry to create jobs - but there’s a flip side that needs to be considered. When an industry has the lofty goals of energy creation AND job creation pinned to it’s back - and has a large amount of government support and money behind it - you better believe there is going to be a great deal of accountability required. You’ve heard us say that it’s not enough just to be “green” anymore, and that’s the truth. Today, the renewable energy industry needs to prove that it is living up to its promises in order to justify the ongoing support. Energy intelligence plays a key role in achieving this as well. If the industry standardizes on open energy systems that can collect, measure and track the performance of all renewable energy systems, then we will be able to provide clear data on how well the industry is achieving it’s energy creation goals. If we continue to prove our industry’s ability to meet the energy creation goals, then we will justify the continued government support (globally) - which in turn aids the profitability needed to continually create more jobs.
Earth Day All Year Long
As everyone involved in Earth Day will tell you, the goal is not to celebrate and protect the Earth on just this one day. Instead, the goal is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to protect the limited resources we have, and to efficiently create new resources. The same can be said for the goal of energy intelligence. Instead of merely being aware of our environmental impact on just this one day, energy intelligence technologies help enable us to stay consistently and continuously in touch with our energy usage and energy creation. As a result, we are all enabled to reproduce not only the spirit - but also the net effect - of Earth Day all year long.
Tags: Earth Day, renewable energy
