Energy Planet Northwest

Some are predicting $200 dollar a barrel oil. What are your thoughts?

It's another acronym in a world with so many that they often conflict. This one can help you out with your energy bills. If  your house is equipped with one of these meters (as mine is) you can access your usage information online through PSE's Puget Sound Energy online presence..  Just set up an online account at PSE  and you can then access your average daily usage online. .

Sources of information on Smart Grid Projects Looking for information on the utility's smart grid projects, both those in deployment, and those being planned (or out for bid), but it seems to take a lot of Googling. Here are two resources I have found recently, please add others you know about: Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse, sponsored by DOE. Has a number of goverment-funded pilots, not so much on real deployments. www.sgiclearinghouse.org Smartgrid.gov, another U.S. government-sponsored website, has a project listing, but it may just be a summary from the clearinghouse. Here's a link to smart micrgrids on the Galvin Electricity Initiative website. http://www.galvinpower.org/microgrid-projects

Draft / Outline Collaboration We are compiling a virtual office online that allows you to do a lot of the functions of a real office on the move. It will be available online and it will be free to steal. The EPNW virtual office stands to save time, energy, frustration, miles driven, paper, money Please collaborate with us in developing this feature by sharing your comments and ideas. The internet offers a lot of ways to eliminate various pieces of office equipment and even the office. Enter the virtual office.

In the video below, the Governor of Vermont offers some interesting observations as to how he thinks his State has a chance to cut the sky rocketing costs of health care. he is also quite candid about his having been an advocate of nuclear power.  He  has the distinction of actually having lived  next to one. He points out that many of  our nations nuclear energy plants  are being asked to operate beyond their designed longevity. Link to video.

Sell humans buy robots? In order for various Asian markets to remain competitive, they're going to need to focus a lot more on buying machinery -- notably from Japan. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sell-humans-buy-robots-2011-1##ixzz1Bg0yzqjq http://www.businessinsider.com/sell-humans-buy-robots-2011-1#

After years of hard hitting regulation California's air pollution levels, on net it is argued, has ended up being the same. Before you start gloating about  all the regulation you have avoided by living in  a state with less regulation, let's look at the reason why California has not achieved a net  significant reduction in overall pollution levels. Even though California has in fact reduced it;s own emissions it has fallen prey to pollution from afar. The source  of this pollution is the ongoing less regulated development  of Asia as an industrial production and recycling (Recycling often includes incineration of plastics in Asia.) center of goods that are largely consumed in the USA and  the rest of the world. Much of Asia is devoid of the type of regulation necessary to assure emissions are minimized from it's manufacturing and recycling activities. Consequently, a portion of the  pollution from these processes make the journey  across the ...