Energy Efficient Top-Loaded Washers

Top-Loaded Washer Conventional wisdom over the past 5 years has pointed to front-loading washers as more energy efficient. They use much less water than traditional top-loaded washers, meaning less water to heat and they have higher capacity tubs, meaning fewer loads to cycle. Therefore, less energy is presumed to be required. Though the initial price is considerably higher, ranging between $500...

Introduction to Renewable Energy

Simply defined, renewable energy is energy that emanates from natural resources (e.g. sunlight, wind, and tides) which can be naturally replenished. There has been a significant push since the start of the 21st century to incorporate these sources of energy into an overall portfolio. By 2008, 19 percent of global energy consumption was satisfied by renewable energy sources. The main drivers of...

A Coming Bear Market for U.S. Electricity Sales?

Economic forecasters and business professionals alike are increasingly alarmed by the broad weakness of the U.S. economic recovery.  Forecasters in many sectors frequently highlight the “lost decade” of the Japanese economy following that nation’s stock market and real estate crash of the early 1990’s, and they openly wonder about parallel patterns in the U.S. and about the implications...

Decision Factors Related to Grid Modernization

The rationale for modernizing the electric transmission and distribution (T&D) network is obvious, particularly as one contemplates the specific application of Smart Grid and AMI and general implementation of full-scale distribution automation. However, any discussion about grid modernization needs to quickly shift to the planning and sequencing of the myriad actions to achieve the vision of...

Energy Storage – Essential to Renewable Energy

Electric energy storage has becoming a more dominant topic of the overall energy management discussion primarily because of the: Increased production of electric vehicles being plugged into outlets for recharging every evening, Advent of net-zero homes, and Expansion of intermittent solar and wind generation into the mainstream of energy supply options. As these factors begin to take on greater...