Reading your meter can help you better understand your energy usage. An electricity or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of electric energy a residence, business or electrically powered device consumes. Electricity meters are of various types. The most common are single-rate digital meters, variable-rate digital meters and dial meters. Your electricity [...]
Renewable energy and non-renewable energy are poles apart. Renewable energy is energy derived from resources that will never run out. Wind, solar or water energies are renewable because they can be generated endlessly, when required. They are plentiful and by far the cleanest sources of energy available on this planet. Non-renewable energy sources are available [...]
Green energy is electricity generated from methods other than the conventional sources—such as oil, nuclear and coal–and has many advantages. Blue is the color that defines gloominess and pollution caused by the conventional methods of energy generation. One major advantage to renewable energy is the sources of energy production are easily replenished. Therefore, it is [...]
Electricity generation in a nuclear plant results in many byproducts known as ‘nuclear waste’, which are extremely harmful for the environment. During electricity generation in a nuclear plant—from uranium mining to reprocessing exposed nuclear fuel—high levels of nuclear waste are produced. This high-level radioactive waste remains hazardous for thousands or even millions of years. However, [...]
When buying food from the grocery store, we read food labels to know about ingredients, nutrition and calories. Similarly, we should also know what our electricity suppliers are using to produce electricity with details of the mix of fuels used to produce the electricity supplied to them. Since October 2005, it has been mandatory in [...]
Carbon emissions are a major contributor to climate change. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities, electricity generation being an integral part. Combustion of fossil fuels for energy and transportation is the main human activity that emits CO2, although certain industrial processes also emit CO2. Electricity is one of the [...]
No matter the time of year or what season it is, our energy bill is always a major concern for many of us. We are concerned about saving energy costs, and never before have home owners been so focused about savings through landscaping. Growing plants around the house might be a hobby or a way [...]
Homeowners have used landscaping to save energy for many years, but only recently have we started to realize the magnitude of possible savings. Proper landscaping may cut winter heating bills by as much as 15 percent, while summer cooling energy needs may be cut by as much as 50 percent, according to a government study. [...]
The Weather Assistance Program (WAP), created by the US Department of Energy, is implemented through a network of government regulatory bodies and local community agencies to provide ‘weatherization services’ for families below the average income line to lower their energy bills and become energy efficient, through achieving maximum efficiency. Low-income families in every state in [...]
The official definition by the US government on its Smart Grid is that, “a Smart Grid is a developing network of new technologies, equipment, and controls working together to respond immediately to our 21st century demand for electricity.” The standard electric grid is a legacy network, dating back to the 1890s with over 9,200 electric [...]