Energy

Bloomberg News reports a fast-growing consumer movement in opposition to smart meters.   Smart meters, so called because they allow real-time usage monitoring, originally were pitched by the industry as a boon to consumers for increasing control over consumption.

The gadgets that bring the so-called smart grid into your home are being foisted on consumers for the convenience of the Utility companies. With the new wi-fi meters sending user data back to base, Utilities no longer need to employ meter readers, but still want to charge end-users for the installation, as well as picking up substantial government grants.

Now a growing consumer backlash is slowing U.S. utilities’ network upgrade. Bloomberg puts a figure of $29 billion on the project but the true costs is far higher. One consultancy put the total at $1.5 TRILLION.…

How different is life in a super-efficient home designed to generate more energy than it consumes? The Welke family in Berlin are guinea pigs in a social experiment.

For 42-year-old Jörg Welke, it’s a dream come true. Shaped like a cube and featuring a lot of glass, Welke’s temporary new home looks more like an oversized designer-stereo than a house. A black touchscreen on the wall is the first  thing a visitor notices when entering the “efficiency plus” home. The control center allows the family to regulate its energy needs including lights, shutters, appliances and heating.…

Poundbury village to use natural gas for cooking , heating and electricity generation. no longer needs the grid.…

These are exciting times for the British microgeneration sector. Dave Sowden, chief executive of the Micropower Council has said that the UK is “the only country in the world that has a government–backed microgeneration strategy.” Some of the more recent innovations include:

Home energy management company PassivSystems has developed an iPhone app, PassivEnergy, that allows consumers to manage domestic heating from any location, as well as a secure portal that calculates energy use and finds a tariff best suited to individual needs.…

Gary and Bobbie Worker from Portland, had their heart set on an energy neutral home that was as financially-efficient, as it was ecologically effective. “We wanted it to make sense,” said Gary. “And we wanted to approach it from a standpoint of return on investment.” A typical family which clears its electric and water bill and uses an electric car to avoid filling up at the pump, will save more than $800 a month.

Their 2 acres outside Portland has an underground heat pump to heat their space. It also powers AC and ventilation. But they also have an electric car, which sometimes donates energy to the home and sometimes uses it, courtesy of the array of solar panels. At first, they used to see it as a backup power unit but increasingly they depend on the surplus energy it gives them when they drive it home at night after a day charging up in town.
And its proving a worthwhile investment.…