A plan in New York offers residents the chance to operate their AC from their phones, hopefully motivating them to take more control over their power usage (and temperature).
What happens when you flush the toilet? The government has to spend a lot of money cleaning up your mess. What if the processes of cleaning that water also created electricity? That’s what they call synergy.
We can all use less power, but it’s going to take some new behaviors. Design can be a powerful tool in nudging us to change how we act, and if we apply design solutions to using less power, it might be a little easier.
The technology for the smart grid exists, but no one is going to start using it while we still get electricity so easily. But that’s foolish: It’s time for the biggest buyers of electricity to lead the way.
The general public has no idea how much they pay for electricity or how to use less, undermining the central premise of smart meters and hindering their adoption.
It sounds like a forward-thinking energy policy, but giving away the bulbs won't solve the country's electricity problems, and the money could be spent on developing truly innovative solutions.
Despite incredible advances in energy efficiency, American households use the same amount of energy as they did 30 years ago. Why? It's all the gadgets plugged in.
