I was watching the Oscars last Sunday night when this iPhone ad came on the screen. It’s about how much the iPhone has changed a woman’s life, especially when it comes to family travel. While waiting at the airplane gate, her husband asks, “Did we turn off the lights?” Realizing that she forgot to turn off the lights, she uses an iPhone application to turn off the lights in her home.
Much like when President Barack Obama mentioned smart grid in his inauguration speech, I was surprised at how the mainstream is willing to devote such valuable time to energy stuff. With the inauguration speech, I thought, “Did I hear that correctly? Did President Obama really just mention energy stuff in his momentous inauguration speech?” With this Apple commercial I thought, “Did Apple really just devote valuable ad time during the Oscars to talk about energy stuff?”
Yes folks, this energy stuff is becoming the stuff we are made of. People around the world are beginning to embrace it. It’s even becoming cool. With the help of technology, energy conservation is becoming less of a sacrifice and more of a cool thing. It will take time for technology like this iPhone application to diffuse, but once it does, there will be substantially less energy waste in this world.
It is not going to be easy to get there though. The iPhone application in this ad, called Schlage Link, is relatively expensive and has not received very good ratings. In the iPhone application store, more than half of its 1,282 customer reviews are 1 or 2 out of 5 stars. Although Schlage Link can save energy, is it worth $10 to $15 per month? Many reviewers apparently think not.
Eventually, the cost of these technologies will have to come down. With the help of many innovative companies and entrepreneurs out there, energy conservation will become easier and less of a sacrifice. Combined with strong support from the mainstream, there is substantial momentum that will be unstoppable once it gets going.
I have spent many years on electric energy projects on the generation and T&D side and into early DSM technology initiatives. EPRI does good work on these subjects and has typically been a good source of information and a good partner. As we tackle the problem it is useful to look for real and measurable gains on both sides of the production-consumption lifecycle. However, if our economic well being (and security) depends on abundant and inexpensive energy and electric power is clearly a major component then we need to focus on production technologies. It seems to me that in energy as in many things in life it makes sense to invest in strengths and not spend billions to mitigate weaknesses like over-consumption. Technology is frequently distributed and priced to foster adoption on models that start at the top of the consumer pyramid and then trickle down. The smart grid idea can deliver economic benefit to all consumers regardless of class. Cheaper and cleaner production does the same. As for turning off the lights while waiting at the airport, it is very cool and I would love to make sure my garage door is closed! Once all devices are given IP addresses like, say a DVR, the capability will become ubiquitous but I suspect it is a consumer convenience less than a national energy strategy.
I am a big fan of technology and the comments above are good ones but I wonder if anyone is looking at the energy required to power all the additional bandwidth and communication from the web, cell phones and other ‘smart’ portable and non-portable devices. Server farms are out off site and we will need more and more of them. If they are self-powered (wind/solar combination) I guess I would be more comfortable. I really think we can achieve the best results with simple solutions, turn lights off and heat/AC down when leaving your house and unplug or turn off power strips at night. Once you are used to it, it becomes second nature and no additional bandwidth is required. Just my two cents!
in 1999, a little company in Alameda, CA named Sage Systems Inc. had four pilot programs with about 200 consumers through four major electric utilities who were enabled to monitor and control lights, thermostats and appliances through a web browser and over a cell phone. All without broadband. All over the phone line and electric wires within the house.
Then the technology bubble burst in 2000 and nobody seemed to care. [sigh]
Being a four-time serial entrepreneur myself, I’ve come to believe that timing is everything. Otherwise, those “leading the charge” are merely cannon fodder.
It’s too bad that the desire for a short term return on investment seems to retard the advance of technology. I, for one, learned the lesson to stay far away from depending on electric utilities for business success.
Jon makes a good point, there are some hurdles, but a major sticking point is that no-one is putting the consumption (translated into cost) data in front of the customer. If these Apps dod that then customers will start to implement energy efficiency. I have already experienced discussions around online applications from Microsoft and Google which will do that.
I’m with you Tony. Few people pay attention to energy costs, and most assume that it’s only a few cents per hour. They’re more likely to adopt the iPhone app because it’s “new” and “cool” than because it might actually save some energy. So spend $100 or more on an iPhone plus $75 or so on monthly service plus another $10 or $15 per month for the app and $300 or more on Schlage hardware and possibly more for installation — all just to cover what you could do for free by just paying attention (turn off switches when you don’t need them)! Faced with these costs, and energy consumption costs, maybe the consumer would make a rational decision?
There are several great applications and there’s quite a bit of hardware in the market that can accomplish energy savings. Unfortunately, the research has shown little mainstream willingness on the part of consumers to invest any significant capital to achieve the savings. The most promising prospects follow a software-as-a-service model with hardware provided by the service provider. There are regulatory and infrastructure issues that complicate things a bit, but the smart grid/smart meter initiatives may give a boost to the possibility to trials and eventually roll-outs.