The hard part is over…
Posted on | March 21, 2009 | No Comments
…and now the fun can begin! I’m referring to the final throes of my thesis, which is the main reason that I created this site in the first place. I gave my final presentation on March 11, and the document itself is just about done as well. So now I can get back to blogging…
I am apparently just in time because a climate conference just concluded in Copenhagen where Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said that “if the buildup of greenhouse gases and its consequences pushed global temperatures 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher than today — well below the upper temperature range that scientists project could occur from global warming — Earth’s population would be devastated.” Essentially he thinks that Earth’s population will shrink down to 1 billion people if global warming is allowed to continue. Well that’s pretty rough. Of course we can do something about it and – even if you don’t believe the hype – saving energy in your own life is a good way to go. Here are some things to help you along the way:
- GE is launching a smart appliance pilot program. The smart grid is coming and GE is going to be ready for it, with some smart appliances to match. From Treehugger:
“Essentially what will happen is as utilities switch from fixed rates to variable rates, they’ll send out signals to your smart meter to let it know when the price is shifting. The appliances will also get the signals and react. So for instance, if you’re going to start up your dishwasher during a time when prices are high, it might give you a warning that you want to wait to begin the load. The customer won’t have to do anything to make the appliances adjust settings, but they will be able to override it if they’d like.”
- This doesn’t have anything to do with your home but it’s awfully cool so I’m including it anyway. Behold the routeRANK: it not only tells you how to get where you’re going, it tells you how much CO2 you’ll waste to get there! Unfortunately, like many cool things that we can’t have, this is available only in Europe right now, but we can dream, right?
- Finally, this is just your friendly reminder that just because something is “green design” that doesn’t mean it has to be ugly.
Until next time! Be good 
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Tags: energy > globalwarming > home > money > public > saving > sustainable > transportation
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