... a beginner at something

Thrivable Technology

After learning about The Blue Economy site for just a short while, these two words Thrivable Technology stand in my mind for what the Blue Economy is about to produce and benefit from. Let me share a a few connections. (i) inspired by Gunter Pauli's  TEDx talk in Tokyo.

 

Thrivable

a word for a beautiful concept, inspired and shared by Jean Russell. Explore the perspectives of 70 authors in the Collaborative Sketch (made in a process of flash collaboration).

 

Technology

a few examples, selected along the way. Disclosure: no financial ties to any of these.

 

Nuclear marketing - view from Japan

Looking into the future, as we do here, is a dance with uncertainty. We mourn the earthquake and tsunami victims and many pray for those evacuated or currently working under a real nuclear threat. Seth Godin pointed out actual deaths from nuclear are rather low, per TWh (large unit of energy) produced. The Triumph of Coal Marketing

Here is a current nuclear industry association assessment of the damage in Fukushima, for all those who want to verify how safe nuclear is. http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/

Went solar in Yokohama, for about 2 hours

On Tuesday, the panels and wiring got installed. On Friday, the utility installed the second meter to count the electricity we generate and sell.  Today, Saturday, at 10 in the morning, the utility inspector came, measured the system and declared it good to go. Switch on, wait 300 seconds (5 minutes!) for the power conditioner to count down and - electricity started flowing back to the grid. On this sunny morning, we read up to 2.4 kW. Green power as we had planned! Great Day! My wife and I looked at each other and decided this day will end with champagne.

Except...  

(one celebration, two disappointments, conclusion for the day)

Went solar in Yokohama (almost)

Fifteen Panels were installed as planned (prior article: Going Solar in Yokohama). Again I am amazed at the dependability of craftspeople in Japan. They appear on time, normally know what to do and proceed to deliver their work as scheduled. On January 29, the utility will come, install the second electricity meter, and then we can try out making home power.

The scaffolding is done extra for the one hundred homes of the Yokohama City project, they want no accidents. Normally there would be only the ladder and the lift-ladder (already removed when this picture was taken, more here). The rooftop team coordinated by Nitten Solar worked well, took regular breaks and finished by early afternoon.

Electric wiring work and installation of the HEMS took much longer, way into darkness. If I figure out how to do it I will make the actual power generation data available, which we can access on the home LAN and which are shared with Yokohama City via Toshiba, the supplier of the Home Energy Management System.

Time to Payback - Until the Lights Turn Green

Bought one of the new mini LED bulbs they now sell in Japan, and replaced the mini-krypton incandescent bulb in a downlight.

LEDs are still expensive. Are they worth it?  Depends on where you use them. Let's take a look (video, 2 minutes) and  calculate the time to break-even, below.

Going Solar in Yokohama

Starting a new category here, green living, to chronicle the installation of solar rooftop power, with the likely unique view of a foreigner in Japan who happens to be an electrical engineer and safety inspector (not for solar installations).

On 2010-12-16, we signed up for 横浜グリーンパワー Yokohama Green Power project. YGP is part of 横浜スマートシティプロジェクト  Yokohama Smart City Project YSCP. Application deadline ends 2010-12-24 at our general contractor  Nitten Solar.

Update 2010-12-31: YGP deadline extended to 2011-02-07 (page in Japanese).

Posted first mention of this story on GreenITers bilingual network.

 

Technology Jumps Save Money

Every now and then some game-changing technology appears and diffuses through society according to Rogers' curve. Or my own interpretation of it.

Take refrigerators, for example. Introduced widely in 1998, inverters doubled energy efficiency, cut energy consumption in half. At prices for electricity and fridges in Japan, you could throw out your old fridge, buy a brand new one and break even on that investment in seven years. I did.

That efficiency is more than free. Beyond the break-even time it pays dividends.

Now, did people mildly interested in a new fridge run out and buy a new one? No, they didn't. Why? Few understand the implications when the label says the product consumes 600 kWh per year when measured according to XYZ standard. My prior fridge would have consumed 1200kWh, had it been measured to the same standard. These 600kWh saved each year is what pays the new fridge - if you keep it for seven years or longer.

Which is the right efficiency product for you right now depends on your specific life circumstances, and a lifetime cost of ownership calculation, plus a risk factor because your life plans may change or new technology may leapfrog prior achievements and offer even more efficiency.