Happy Earth Week everyone!
I learned something new in the past couple of weeks. We recently closed on a house (yay!) and one of the first things I mused with our realtor about was, “should we install A/C?” The Bay Area in general has great weather, but the last few summers have had a few days here and there where temperatures were above 90 degrees, making it unbearably hot indoors as well. Today happens to be one of those days - yesterday, temperatures were almost 90 in our apartment, and today, it definitely went past the 90 F mark. It’s hard to resist the temptation to install A/C on days like this.
Anyway, our realtor mentioned installing an attic fan instead. Have you heard of these? During the summer, the temperature in your attic can get well over 100 F. Without an attic fan, heat gets trapped, and it makes your house warmer. An attic fan helps cool down your attic, making your house much cooler. IF you also happen to have A/C running, an attic fan improves efficiency; there’s less work required by your A/C unit to cool down the house. I’ve read that it can save up to 30% on cooling costs, so in the long run, it may be cheaper for you to install one in your own home.
By the way, attic fans are electric or solar. I think they may also come in hybrid versions but I haven’t seen any so far. We’re thinking of installing the solar fan since no energy would be required to run it. Now we just need to figure out where to buy one of these and who can install it. Anyone have any recommendations?
Raise your hands if you own one of those nice flat-screen TVs? My hand is up. I replaced my old tube television about six month’s ago, and opted for a large, flat-screen LCD. It turns out these TVs are really bad for the environment in a couple ways.
First, these TVs contain nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), the same environmentally harmful gas found in the new 3G iPhone. This gas is estimated to be 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and there will be about 4,000 tons of it will be produced per year.
In addition, large, flat-screen TVs use much more energy than traditional tube television sets. I was a bit suspicious when I felt the huge amount of heat my LCD TV emitted when compared with my old TV set. Next time you think about getting a new TV, you may want to think twice. I was going to replace another old TV of mine, but now I think I’ll hold off on doing so.
With the recent decline in oil prices and the break in rising pump prices, will consumers go back to their old ways? Personally, I think it is too little too late. Even if we see a decline in pump prices (we’re still at $4 per gallon!), my belief is that consumers have already changed their habits, and they are now more accustomed to conserving and reducing their gasoline usage. We now take public transportation more often, we carpool more often, we drive less, we combine trips, and we’re ditching our monstrous SUVs and trucks for smaller, more fuel efficient cars.
Unless we see a huge decrease in gas prices (I’m talking about a nearly impossible sustained decrease of 50 percent or more), I don’t see consumers changing their new habits any time soon. Unfortunately for the oil industry and fortunately for the environment, consumers have picked up some good habits they’re likely unwilling to change.
We’re obviously big believers in greentech or cleantech here at TTMYGG, so it was interesting to see this list of high-tech luminaries who have made the changeover. There are some big shots on the list, which shows that cleantech is getting serious.
- Vinod Khosla, Founder Khosla Ventures.
- John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins.
- Elon Musk, Chairman, Tesla, Chairman, CEO SolarCity
- Steve Jurvetson, Partner Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
- Bill Gross, Founder Idealab.
- Al Gore, Chairman Generation Investment Managment, Partner Kleiner Perkins.
- Bill Joy, Partner Kleiner Perkins.
Unfortunately, unless you’re a big shot, it’s unlikely that you’d be able to invest with them or in them, but one thing you could do is join them! Here, thanks to earth2tech.com, is a map of 101 cleantech startups. Take a look at what’s around you, or somewhere you wouldn’t mind living, and get in on the ground floor!
View Larger Map
To our readers: Sorry about the delayed post, but we were having problems with our servers last night.
San Jose is hosting the Plug-In 2008 conference this year which runs through July 24. It is the largest and first dedicated plug-in hybrid conference. This year, representatives from government, auto, and utility are discussing what is needed to make plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles a reality. In other words, they are dealing with the when scenario, not the if. One big issue being discussed is the electric grid upgrade that will need to happen in preparation for a surge in demand once plug-in hybrids are mass produced and sold.
Also in attendance are scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and exhibitors. New technology and research will be shared along with the latest innovations in plug-in technology and power grid infrastructure improvements. What makes this conference particularly exciting is that the conversation has changed from speculation and theory to planning for the inevitable introduction of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
I’m encouraged conferences and conversations like this are occurring. You can be sure more will come in the near future. Currently, the general consensus is that Toyota and GM will offer plug-in hybrids some time in 2010. You can be sure other automakers will be right behind them!
