Do It the Hard Way

There are many easy and natural ways we can weave exercise into our busy lives.

A short piece I read many years ago "Do it the Hard Way", extolled the advantages of swimming against the tide of "energy-saving" conveniences, tools, and vehicles we take for granted. I don't recall the specifics, but they were along these lines:
- Take the stairs instead of using an escalator or elevator
- Walk or bicycle instead of driving. (especially walk with your children to school instead of driving them)
- Use a push lawn mower instead of a power lawn mower.
- Use a rake instead of a leaf blower.
- Incorporate exercise into recreation (think skates and skateboards instead of motor bikes; paddle a canoe instead of driving a power boat; active sports instead of a simulated virtual sport)
- Think active human powered sports instead of spectator sports.

The interesting thing about the above ideas is that they are also environmental choices. Each results in less air pollution by not using fuel or electrical energy generated mostly by burning coal; each is quieter.

The other is that these alternatives frequently do not take extra time or cost, unlike a trip to the gym. (For example, I bike to work; because I take a shortcut path, it takes about the same amount of time as driving.) Even just parking at the far end of a parking lot can save time compared to searching for the closest parking space.

Opportunities for exercise are everywhere; just do it the hard way.

Smart Grid, Stupid Grid

Note: The following article will appear in the April / May issue of the Chesapeake, the newsletter of the Maryland Sierra Club.

Smart Grid technology addresses many of the key challenges with electrical power generation, distribution, and consumption including:

• Mitigating environmental damage
• Controlling costs
• Improving reliability

Key attributes of smart grid technology are:

• Time of day and day of week pricing
• Smart meters to record and transmit detailed usage information including when power is used.
• Real time consumer feedback showing rate of usage
• Detailed information on incipient problems that could lead to outages
• Flexibility to deal with shifting loads
• The ability to reduce loads when the grid is straining under high loads
• Some electrical energy storage, such as advanced batteries or compressed air
• Capability to absorb power from on-site energy generation (such as solar power)
• Support for electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by methods such as scheduling charging for off-peak hours

Peak power usage occurs during the hottest part of summer days just when there is the most sunlight. Power companies strain to provide adequate electricity during those times. As power lines become overstressed and overheated, electrical resistance increases leading to more heating and energy loss. Sometimes these heated lines stretch and sag touching trees and causing massive outages.

Smart Grid technology addresses this issue by lowering peak demand. Homeowners can receive a monthly rebate by volunteering to let power companies shut off their air conditioners during peak hours. Industrial power control devices provide similar features on a larger scale. For example, I am employing an electrical lighting controller at an auto repair facility that reduces electric lighting loads when daylight is strongest, times that coincide with peak usage hours.

People and businesses that employ solar photovoltaic power reduce their power needs when sunlight is strongest – again times of peak usage. As utilities charge for usage by time of day, they encourage users to employ energy storage that shift usage from peak hours to times of lowest usage, such as midnight to 5 AM. They may use thermal storage systems that employ less expensive off-peak electricity to freeze ice at night; as the ice thaws the following afternoon, it cools the building cold with minimal electrical power.

In addition, the Smart Grid holds the promise of substantial carbon reduction.(1) The Pacific Northwest Laboratory recently reported that Smart Grid technology could lead to carbon savings of 12 percent if the grid is fully implemented by 2030.

In contrast, let’s call the older and antiquated way "Stupid Grid" technology. It seeks to build expensive and massive power lines to provide ample power, regardless of the energy source, costs, or environmental effects. The proposed PATH(2) and MAPP(3) power lines in our region are excellent examples of this approach. These power lines would bring coal-fired power from dirty power plants close to the coal fields of West Virginia and Kentucky to east coast areas. This is sometimes referred to as coal by wire. This approach exacerbates air, water, and land pollution as well as global climate change.

To ensure that Maryland follows the Smart Grid path (not PATH), Delegates Roger Manno (District 19) and Sue Hecht (District 3A) introduced House Bill 522, which would require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to analyze and report on the state’s long-term energy needs. In preparing the report – a blueprint for action, the Commission would have to solicit input from other state agencies, such as the Maryland Energy Administration and the Department of the Environment, as well consumers and environmental organizations. The plan would have to consider cost, reliability, and environmental laws and goals. Particularly because the PSC and utilities oppose this bill, you may wish to contact your delegates in support of this bill and your senator to support companion senate legislation.

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(1) Sweet, B, "Smart Grid Promises Substantial Carbon Abatement", 2/14/10
(2) The Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) is a joint venture of American Electric Power (AEP) and Allegheny Energy to build a new high-voltage interstate transmission line.
(3) The Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP) is a joint venture Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), Delmarva Power and Light Company, and Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) to build a new high-voltage interstate transmission line.

Someone’s new geothermal system raises some interesting questions.
See: Looks Like a Hot Deal, by Christopher J. Gearon, Washington Post, Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Synopsis: With various govenment incentives, Gearon equipped his 4,400 sq. ft. home with an expensive geothermal heating and cooling system.

Several economic and technical questions arise from the article:

1. Gearon states that his new tankless water heater is more efficient than a conventional water heater. While tankless water heaters don’t have losses associated with stored hot water, those losses are relatively minor. One could only determine which water heater is more efficient by comparing specifications or tests on the competing systems.
2. Do the incentives, tax breaks, and grants that financed 60% of the cost of Gearon’s new system, make sense for the general public? I.e., Do these benefits bring a reduction in pollution that is commensurate with the amount of money being doled out?
3. Gearon could have gotten some of the tax benefits from a more conventional, but highly efficient system (e.g., a condensing oil furnace). These would lower the cost of those competing systems.
4. If Gearon is using wind or another alternative source, he didn’t state that in the article. If he uses coal-fired electricity, his claim that his heat is fossil free doesn’t hold.
5. When touring a LEED building, an energy engineer asserted that the heat transfer between the downward and upward pipes in a vertical well ground system, are more significant than the transfer to the ground. Thus he asserted that there would be little or no benefit from the portion of the well below several feet.
6. Because the ground is cooled in winter and heated in summer from the geothermal well, temperatures around the well will fall in winter and rise in summer. These temperature changes will make the system less efficient as we get into the respective heating and cooling seasons.

Several of these items would require detailed analyses.