DIY fuel efficiency

Sometimes, when it comes to fuel efficiency, you can’t wait for companies to provide the solutions: you just have to seize the bull by the horns. And then you have to bend those horns into a more aerodynamic shape.

Right?

If you’re not into bull bending, though, there are still unique ways of environmentally tricking out your ride. Take this photo gallery of DIY efficiency modifications made to a variety of vehicles. From a motorcycle with an aerodynamic shell to a minivan with a plastic tail, these street-legal creations go to show that even existing products can be turned into energy-efficient ones.

Of course, if you’re not willing to commit the time and engineering expertise required for completely modifying your vehicle, you can still improve your fuel efficiency just by changing your driving habits. There are a host of sources for energy-saving tips in the car, including the Office of Energy Efficiency; provincial government websites, like the BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; and of course our own Canadian Centre for Energy Information.

Still, if you find yourself seized by the urge to seize your own proverbial bull by the horns, and you’ve got the wherewithal to make it happen, why not take a stab at it?

Via Popular Science

Image: Technological University of Malaysia vehicle competes in the Shell Eco-marathon fuel efficiency challenge at Sepang.

PecoBOO watches you

You know you should be saving energy, and that every little bit helps. But sometimes you just plain forget to turn things off.

If only there was something to remind you…

Very PC understands and has developed software that will do the remembering for you. The program is called PecoBOO (that’s p-ECO-boo, get it?) and it’s designed to save energy every time you get up from your computer.

Using face detection software in combination with your webcam, PecoBOO will actually turn off your computer monitor when you’re not using it. You can set it to sleep or hibernate whenever you get a coffee, go to the bathroom, or chat with co-workers down the hall.

When you return, PecoBOO can tell you’re ready to get back to work, and will turn the monitor back on for you. You could call it a no-brainer. You could also call it lazy – but be realistic: who turns off their monitor every time they step away?

This simple and automatic way to save energy comes from Very PC, a computer company known for manufacturing low-energy desktop computers. They understand that computers are just a fact of life, but they have a huge environmental impact, especially with everybody using them.

Very PC does their bit to reduce the energy requirements in as many ways as possible. The developers at the company came up with PecoBOO when they began to think of the lights in their refrigerators – it’s only ever turned on when you need it.

You certainly don’t need to remember to turn that off.

A green idea cool enough for Canada

A Mountain Equipment Co-op in Ontario used a ground-breaking material to keep its store cool this summer – ice.

This cool idea comes from a company called Ice Energy, who has come up with a hybrid air conditioning system that really does use ice – massive blocks of it – to keep air temperatures low.

This hybrid, the Ice Bear, uses up to 95 per cent less energy than conventional air conditioners.  How?  By taking advantage of off-peak electricity at night and alternating with air cooled by the ice during the day. The ice cools a refrigerant, which cools the circulated air.

The 5-tonne blocks of ice are re-frozen every night inside the system, and are reused the next day. The Ice Bear is hooked up to the existing air conditioner and requires no modification. It sounds like a great plan, but there’s a small catch.

Even Ice Energy admits the Ice Bear’s price tag is pretty large if you’re not committed to fostering a green image. For that reason, most of the Ice Bear’s target market consists of utility providers, not commercial installations like the Burlington MEC.

With Ontario’s Green Energy Act, Ice Energy’s not surprised the province’s utility providers are taking a keen interest in the Ice Bear. London Hydro, Hydro Ottawa, and Hydro One are all “very seriously” considering using this new technology.

As Ice Energy’s website says, “clean energy doesn’t get any cooler than this.”

Eco-vending

Well…prepacked goods dispensed from brightly illuminated appliances is miles away from a truly green food source, but thanks to a new proposal from the U.S.’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, vending machines are gearing up to go green.

Currently the purveyors of pop guzzle approximately 1,900 kwh to 2,600 kwh per year. The proposed measures would cut energy use of glass- or polymer-front machines by as much as 42 percent and about 15 percent in the more traditional solid-front vending machines.

Each machine manufactured under the new standards would save about $320 per year in energy costs. With 3 million beverage vending machines in the United States, the energy savings would literally be pouring in.

And in the long-term, the savings are even more…er…juicy. Over a 30-year period, as much as 10 billion kwh of electricity could be saved.

How much is that? About enough electricity to heat roughly 800,000 homes for a year. The cost savings to the vending machine property owners would be in the $250 million range and CO2 emissions eliminated could be as much as 5 million metric tons, according to the Department of Energy. 

Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fizzy?

One million smart meters installed

Milestones are important. 

They’re indications of progress, and a way of gauging the strength of social trends. So it’s very much a big deal that Hydro One and Hydro One Brampton recently announced they’ve installed 1,000,000 smart meters. 

Why is that a big deal?  Smart meters are incredibly effective energy savers. When used in a jurisdiction with time-of-use pricing, the financial incentive to shift some electricity usage to off-peak time has effectively reduced overall use. 

That’s why Ontario’s provincial government announced its intention to install smart meters in every home and small business in the province. That announcement was made in 2006. Do the math – that’s a rate of around 300,000 meters per year installed since then. 

Why the rush? Hydro One, the largest utility in the province, intends to adopt time-of-use pricing in 2010. That date still has a far-off sound to it, but it bears repeating that’s just next year. Time-of-use pricing is effective in reducing energy use, but only when customers have access to smart meters.

The rush will continue. Another 400,000 more Hydro One customers have made appointments to have smart meters installed. Once the province is effectively converted to the new technology, there will be a host of “spinoff” benefits. 

Smart meters will eliminate the need to estimate bills – on average, most meters are physically read only every two or three months, sometimes creating surprisingly large bills. 

Not having to read bills will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as meter readers will no longer have to criss-cross the province. Ontario’s a big province. Those criss-crossing trips add up.   

Indeed, it seems smart meters are the smart choice for managing energy use.

How low can you go?

Energy efficiency means fewer emissions and lower costs. And that’s the clear benefit to industry Natural Resources Canada is aiming for with its release of the new Energy Savings Toolbox. 

It’s not always an easy task to spot ways to save energy in a complex industrial environment. The Toolbox includes a step-by-step Energy Audit checklist to help users assess energy consumption, costs, energy use patterns and inventories and then identify ways to increase energy efficiency. The toolbox also includes detailed information on energy fundamentals, energy consuming systems and condition surveys.

This free, comprehensive PDF resource is available now at Natural Resource Canada.

Solar powered pay stations

In the battle for sustainable energy practices, there are the big victories and the little ones. Often the small victories get ignored, taking a backseat to the attention grabbing headlines that promise massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions or a new leading edge technology.

But in many ways, the small victories are just as important and relevant as the attention-grabbers. The commas that build towards the exclamation point.

Case in point: 8D Technologies’ solar-powered pay stations for Montreal’s city bicycle rental system. The solar-powered pay stations are a part of a pilot program that will serve as a “complement” to public transit and cars. Interesting yes, but in terms of energy savings, it’s not worth shouting from the rooftops.   

So why bother to take pay stations that really don’t swallow a lot of juice off the grid? Sure, it will save energy and money…but not that much. But solar power technology does offer the convenience of wireless operation, which is probably why dozens of municipalities from coast to coast use them. 

Green power is the wave of the future and if every municipality were to switch over all its seemingly minor applications, the net effect would be worth it.

Does eco-friendly actually pay off?

There’s no doubt about it. Building green requires more ‘green’ upfront. A small sacrifice for the environment. But is it worth it for the average consumer from an economic standpoint or is building green just another luxury that only the very few can afford?

How much more depends on which energy efficiency standard you choose. Simply building to comply with the EnerGuide 80 rating costs 1.1% to 1.4% more than conventional construction. A high-performance LEED Gold-standard will likely cost 5% more.

Seemingly small increases, but factored over the cost of the typical 2,200 square foot home, it adds up. At a cost of $150 per square foot, the typical home costs approximately $330,000 to build. Going green adds another $4,620 to $16,500 to the price tag.

Do the math. Green homes boost energy savings of 20% to 90%. Building an Energy-Star certified home will add roughly $4,500, but use 28% less energy. So instead of paying $350 a month for energy, you would spend $250. Meaning the initial investment would be paid off within 4 years.

And there’s more good news for green building. A comparison of home sales showed that green-certified home sold for almost 6% more per square foot than conventional homes. LEED and other third-party certified homes fetched an impressive 10.5% premium.

Indeed, it seems that what’s good for the environment is good for your pocketbook, which is a step in the right direction for eco-friendly building.

Hey Ontario…this week is important!

Every year, Ontario uses about 152,000,000 megawatt hours (464KB PDF) of electricity, enough to watch your favourite 42” plasma television at 358 kilowatt hours for the next 291,563 years.

That’s a lot of Battlestar Galactica.

Ontario leads the country in its use of energy, consuming more petroleum and coal than any other Canadian province.

It’s a dubious honour, but beginning May 25, the province will be trying to curb its energy use during its first annual Energy Conservation Week, a week of province-wide events complete with simple energy-saving tips designed to make Ontarians think about the way they use energy.

Co-created by Ontario’s Power Authority (OPA), the province’s Ministry of Energy, the Electricity Distributors Association (EDA) and the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the week is designed to show businesses and individuals how they can contribute to Ontario’s conservation goals.

Of course, Ontario’s utilities and their acronym-endowed umbrella organizations don’t expect Ontarians to commit to energy savings without some kind of tangible reward, so the week also includes those two words that every frugal energy user loves to hear: free stuff!

Backyard makeovers! Free shower heads and low-flow kitchen swivel aerator! A promotional video featuring Peter Love, Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer!

Well, all right, a video with a middle-aged executive touring Ontario with stock footage of washers and dryers may not exactly be riveting stuff. But if Ontarians really do have 291 millennia worth of power for their television-watching needs, it’s an event with plenty of time to improve.