Energy Efficiency Is Good Business

I just read an excellent Wall Street Journal article written by and about Venture Capital investments, and their importance to our economy and job creation.  The article focuses on improving the nation's infrastructure to make it more efficient, less wasteful, and more effective, all while providing good jobs that can't be outsourced.

Our job is to invest in the innovations of tomorrow. And that’s why we believe that despite the economic mood, there is a major area well-positioned to take advantage of new investment and reinvent our economy in the process. We’re talking about green infrastructure, and we predict that within the next three years we will begin to see green infrastructure companies going public.

Read the article here.

SRP Delays Rate Hike

I'm sure prices will rise, but not this year:

The utility industry is facing significant financial pressures. During this difficult recession, so are our customers. That’s why on Sept. 1, SRP’s Board of Directors decided to change course. A base price increase that would have gone into effect Nov. 1 will be delayed. Any change to base prices will not happen before May 1, 2010. Changes to other portions of your bill will still be voted on at an October Board meeting. We expect these changes, related to renewable projects, energy efficiency and fuel costs, to offset each other. This means, if approved by the Board, SRP customers won’t see a price increase this November. Whether it’s managing resources to ensure a sustainable source of water for the Valley, or designing our electric system to provide superior reliability, SRP has a history of making tough decisions in the best interest of our customers. This is one of those times.

Cash For Appliances Program Coming This Fall

The Feds will finally fund an incentive program originally passed in 2005 designed to encourage replacement of old, inefficient large appliances with new, more efficient ones.  Money will come from the stimulus bill, and states will set the exact dollar amounts of the rebates.  Unlike "Cash For Clunkers", the old appliance will not need to be traded in and scrapped.  The program is expected to help appliance manufacturers who have seen huge sales slumps in the current recession.

My family's dishwasher has been out of commision for about 2 years, so I may end up taking advantage of this program; a good dishwashing machine will save water and energy to heat water vs. hand washing. SRP offers a small cash rebate for efficient dishwashers as well - $20-$30, I believe.

Wall Street Journal article here.

SRP and Tessera to Build 1.5MW Solar Project in Peoria,AZ

It's a demonstation project designed to show the potential of a very interesting flavor of Concentrating Solar Thermal power generation. Tessera is partnered with Stirling Energy Systems and they use a large mirrored dish to concentrate the sun's heat on a relatively small Stirling engine, to generate up to 25,000 watts of electricity per dish. It will be located:

on about 12 acres next to SRP’s Agua Fria Generating Station in Peoria. It will be the first grid-tied application of the Stirling Energy System’s SunCatcher device

This Biz Journal article has the full details.

Tessera is based in Houston with offices in Scottsdale. Stirling Energy is based in Phoenix.  Stirling has also submitted a bid to generate power on a retired landfill in Phoenix.

Beware Easy Solutions

It's recently occured to me that my site, business and/or promotional efforts could easily be mistaken for a scam.  I'm not a believer in free energy, magic boxes, or techniques that require no effort, but lots of money.

I hate to be a wise guy, but in order to use less energy, you actually need to use less energy: replace old devices with newer, more efficient ones, stop using(unplug) devices that provide minimal utility or whose function could be reproduced "the old fashioned way"(like using a broom on a hard floor instead of a vacuum on carpet), or by using devices less often(turn up the thermostat in summer).

Any energy saving idea that doesn't involve one of those 3 principles should be looked at sceptically.

Several coworkers asked me about a "magic box" that was being advertised on the radio(KTAR).  I googled it, found a bunch of irate electricians mocking it, and told my coworkers to save their money.

Here's a great blog post from a site I just found.  I'll put it in the Links section, too.