This summer Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) published a report by its Behavioural Economics Unit entitled Changing energy behaviour – what works? It is a good question to explore. Conor Pope writes an article in the Irish Times about it. ‘A lot of people genuinely care about the environment’ Most people, when asked if they … Continue reading New Irish report shows that people can be nudged into doing their bit to save the planet
Author: Rod Janssen
One person’s challenge to lower energy bills
Christopher Pickup has given his home an energy smart make-over including solar panels and a smart battery. It is worth nothing what he did. Claudia Tanner writes about his efforts in an article on the i news website. It is curious that there was no effort mentioned to improve the energy performance of the building … Continue reading One person’s challenge to lower energy bills
Important upcoming events
While there are so many events and webinars available to readers, the following two are particularly important. • World Sustainable Energy Days 2019 The conference and tradeshow World Sustainable Energy Days 2019 will be held from 27 February - 1 March 2019 in Wels, Austria. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are at the core … Continue reading Important upcoming events
Artificial intelligence applied to data centre cooling systems
AI is finding better ways to reduce energy consumption in data centres, according to Mallory Locklear in an article on the engadget website. Google’s data centres are taking the lead. Google is using AI to run its data center cooling systems Google's data centers hold thousands of servers and they power everything from Google … Continue reading Artificial intelligence applied to data centre cooling systems
How farmers can benefit from deploying renewable energy technologies
A recent rural valuation specialist in Australia has shown the boost to property value from installing wind turbines. Lucas Forbes provides an article on the ABC website. Renewable energy could add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a commercial farm's value While communities may object to renewable energy projects such as wind farms, the … Continue reading How farmers can benefit from deploying renewable energy technologies
Comparing German and Norwegian recycling efforts
Norway's bottle deposit scheme has been getting a lot of celebratory press. But some of the figures being quoted may be misleading. Germany has long had a similar scheme. Brigitte Osterath discusses which works best in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. Plastic bottle recycling champion: Norway or Germany? At the end of … Continue reading Comparing German and Norwegian recycling efforts
Small Greek island to become first in the Mediterranean to run exclusively on wind and solar power
The first time in Greece, I was amazed how little solar and wind power were used. Now, the energy transition is truly underway. A news item from Associated Press on the CBC website explains about the latest developments on the island of Tilos. If any of you have been there, please let us know what … Continue reading Small Greek island to become first in the Mediterranean to run exclusively on wind and solar power
Steps industry needs to take to improve their energy performance
Reflecting from time to time on the steps needed to improve energy efficiency is always a good idea, in any sector. Keith Sultana, senior vice president, global operations & integrated supply chain with Ingersoll Rand gave his views on the Smart Industry website. A roadmap for industry to increase energy efficiency In 2014, Ingersoll … Continue reading Steps industry needs to take to improve their energy performance
Novel approach to store energy
A startup called Energy Vault thinks it has a viable alternative to pumped-hydro: Instead of using water and dams, the startup uses concrete blocks and cranes. Akshat Rathi explains in an article on the Quartz website. What do you think? Stacking concrete blocks is a surprisingly efficient way to store energy Thanks to the … Continue reading Novel approach to store energy
Italian firm wants to be global player in solar energy
The Italian utility Enel is taking on the challenge to be a major player in manufacturing solar panels by betting on an advanced, commercially untested system. Stanley Reed and Keith Bradsher explain in an article in the New York Times. In Shadow of Mt. Etna, Europe Makes a Last Stand for Solar The enormous … Continue reading Italian firm wants to be global player in solar energy
