Grid Article

The “Grid” vs. The “Smart Grid”
You hear all the talk on the radio shows, read about it in the newspaper, and watch it on T.V. but what is all the buzz really about? The “Grid” is the term generally used when referring to an electrical ‘network’ that supports the generation of electricity, transmitting power, and distributing it. The “Grid” is often referred to as the nation’s entire electric network. The “Grid” allows you to watch television, play video games, wash and dry your clothes, and basically run your entire household and workplace.
This “Grid” or electric network is outdated. It hasn’t changed much at all since Thomas Edison, one of the founding architects of the system, designed it. It is running up against many limitations. It is overburdened and has begun to fail which presents the United States with substantial risks. There are more and more blackouts and brownouts. Maybe we don’t see these often in Minnesota, but it does directly or indirectly affect us through rising prices in our electric bills and cost of goods we purchase from other areas of the country. “The Northeast blackout of 2003 resulted in a $6 billion economic loss to the region.”1 This statistic reveals to us that a blackout can have a severe impact on individuals and businesses.
The bottom line then, is that our current grid needs updating. So, one day someone said let’s make a “Smart Grid.” You might say, “How do we do that?” I’ll tell you how. We leave that to businesses like Silent Power, a local smart grid technology company, the utilities, and the government! We could discuss in detail how they are going to do that but we will save that for another article. The purpose of this article focuses on how you, the consumer of electricity, can make a difference.
Now would be a good time to introduce myself. My name is Angela and I am an energy enthusiast. What exactly does that mean? I am passionate about energy. Plain and simple. Where does my passion come from? It is a long story, but in short, it comes from my Economics education and background. I believe that the first step towards energy independence in our country is conservation! And, that is where you come in. I could give thousands of statistics as to why we should conserve energy but that would be boring. I am only going to give you one reason: TO SAVE YOU MONEY! It only makes ‘cents.’ I was talking with my parents one day, comparing our heat bills. (OK, we were complaining about our heat bills.) I was appalled to find out that their heat bill is the same as mine but my house is twice the size of their house. On my way home, I kept thinking about our conversation. I was thinking, “What about rising fuel prices, what about fixed income and elderly people, what about future generations, what about….. and the list went on.” That conversation changed my life. Seriously! When I got home I told my husband, a renewable energy expert, about it. He suggested that I become an Energy Auditor. At first I scoffed because I am a business person. But, after a lot of thought and research, I enrolled in an energy auditor training course. I am now an Energy Auditor.
I am going to help you save money! There are two ways I can do that. First, you will save money through energy conservation. Second, you will save money through energy efficiency. They sound the same but they are not. Let’s talk about conservation first. Conservation is much harder to accomplish than efficiency. The reason it is harder is because conservation means you must change your behavior. We all know how hard it is to change your, or even someone else’s, behavior. It’s next to impossible to change someone else’s behavior! I know, because I have been working on my husband for 19 years now and – nothin’! He still balls up his socks when he puts them in the laundry. Sorry, I got off topic there, but you get my point. Conservation requires effort on your part. It is your first step. Energy conservation is also the first step when considering renewable energies like solar or wind. Remember when your dad went around the house telling you to ‘turn off the lights, you’re wasting electricity?’ Well, I am going to tell you just that. My first suggestion, as simple as it seems, is to turn things off when you are not using them. Lighting can account for about 10% or more of energy consumption in a residential household. You could leave all your lights off and slash your electric bill by 10%! Who wants to live in the dark though? I can’t cover all conservation suggestions in one article but here are a few more:
o Take shorter showers
o Turn down your thermostat in the winter
o Use a crock pot instead of the oven
o Wash your clothes in cold water
o Hang your clothes on a clothesline outside to dry
o Put certain electrical appliances on timers

The last item on the previous list indicates that appliances run even when you are not using them. There are several terms used interchangeably for this type of appliance: phantom, ghost, or vampire. My coffee maker uses energy even when I am not making coffee because it has a clock and timer that I can set to make coffee before I get up in the morning.
Energy efficiency differs from conservation in that you use energy wisely. There are many many ways you can do this. (And save money!) One way to do this is by changing a light bulb. For energy (lighting) savings of up to 75%, standard incandescent light bulbs can be replaced with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). There are lots of CFLs on the market. They come in all different shapes, sizes, and watts. If you want to go all out, LEDs (light emitting diodes) are the future of lighting. They are still very expensive but their life span averages 50,000 hours in comparison to an incandescent which averages 2,000 hours. Turning off the lights would be conserving energy. Leaving the lights on but switching to CFLs (which use less energy) would be energy efficiency. Get it? Other ways that you can become more efficient include:
o Upgrade your water heater to a more efficient model
o Seal your windows so heat can’t escape
o Increase the insulation in your attic
o Place an insulation blanket on your water heater
o Seal leaky ducts
o Run your dishwasher with a full load of dishes

Through a combination of conservation and efficiency you can save money and make a difference. These two techniques will reduce the stress on the “Grid.” There is a need for consumer involvement because it is estimated that the “Smart Grid” is still a decade or more away.



1 The Smart Grid: An Introduction, U.S. Department of Energy.

Go Green Expo

Go Green Expo
Business-to-Business Expo
Friday, November 6th • 10am - 5pm
Business-to-Business & Business-to-Consumer Expo Minneapolis Convention Center
Saturday, November 7th • 10am - 6pm 1301 Second Avenue South
Sunday, November 8th • 10am - 5pm Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403
(612) 335-6000
www.minneapolisconventioncenter.com
Tickets: Friday: Complimentary to Business Buyers (please bring your business card for admission)
Saturday & Sunday: $10 for a full weekend pass; $5 for Students & Seniors with proper ID;
Children 12 and under are Free

Energy Auditor

I keep forgetting to post this. I passed my test and now I can officially be an Energy Auditor. I am not quite sure what I intend to do with this new 'title' but we will see what the future holds. I have a new wealth of information to share with everyone!

Watch TV - It is GREEN!

I may have mentioned that I watch 'Planet Green' 24/7! I think I may be addicted actually, which I don't think is a bad thing. There are many informative shows which provide a wealth of information. One of my favorite shows is 'Living With Ed.' Ed Begley cracks me up! He has been 'green' since before 'green' had a term associated with it. I also really enjoy 'World's Greenest Homes.' This show is fantastic! It features homes from all over the world that are the ultimate in green and living sustainably. If people would just watch this show alone they could see that it is truly possible to live life off the grid!

Biking Benefits

I just caught this on twitter and had to pass it on. I have been mentioning to Toad that we all need new bikes and this just gives me all the reasons I need to convince him. Twelve Reasons to start using a bike for transportation.
Happy trails!

Living Green Expo

We had a great family outing this weekend. Saturday morning we headed to St. Paul to experience for the first time the 'Living Green Expo' held at the State Fair Grounds. What a fantastic family event! Every member of our family left the Expo with a great attitude and a greater sense of learning what it means to live sustainably. While Todd spent a large portion of time in the Silent Power booth, the girls and I scanned the entire event, checking out all booths and attending a couple of workshops. The girls each acquired a messenger bag that was produced from recycled organic coffee bean burlap sacks, recycled billboard canvas, reclaimed fabric, and recycled seat belts. They use them as a book bag for school. There are so many ways to reuse items that would traditionally be sent to a landfill.

Todd rejoined us for lunch at the Chipolte food stand. Here is a quote from the Chipolte webpage: "Today, more than fifty percent of our beef is from farmers across the country who meet the naturally raised criteria set forth in our Food With Integrity standards. Naturally raised beef costs more, but we think it's worth it. We're working overtime to make all of our beef, in all of our restaurants, naturally raised within the next few years." AND "When you order naturally raised beef at Chipotle, here is what you are getting (and not getting):· No added growth hormones, ever.· No antibiotics, ever.· Vegetarian feed with no animal by-products." All of the proceeds from Chipolte's stand at the event was donated to charity. Thank you Chipolte, the tacos were delicious!

As we ate our lunch and waited for the workshop, Home Energy Efficiency: Advanced Techniques, to begin, we checked out the alternative vehicles area. I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the choices ranging from Hybrid (gas/electric) and Electric to Clean diesel and Neighborhood electric vehicles. My youngest daughter's favorite was, of course, the Toyota Prius. I found myself drawn to the Honda Insight. I was really not impressed with the projected mileage on the Insight. I am waiting for the 2010 Prius; it has an Estimated 50 mpg combined mileage.

The Home Energy Efficiency workshop was AMAZING! But the most exciting thing was that I knew 90% of what was covered! I really feel that I am learning from everything I am reading and watching. The bulk of the material covered concentrated on the TE (thermal envelope.) The speaker talked extensively about the importance of proper insulation and the various types of insulation including new products. I am really sold on soy-based spray foam insulation.

The second workshop we audited was Sustainability 101. Terry Gips from the Alliance for Sustainability led the class. Terry is an extremely interesting person. He has done sustainability consulting for top companies around the world. One of the most important things I absorbed from the lecture was 4 things that we need to do in order to obtain sustained living.
1. Limit what we take from the earth (don't deplete natural resources)
2. Avoid toxic substances (we make)
3. Care for what we do (use recycled paper)
4. Meet human needs of every person
The United States makes up only 4% of the world population but we consume 25% of the world's resources. This fact alone tells you that WE need to make changes in our nation!

The last thing I need to tell you about is that we stopped at several booths and learned about worm composting. The girls and I met the two brothers that designed an indoor worm composter exclusively for Target (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=cm_wr_ty_dp/190-8616969-1913515?ie=UTF8&asin=B001OREK1S) (This is actually a very simple process to make organic fertilizer for your home garden.) I really want to give this a serious attempt!

Overall, the trip was a success! The Expo was well worth the time spent!

Make-shift Clothesline

Several years ago I started coveting a clothesline pole like my mom has. The kind she has is very elaborate; two big monster metal 'T' poles and four strands of metal strung between them. The truth is you just can't go out and buy those. I decided that instead of buying one of the junky ones and then cementing it in the ground and regretting it later that I should just 'try out' hang-drying my clothes to see if I really like it and to calculate how much I would actually save by doing this. So, I hooked up a make-shift clothesline by securing one end to a metal stake that I drove into the top of my retaining wall and the other end tied around a tree about 40 feet away. I drove a nail into the tree to keep the string from slipping/sagging down the tree (so sorry tree - that is almost dead!) I hung out Todd's T-shirts and they look so fresh swaying in the breeze. It is a bit chilly out so I am sure they will take a little longer than normal to dry. There are a couple of problems with my 'system.' The first one is that the ends are so far apart that the line sags drastically, and the second is that it is not big enough for an entire load. If all goes well I am thinking that I will splurge and contact a welder to make me some like my mom's!

Make your Dryer more efficient!

I found this post on Twitter from 'Green Girls' and felt that I should share it:

Green Your Clothes Dryer
10 tips to a greener dryer.


By Josh PetersonLos Angeles, CA, USA Wed Apr 15 07:30:00 EDT 2009

The best dryer for your money and the environment is the clothesline. With the investment of a few bucks you can dry your clothes with solar power for free. However, many people enjoy the convenience of an electric clothes dryer and probably won't part with it. Ok. That's fine. Let's work with that.
If you're going to use an electric clothes dryer, then it should be an energy-efficient one. By adhering to a few simple tips, you can reduce the energy costs and electricity use of your clothes dryer. This is how:
Clean the lint filter after every use.
Make sure the dryer vent's outside. An interior-venting dryer can really destroy the quality of your indoor air.
Avoid overloading and under loading.
Wash loads back to back. The residual heat in the dryer will decrease drying time for every load past the first.
The vent hose shouldn't be longer than 25 feet. Each bend in the hose counts for five feet, not counting the bend at the actual appliance. (20ft of hose w/ one bend is equal to 25ft of hose with no bend.)
Don't forget to clean the exterior vent from time to time.
You'll also want to clean the vent hose once a year if possible.
If you vent hose is kinked, it will increase lint build-up and decrease energy efficiency.
Like the fridge, you should check the dryer door for leaks. Place a piece of tissue paper near the crack while the dryer is running. If the tissue gets sucked into the dryer, replace the seal.
Put the dryer in a warm place.