Green Plus » Smart Green

Cut Energy, Cut Costs

Elizabeth Liedel — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:51:53 +0000

Cutting the amount of energy you use in your business is an easy way to do a favor for both the environment and your bottom line. Businesses waste electricity all the time – by leaving appliances plugged in (even when turned off, many appliances still use electricity – think of the digital clock on your DVD player, for example), or by heating/cooling their office space more than necessary or even when nobody is there. From a business perspective, this makes little sense – after all, you’re paying for the electricity you use, even if it isn’t advancing your business goals or helping you make money.

Inc.com has a slideshow that gives tips – some easy, some more challenging – on cutting down your energy usage. More tips are also available in the Green Plus How-To Guide. Lastly, Microsoft has additional energy-saving advice in a broader column on cutting costs. And we can’t help but notice that other pieces of advice on Microsoft’s list – such as using web technology to limit business transportation costs or cross-training employees to increase efficacy – are all part of the triple-bottom-line sustainability strategy that Green Plus encourages.

The Energy Interstate: the Future of the Grid

Teddy Salgado — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:12:57 +0000

Normally I try to write about topics that are immediately relevant to businesses, but I just read an article in this month’s issue of Discover magazine and I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk about the future of our national power grid. The article called “Rising Power” described the hurdles involved in delivering renewable energy across the country.

President Obama requested that Congress increase renewable energy to one-fourth of America’s power supply by 2025. There are two key limitations of our national power infrastructure that must be overcome before that goal is even feasible: 1) Distribution and 2) Supply. Michael Heyeck, senior vice president for transmission at American Electric Power likens the existing power grid to the highway system of the 1950-s – congested and overloaded – before President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System fixed that. Beyond delivering power, the grid must ensure that it is used efficiently for the times when winds ebb or the sun goes behind a cloud, especially since the grid has little or no storage capacity.

Solutions to both of these issues already exist. China is building an extra-high voltage HVDC line to deliver power from a hydropower megaproject. Similar lines could carry power from wind farms in the Great Plains to the Atlantic and Pacific costs. Xcel Energy is piloting a “smart grid” program in Boulder, Colorado, in which the power grid communicates demand levels with a smart meter in each home. Xcel will have hard numbers from the project in 2010, and we could start seeing smart grids all over the country within 5 years.

As for storage, some experts believe plug-in hybrid cars are part of the solution, using the smart grid to direct energy to homes and businesses during peak demand. Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee, even goes as far as predicting utilities may pay drivers to keep their mobile batteries plugged into the grid. It is too soon to say for sure, but this could create a great new avenue for businesses to cut costs by investing in hybrid fleets. For now businesses should keep an eye on the direction in which technology is heading.

Read the full article here on DiscoveryMagazine.com.

For more information about government programs in renewable energy, check out the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website.

Learn more about wind energy at the American Wind Energy Association website.

Here is more on the SmartGridCity project Xcel Energy is conducting in Boulder, Colorado.

March 16 Presentation by the Author of Smart Green

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:29:58 +0000

A public presentation by Smart Green author, Jonathan Estes, will be hosted by the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School on Monday, March 16 at 6pm. At the subsequent reception early release copies of the book will be available. Mr. Estes, CEO of Strategic Measures, Inc., will present his model for creating more sustainable businesses that benefit the environment, the community and the bottom line. He will also highlight the importance of planning for sustainability in a down economy. The Pittsboro General Store Café, a locally-owned business that employs sustainable business strategies and uses local organic food, will cater the reception. The Café is also one of dozens of businesses and organizations featured in Smart Green.