Can Measurement Save the World?

Photo Source: Boston Globe (Creative Commons registered)

I love our family Prius. It tells me in real-time what our average miles per gallon are for every tank we buy. There are other cars out there with trip computers measuring fuel efficiency, but not enough. I imagine if every car in America came with an on board metrics system gauging efficiency there would be a lot fewer muscle cars and SUVs on the road.

This measurement thing is also a big deal in the recycling world. The best recycling programs around the country tend to be those in so-called "Pay As You Throw" districts where people are charged by volume or weight for trash service. EPA has documented the effectiveness of PAYT. And the most exciting feature of RecycleBank's incentive program to folks like me (I coordinate Philadelphia's recycling efforts) is not so much the discount coupons you get for recycling but the fact that they weigh how much material you put out on
the street every week. If ever there was a reason to recycle it would be to beat my family average weekly rate of 48 pounds of recyclables (and 17 pounds of trash).


The big game over the next decade in the energy world is going to be creating "smart grid"applications for home and office use that give real-time energy consumption and load data. We read all this stuff about putting lids on pots of pasta, and re-lamping with CFLs, and washing clothes in cold water, but our family has been doing those things for more than 20 years (and I bet yours has too). 

What I want is an app that lets me control every outlet in my house and lets me remotely set my thermostat, turn on my dishwasher during my commute home, pre-heat the oven, and just simply know at any given moment how much electricity and natural gas we're using -- especially my kids with their video games (I want to charge them). 


We hear about solar, wind, geo-thermal, biomass, and hydrogen constantly. Alternative and electric vehicles are all the rage. But what about intelligence? Measuring things -- in real-time -- and really getting detailed information is how we get smart about energy use. Using an iPhone or Droid to control appliances and electrical systems is actually cooler than solar and has more sex appeal if you ask me.


Check out this video by the CleanTech people for starters. And also this article on iPad and iPhone potentials for remote control personal energy management systems. 


But note that a great deal of effort is still going into the power generation and transmission side of things (read "utilities" here) and not the end user side of the equation. See this piece from GreenBiz.com as an example. There is a movement underfoot and it's clear and obvious that iPad/iPhone apps make a helluva lot of sense once the infrastructure is in place, but the idea has to be to let consumers monitor their own usage and also to give them control over each piece of their home's energy system. 

Note as well that visits to websites for the Natural Resource Defense Council, Edison Electric Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, and Sierra Club don't point to the logic of monitoring and measurement as first priorities. They all talk about "clean energy" and demand side energy management, but there's nothing about the value of simply knowing what you need to know to make rational decisions about energy use. 

Without doubt there are complications in making all of this work. For one, home circuitry is going to have to get smart, and, yes, grids will too. Likewise, industry leaders are going to need to establish standardized systems and open architecture-like protocols that allow all things electrical to talk to us on our iGadgets. All of that costs money. But the whole idea behind saving energy is saving money...isn't it?


The entrepreneurial opportunity here is phenomenal, though. And the savings could be profound. Imagine leaving your house and actually being able to check that you turned off all the lights and the stove while you buckle up for a flight to Florida. Or how about turning the lights on in the house from Florida to make people think you're home? Yes, I know that won't save energy, but what would you pay for that kind of peace of mind? 

And let's take it one step further. Why are we not embedding touch screen computers (read iPad here) in refrigerator doors and kitchen cabinets? Forget the little iPad screen here. Think big and think smart: try a 20" screen and converge TV and Internet applications all in one...and let me monitor every little kilowatt in my house while I make dinner for my family. 

Measurement is the first line of environmental defense.

If only Toyota built houses. If only Apple ran the nation's transmission system. If only Bill Gates was CEO of my gas company!


By the way, Keep Recycling!