NewNergy

Pretty soon, though, the biggest contribution we can make as individuals to reducing carbon footprint may not be a Prius in the driveway. Instead, it’ll be a Honda in the basement.

Last year Climate Energy in Medfield ran a demonstration project in sixteen Massachusetts homes, replacing their gas-fired forced-hot-air heating systems with a new high-efficiency “freewatt” system featuring a Honda MCHP (Micro-CHP) unit. CHP stands for “Combined Heat and Power.” The unit is a small generator that takes advantage of heat thrown off generating electricity to provide a second home heating source.

The results were impressive. Using the same amount of gas (or in some cases a bit less), the homeowners were able to both heat their homes and dramatically cut their electrical bills. When home electrical use was low, the owners had the pleasure of actually seeing the electrical meter run backwards.

More from here - A Breakthrough in Home Energy Conservation

Labels: electricity, homes

Toyota Motor Corp plans to provide, for the third year in a row, home-use fuel cell cogeneration units as part of a government project to verify the practical use of CO2-reducing stationary fuel cells.

The municipal-gas-fueled 1-kW home-use fuel cell cogeneration units—which generate electricity and capture waste heat for household heating—are to play a role in the continuing Large-Scale Stationary Fuel Cell Demonstration Project of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Twenty-four of the units will be provided to project participant Toho Gas Co., Ltd. (Toho), which will install them in homes in three central-Japan prefectures (Aichi, Gifu and Mie) to collect data toward commercialization. The government project, which was originally scheduled to conclude on March 31, 2008, is now expected to run until the end of March 2009.

Full report here - Home-Use Fuel Cell Cogeneration Project

Labels: co2, electricity, homes

Echelon Technology To Help Reduce Energy Use in Home Appliances

(WebWire) 3/8/2007

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Echelon Corporation, a global networking company providing technology and solutions for controls, smart metering, and energy and environment management, and LonMark® International, a non-profit trade association, announced that CECED, the European Committee of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances, has adopted Echelon’s technology as part of its Household Appliances Control and Monitoring – Application Interworking Specification (AIS) standard. The CECED AIS standard defines Echelon’s control networking technology platform as one of the technologies for communication among household white goods such as ovens, washers and dryers.

The combined solution with Echelon’s standard will support the growing demand for intelligent home appliances that are more energy efficient, user friendly and convenient.

Read more from this press release here @ WebWire

Labels: conservation, efficiency, homes

Bright idea: Consumers attracted to energy savings of compact fluorescent lamps

ERIC SHACKLETON
March 10, 2007

Excerpts:

1. Compact fluorescents provide high energy efficiency
2. Nova Scotia's energy minister says the province plans to give retailers four or five years to prepare for a ban on incandescent light bulbs
3. Project Porchlight, a campaign organized by a not-for-profit energy conservation group, is working to deliver one CFL bulb to every household in Canada.
4. the PL bulbs, also called CFLs, have a longer life and will save the buyer money.
5. CFLs are also environmentally friendly because less energy is used.

More from this news report @ Brooks Alberta Business News

Labels: conservation, efficiency, electricity, environment, homes, lighting