tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78913740704075204642024-03-14T09:33:09.577+00:00AlertMe.com newsAlertMe offers intelligent, people-friendly home security and more.James Cottonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16732170321817061842noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-64519459931860419452010-04-22T17:57:00.002+01:002010-04-22T18:06:40.929+01:00Who to vote for? Single-issue voting for the world of 2020.This evening I’ll be joining millions of other Brits to watch the second of three televised debates between the major political parties. With Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all neck-and-neck in the polls, having seen Obama achieve a radical victory in America, and with the country apparently emerging from bruising economic turmoil, there’s more than a whiff of change in the air and an increasing feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, our votes really can make a difference this time. But what really are the differences between the parties - what key deciding factors should we take into account? And once we’ve decided what we want the outcome to be, then how do we make it happen?</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Picking a strategy </p> <p class="MsoNormal">With New Labour having become arguably more right-wing than the Conservatives, and all parties increasingly trying to steal each others’ policies to appeal to a growing middle class, it’s hard to just go with a default decision based on old party-political beliefs and traditions.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The credit crunch continues to be the talking point of the moment, but given the need to reduce our public borrowing the parties all seem to be in rough consensus about the necessary economic “trajectory”, so no help in deciding there either.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We change our governing party twice a decade, so 2020 seems a suitable horizon to plan for. What do we want the United Kingdom to look like by then, and what strategy should we follow to get us there?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For me the overwhelming elephant in the room remains climate change. Given the lack of distinguishing features on other topics, in this election I’ve become a “single issue” voter. I’m going to cast my vote entirely on the basis of how I believe my vote will best influence our approach to climate change.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How our country reacts to climate change over the next decade will either see us playing our part as a world citizen, becoming a leader in the transition and reaping the benefits of creating new intellectual-property, revitalising manufacturing in a second industrial revolution of sustainability, and improving our quality of life ... or else it will see continued economic decline driven by less and less investment in engineering, a failure to capitalise on our inventiveness, and the country wracked by an increasingly expensive and unreliable energy supply.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So I’ve been looking at each party’s manifesto, to try to find a sliver of difference on attitudes to climate change on which to make my voting decision.<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Labour</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Labour's huge advantage – and disadvantage – as the incumbents is that rather than have to believe their promises, we can look at their actions. Over the last couple of Labour terms we’ve seen some great political progress on the environment in some areas, for example the creation of the Carbon Trust, the Energy Act and Climate Change Act legally committing us to reducing carbon, the Stern Review, feed-in tariffs, and the Carbon Reduction Commitment. But all of these initiatives still have something of a feeling of “promises, promises” rather than “action this day”, and have been accompanied by seeming foot-dragging in other important areas. One example is the apparent failure to plan substantial new clean generation to secure our energy supply - so not only is our economy increasingly at the mercy of foreign powers, but it looks increasingly likely that by 2015 we may be experiencing rolling blackouts (as David MacKay has warned for years). </p> <p class="MsoNormal">From anecdotal reports from people closer than me, I get the strong impression that most of the progress on climate change in the UK has been driven by the people who really run the country (yes, our Civil Service) and that Gordon Brown has indeed been actively resisting some of these schemes. A particularly telling moment which greatly influenced my belief in whether he can grasp the big picture was when he responded to this winter’s heavy snowfalls with the comment that “no-one could have predicted them”. Will he be equally surprised when one day, out of the blue, a storm surge floods part of London, or a hurricane destroys some coastal towns?<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Conservative</p> <p class="MsoNormal">OK, it’s so easy to knock the incumbents, what about the Tories? Cameron started pretty well, with Zac Goldsmith and co., and many of the last decade’s political initiatives on climate change have either initiated, or at least supported, by Conservative policy. So, not a bad start, and there’s been some real leadership there – setting out a vision on climate change and working towards it. But there are valid concerns about whether Cameron has the party faithful completely behind him – within the party there is a faction of climate-change sceptics, and a good dose of “nimby” reactionaries to nuclear power and windfarms - plus a separate “market forces” faction that’s seems to want economic growth at any cost, e.g. the Heathrow expansion. So with an eye to a second term, will Cameron be forced to soft-pedal<span style=""> </span>on sustainability?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rather disappointingly, none of the major parties are currently majoring on climate change in their political posturing. I nurse a hope that this is because they just don’t want to frighten the voters (or trouble our tiny minds), and that once the election is over there’ll be sufficient clear water to really make some progress ... but we’ll see.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For what it’s worth, in March the Conservatives released a policy paper entitled “Rebuilding Security: Conservative Energy Policy for and Uncertain World”, which listed the following priorities:</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Maintaining the security of energy supplies.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sustaining the UK’s ecosystems.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Improving the economics of energy usage for consumers and business.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style=""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Generating opportunities for growth in the British industrial and commercial sectors</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Liberal Democrat</p> <p class="MsoNormal">During the expenses scandal it was notable that, given plenty of rope, plenty of Labour and Conservative politicians lined-up to hang themselves with it, whereas LibDem MP’s conspicuously failed to do so. That may just possibly be relevant to this debate because climate change requires actions today which may be unpopular, so a degree of moral fibre is required.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of the three main parties, the LibDem’s have by far the most aggressive agenda in terms of the speed of reducing emissions and increasing clean supply, really focussing on the end-game of “Zero Carbon Britain”, and as a shorter term tactical example, aiming to roll-out smart meters in 5 years not 10. However, having had not much more than a whiff of power for a long time, do they have credibility? Is there a risk that, like Tony Blair in ’97, if they do suddenly find themselves with the reins of power they may be so surprised that they won’t really know what to do with it? I also find their (negative) attitude towards nuclear power a little surprising – personally I feel that it’s probably an essential part of the mix until (and indeed if) we can build enough reliable renewable such as massive-scale tidal generation.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Greens</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Greens - what possible relevance can they have? Well, one could have said the same about the Lib Dems only weeks ago. And just as parity between Labour and Conservative has boosted the fortunes of the LibDems, perhaps so hung parliaments or even major political shifts such as PR, might see the Greens (or at least their ideas) gain some real power, as everyone scrabbles to forge alliances and the Greens find themselves the holders of the ideas that everyone wants to claim, having been on the right side of history. In countries like Germany the Greens have of course become a real political force, capturing 10% of parliamentary seats (vs 0% in the UK so far!).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">True, there have been major inconsistencies within the party faithful, with factions resisting the very actions necessary to combat climate change, such as wind, tidal and nuclear generation, because of their potential impact on flora & fauna. But as the potential effects of climate change have become clear, the Greens seem to have come around to a relatively coherent agenda, at least on the topic of climate change, which, if you’re still with me, you’ll remember is my single-issue!<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Tactical voting</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, bearing all of the above in mind, how should I vote?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I could vote Green as a general “protest” vote on the environment. I know that it won’t affect the election of my MP, but maybe if enough people vote Green then it will influence my local MP when he seeks re-election. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Or I could vote Lib-Dem. Try to shake things up, increase the influence of their more ambitious environmental policies. But the results of stirring the pot are very unpredictable - a Lib-Lab pact might form, and - who knows – maybe Peter Mandelson will become our nation’s second consecutive unelected prime-minister. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>But hang on, our local rag rather depressingly ran a story a few weeks ago entitled “your vote doesn’t count”, saying that the seats around Cambridge are all so "safe" that there’s very little chance of any change. Indeed in 2005 in South Cambs, our local Conservative MP won with 46% of the vote, the next closest being the Lib Dems with only 28%.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/election2010/results/constituency/e09.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/election2010/results/constituency/e09.stm</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My local MP is Andrew Lansley, Conservative. A nice-enough chap, I’ve even seen him in action locally on issues I care about, and his home page has a new lead story on it about how he thinks Cambridge should be Britain’s first “eco city”. But (and forgive me a little cynicism here!) it the kind of wonderful story which no-one could possibly disagree with - because there’s just no downside. It reminds me of the voting system in California which allows you not only to vote for particular candidates, but also to vote for particular policies. And of course the way that policies are described has a massive effect on the results: unsurprisingly policies were always described in terms like “vote for increasing education” rather than “vote for increasing taxes”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Digging deeper into Lansley’s site, he does support the local council’s <a href="http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/environment-and-recycling/sustainable-city/climate-change/">Cambridge Climate Change Strategy</a> for climate change mitigation, based on the Nottingham Declaration on Climate change - but then so does everyone else!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The past being a good guide to the future, let’s look at his track-record on the excellent <a href="http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/">Publicwhip</a> site. This allows me to see how my MP has voted on all votes on a particular topic. So if I look up the topic “<a href="http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Andrew_Lansley&mpc=South_Cambridgeshire&house=commons&dmp=1030">Stop Climate Change</a>”, I see that he has an impressive 97% agreement with votes on this subject.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Conclusion</o:p><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So how am I going to vote? A radical green protest, a Lib-Dem stirring of the pot, a Labour vote to deliver on existing green policies, or a safe Conservative pat on the back? As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards">Francis Urquhart</a> said, “I couldn’t possibly comment”. But I can tell you one thing: as I sit down to watch them slug it out on TV tonight, I’ll be enjoying (and participating) on the excellent <a href="http://slapometer.com/">Slapometer</a> site!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-82419802939784798712010-03-26T18:40:00.000+00:002010-03-26T18:40:46.430+00:00Earth Hour<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Tomorrow, Saturday 27<sup>th</sup> March, at 8.30pm is <a href="http://www.earthhour.org/">Earth Hour</a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Show that you care about climate change by switching your lights off for 1 hour. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Just a small change like switching off lights when you leave a room can make a difference. If</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> you turn off two 60 watt light bulbs that you normally leave on around the clock you can save £120 a year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">If every household in the UK did this, we could save just over half a tonne of Co2.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here at AlertMe we will be switching our lights off. Will you?</span></div>Nicola Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10658946008068369083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-52013784363896582262010-03-18T11:40:00.002+00:002010-03-18T12:04:04.515+00:00AlertMe named as New Energy Pioneer by BloombergWe're delighted to be able to let you know that Bloomberg New Energy Finances has named AlertMe in the Top 5 New Energy Pioneers worldwide.<br /><br />The Pioneers programme has recognised AlertMe as a highly promising company in the new energy technology field. Bloomberg believe AlertMe will play a vital part in the transition to a lower carbon, smart energy system.<br /><br />Bloomberg were impressed that AlertMe can not only demonstrate new technology but also show it working in real-life in customers homes today, helping them to see how much energy they're using and lower their energy bills right now.<br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.newenergyfinance.com/Download/pressreleases/pioneers_announcement_3.17.102.pdf/">here</a> to learn more about Bloomberg's New Energy Pioneers.jamieleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02687972435308977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-83051621490378217952010-03-12T09:00:00.003+00:002010-03-12T19:30:27.265+00:00Mary Turner joins AlertMe as CEOWe're all excited today to be able to share the news that Mary Turner has joined AlertMe as our new CEO (press-release <a href="http://www.alertme.com/news/press/alertme-appoints-mary-turner-ceo/">here</a>). AlertMe is now well into its commercial growth phase, and we've been seeking someone with the proven experience of leading consumer-focused businesses from entrepreneurial beginnings into massive commercial success. Mary is our dream candidate and I was over the moon when she said "Yes". As a founder, it's great to be able to mark this major "growing-up" milestone in the company's history, and to have found such an exceptional person to lead us forwards.<br /><br />It's significant that Mary comes from the telecommunications world, where she played a major role in the telco revolution of the past 20 years or so. During that time telco has seen a) the freeing-up of the "local-loop" (you can now buy your broadband from anyone, not just BT), and b) increasingly rich, bundled services (you can now buy your fixed-line, your broadband, your TV and your mobile all from one service provider).<br /><br />AlertMe is a key platform for driving a similar revolution in the Energy space - and indeed the gap between Energy and Telco is blurring fast. Increasingly, consumers are coming to see Energy less as a fixed, inevitable cost of owning/renting a home, and more as another household service just like broadband, mobile or TV - which can be understood, switched and bundled in the same way.<br /><br />Vive la change!Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-28031464908865600852010-03-10T17:21:00.002+00:002010-03-10T17:24:38.710+00:00Google Opens Up PowerMeter API<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S5fVwNSvjqI/AAAAAAAAALI/uT1GhGrIUlc/s1600-h/gpm_screenshot7.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S5fVwNSvjqI/AAAAAAAAALI/uT1GhGrIUlc/s320/gpm_screenshot7.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447057298506616482" /></a><br />In October AlertMe became the first European company to <a href="http://www.alertme.com/news/press/alertme-energy-launches-google-and-british-gas/">partner </a>with <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/index.html">Google PowerMeter</a>. AlertMe gives consumers visibility and control of their energy consumption and enables consumers to view this information with Google PowerMeter. By providing the energy consumption data that PowerMeter relies on, AlertMe is one of the engines behind Google PowerMeter.<br /><br />Last week, Google expanded the ecosystem around PowerMeter by <a href="http://blog.google.org/2010/03/google-powermeter-api-introduced-for.html">introducing</a> an API (application programming interface) which will allow developers to help people better understand their energy consumption and find additional ways to save energy. And of course all of these new add-on capabilities will be available to any AlertMe customers who opt into Google PowerMeter too.<br /><br />We’re thrilled that Google released the API and hope that adoption of the API is widespread. This validates the importance of our partnership with Google and will help to increase adoption of online consumer home energy management. And we think that everyone should have access to their energy information to save money, avoid wasting energy and be good to the planet by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.<br /><br />If you’ve been waiting to <a href="http://www.alertme.com/products/alertme-energy/">try out AlertMe</a> or Google PowerMeter, there’s no time like the present.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-25285157139734625642010-02-02T10:37:00.004+00:002010-02-02T14:29:42.817+00:00AlertMe Customer Survey Winter 2009/2010<span style="font-weight: bold;">Is AlertMe good value for money?</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/S2gQyAAIpGI/AAAAAAAAAwc/AoBjzTUkLFs/s1600-h/image003.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/S2gQyAAIpGI/AAAAAAAAAwc/AoBjzTUkLFs/s320/image003.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433611401602573410" border="0" /></a>We've just completed our Customer Survey. A big "thank you" to the hundreds of people who took the time to take part - giving us statistically meaningful results with which to guide the development of AlertMe as a service.<br /><br />The graph on the left shows the answers to the question "Is AlertMe good value for money?". We also asked questions about usefulness, reliability, and (the acid test) - "Would you recommend us to a friend?" And to that, a whopping 96% of respondents said they either would or have done so - hooray!).<br /><br />You'll find the answers to that and many more questions detailed in our summary of the results <a href="http://www.alertme.com/publish/Customer_survey_winter_2009_2010_results_blog/AlertMe%20Customer%20Survey%20-%20selected%20results%20for%20Publication.htm">here</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Would you recommend AlertMe to your friends?<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/S2gSBRY-dzI/AAAAAAAAAwk/3Qko6SDKvR0/s1600-h/image004.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 295px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/S2gSBRY-dzI/AAAAAAAAAwk/3Qko6SDKvR0/s320/image004.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433612763479832370" border="0" /></a>Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-78665366262000945092010-01-28T12:27:00.005+00:002010-02-09T20:06:46.572+00:00Close the Door!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S2GGfQUKOSI/AAAAAAAAALA/G5ksL6GCIpg/s1600-h/close_the_door.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 64px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S2GGfQUKOSI/AAAAAAAAALA/G5ksL6GCIpg/s320/close_the_door.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431770497099118882" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.closethedoor.org.uk">Close the Door</a> is a Cambridge-based group that campaigns for shops to, as the name suggests, keep their doors closed to save energy. Many shops operate an 'open door' policy as they feel it is more welcoming for their customers. However during particularly hot or cold weather keeping the shop at a comfortable temperature with the doors open can lead to enormous energy waste.<br /><br />Research by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution shows that retailers use almost double the amount of energy annually per square metre that factories and offices do, with retailers using on average 460 kilowatt hours (kWh) in comparison to only 292 kWh for factories and 252 kWh for commercial offices. <br /><br />Making matters worse many retailers are in fact over-heating their premises. 18°C is the ideal shopping temperature, as recommended by the Chartered Institute for Building Services Engineers, but <a href="http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=52340">Make It Cheaper</a> found that the average temperature in shops on London’s Oxford Street was a staggering 23.6°C. The research conducted in the freezing temperatures of December last year found that only 6 out of 100 shops surveyed had their doors closed in spite of the freezing weather.<br /><br />AlertMe is being used to conduct some scientific research by <a href="http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/gft/03_activities/index_03.html ">Close the Door</a> on the effects of leaving shop doors open. The research aims to identify just how much energy is wasted and how much extra money it costs to heat (or cool) a shop with the doors open compared with keeping them closed. The experiment began this month with two shops in Cambridge and we look forward to sharing the results with you soon.<br /><br />Read more about the impact of closing the door and retailers can <a href="http://www.closethedoor.org.uk/content/view/24/37/">sign up</a> for the Close the Door campaign now.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-25558488197750717802010-01-14T10:45:00.000+00:002010-01-14T10:45:42.469+00:00What if science is trying to save us?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S0SuS6V16fI/AAAAAAAAAKE/5gWQGMUEwAQ/s1600-h/flood.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S0SuS6V16fI/AAAAAAAAAKE/5gWQGMUEwAQ/s320/flood.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423651491182668274" /></a><br />I'd like to tell you a joke: <blockquote>The land was struck by a tremendous flood. Everyone escaped to higher ground, but a vicar found himself stuck on the roof of his house. A man in a boat came by and said "Come on Father, get in my boat and I'll row you to safety". "Oh, no thank you -- God will save me!" said the vicar. Next, a helicopter flew overhead and a rope ladder was lowered. "Climb up, and we'll fly you to safety". Again, the vicar declined: "No thanks. God will save me!"<br /><br />Eventually, the waters rose above the roof of the vicar's house and he drowned. When he arrived in heaven he sought an audience with God and complained "Why didn't you save me?" God replied: "I sent a boat and a helicopter... What more did you want?</blockquote>One of the responses that I often hear to the threat of climate change is "science will save us". Unfortunately, like the vicar on the roof of his house, I fear that these people are failing to notice that science is <i>trying</i> to help us right now: scientists are telling us that we must reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to below 350 parts per million, and we must keep the increase in global temperature to below 2 degrees. <br /><br />We as consumers <i>can</i> contribute to this. We are each personally responsible for our own carbon footprint, and if we don't all reduce the amount of greenhouse gas we are responsible for emitting (by consuming electricity, gas, petrol and consumer goods), the science will not be able to save us. <br /><br />One of the difficulties for us as consumers is that we just don't know how big our carbon footprint is, or how we can reduce it, and therefore what we can do to help. Systems like AlertMe provide people with a way to monitor and understand their own personal contribution to the impact on the environment, and thus what they can do to reduce that impact.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-34637488603117931872010-01-06T15:58:00.005+00:002010-01-07T10:25:52.471+00:00What's the antidote to being over-connected?I must be getting old and intolerant, or maybe I just got out of bed on the wrong side today, but I find the news that the UK National Grid (which distributes gas and electricity across the nation) has just issued its second ever "<a href="http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Gas/Data/GBA/">Gas Balancing Alert</a>" rather depressing. Not so much about the immediate risks, but about what it implies about how we are organising ourselves.<br /><br />We had a small amount of snow just before Christmas, and now it has snowed again. Not amazing amounts - just a foot or so. It's been slightly colder than normal, for slightly longer, in a "once every few years" kind of a way. Certainly not a "once in a lifetime" or "once in a millenium" kind of a way. And yet the nation's gas supplies have run low to the point where industrial users are told to stop consuming until we can import more gas from abroad, to preserve the gas for consumers - presumably so that grannies across the country don't die of hypothermia.<br /><br />On the roads, there is concern about whether stores of grit and salt will last, and talk of whether "production will meet demand". Salt is just about the cheapest commodity there <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span>. It doesn't go off. Why not stockpile mountains of the stuff in strategic locations around the country? Same with gas. I'm sure that building more gas storage would cost <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span>, but as an insurance policy, surely a negligible amount per person compared to the human cost of running out - and probably the financial cost too.<br /><br />It's almost as though it's a crime to save (sound familiar?). The "cost of capital" is king, and to hell with the risks. Put another way, we seem to be trying to run the country in a lean "just in time" kind of a way - which is no way to run a country, as the consequences of the whole nation's supply-chain failing are not just financial, they could be catastrophic for our society.<br /><br />We're fortunate to live in a place and time where the three basic domestic services - electricity, gas and water - are extremely reliable. But that good-fortune has made us complacent. As individuals and communities, we expect and utterly depend on them, to the point of not thinking about them at all. Less than a hundred years ago, it was normal for local communities to have local stores of wood, coal, oil, and even acetylene (for lighting, before the electricity grid reached all parts of the country), and to plan ahead, managing those stores. But now, as a side-effect of nationalising our services, we have removed the local storage, and are dependent on whatever storage is available at a national level, on the grid. And that is a dangerous thing to do, because it makes the network very "brittle". If an event happens in just one part of the network, that's fine, the grid can rebalance. But if everyone across the national network experiences the same event (e.g. snow), then the entire network requires national-sized reserves to survive the shock. And the substantial failure of one network could quickly cause knock-on effects which bring down others, bringing civilisation to its knees. We now generate a lot of our electricity from gas, for example.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Kauffman">Stuart Kauffman</a>, a founder of complexity theory, revealed how the "connectedness" of any network has profound effects on its overall behaviour. "Network" in this case can be any collection of things that work together: genes in an organism, computers on the internet - or individuals in a society. He found that although obviously a network needs <span style="font-style: italic;">some</span> connectivity in order to function, there is such a thing as <span style="font-style: italic;">too much connectivity</span> - with everything connected to everything else, everything starts behaving the same, and the network can "crystallise" into a single homogenous lump, losing many of the benefits that come from having looser connections. Our society has recently been increasing its connectivity at an amazing rate - and its time we thought about the consequences.<br /><br />Buffering (local storage) is good. Diversity is good. Redundancy (having a spare) is good. These are qualities of an optimally-connected network, and they all contribute to the overall network's ability to survive adverse events. In an <span style="font-style: italic;">over</span>-connected network you tend to lose these benefits, and that's where we seem to have got to today. We're all in the same boat, and we've carefully balanced it an inch above the water-line.<br /><br />Energy security, like food security, is life-or-death stuff, it's not to be taken lightly. So what should we do to improve our resilience?<br /><br />We should intentionally restore the qualities we have lost:<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Adding <span style="font-weight: bold;">Buffering </span>by placing sufficient storage, ideally spaced around the grid<span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span>and adding <span style="font-weight: bold;">Diversity and Redundancy </span>through moving to a mix of energy sources: wind, solar, hydro and (especially in the UK) tidal.<br /><br />Another useful contribution (though not a panacea in its own right) is local generation, using domestic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_combined_heat_and_power">microCHP</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_the_United_Kingdom">solar PV</a> to generate electricity. So it's interesting to see that feed-in tariffs are finally coming to the UK in April. The final terms are not yet public, but the government is going to guarantee that, for a fixed period (20 years?), all electricity generated will get paid-for at a rate which turns local generation into an attractive investment (e.g. 36p per unit instead of the current 5p) . "Better late than never" I say - we're more than a decade behind many other countries on this - even Iran already feed-in tariffs! This will certainly help accelerate the move towards grid-parity, which is where the cost of locally-generated electricity matches the cost of centrally-generated. And once we're there, then we'll be a lot more resilient against foreign oil prices, gas supply interruptions - and snow (free brush supplied with every installation!).<br /><br />Another way to increase resilience is to devolve more of the responsibility for infrastructure out to local level, so that planning and storage is taken as a local responsibility, to avoid the "someone else's problem" effect. It's particularly interesting to see grass-roots examples of this springing-up, for example <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.transitiontowns.org/">Transition Towns</a>.Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-76566365126156634312010-01-05T13:40:00.017+00:002010-01-05T15:33:25.126+00:00Christmas EnergyAt AlertMe, we were wondering what impact Christmas would have on the energy consumption of the nation with all that TV watching, Christmas tree lighting and turkey roasting. Luckily, the <a href="http://www.alertme.com/swingometer">Swingometer</a> lets us find out. <br /><br />The Swingometer was firmly in the red leading up to Christmas with higher energy usage than usual, probably due to the cold weather and snow.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S0NGAo56y-I/AAAAAAAAAJE/H4_C7or_074/s1600-h/swingometer_2009-12-26.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 195px; height: 173px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S0NGAo56y-I/AAAAAAAAAJE/H4_C7or_074/s200/swingometer_2009-12-26.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423255353078500322" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S0NGI3cQhUI/AAAAAAAAAJM/vByIgKnMl68/s1600-h/swingometer_2009-12-27.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 195px; height: 173px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/S0NGI3cQhUI/AAAAAAAAAJM/vByIgKnMl68/s200/swingometer_2009-12-27.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423255494419580226" /></a>It was no surprise that Christmas day continued the trend, with the UK using significantly more energy than on a typical Thursday.<br /><br><br><br />Looking at the animated heat-map below, you can see a huge decrease in energy consumption in London at Christmas (this is shown as London going green in the map). Presumably a lot of Londoners left the city to visit family over the festive season. Then, on the 3rd of January the usage in London leapt back into the orange, indicating that people had returned home ready to go back to work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.alertme.com/publish/swingometer/christmas.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 231px; height: 339px;" src="http://www.alertme.com/publish/swingometer/christmas.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Happy New Year from all at AlertMe!Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-88848950181021329692009-12-21T10:22:00.001+00:002009-12-21T12:08:20.432+00:00How are you doing?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SyjEEdZu7uI/AAAAAAAAAH0/ZeeSY-bEB-g/s1600-h/swingometer.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SyjEEdZu7uI/AAAAAAAAAH0/ZeeSY-bEB-g/s320/swingometer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415794132804103906" /></a>Recently AlertMe launched the <a href="http://www.alertme.com/swingometer">Swingometer</a> - an online device which shows a live display of how well the UK is doing at reducing its energy consumption. Today, we're pleased to announce that all AlertMe Energy customers can now view their own personal swingometer in the AlertMe user interface. <br /><br />Your individual swingometer will show you how well you’re doing at reducing your personal energy consumption in the past 24 hours compared with your past behaviour. So if you've used a lot less energy recently than past experience suggests, the swingometer will swing into the green, and if you've used a lot more, it'll be in the red. Your swingometer is just for you and we’ll keep all your information private, but if you’d like to share it with friends and show them how you’re doing at reducing your carbon footprint and your energy bills then that’s great too. You can publish your personal swingometer anywhere you want, share the link on Twitter, post it on Facebook, send it around in an email or even embed it on your personal blog or website. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SytvvpVatMI/AAAAAAAAAH8/HORfBH-aUl0/s1600-h/swingometer_ui.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SytvvpVatMI/AAAAAAAAAH8/HORfBH-aUl0/s320/swingometer_ui.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416545841183372482" /></a>If you're an <a href="http://www.alertme.com/products/alertme-energy/">AlertMe Energy</a> customer simply login to view the swingometer on your AlertMe home page. If you're an AlertMe security customer and have bought a meter reader, you'll be able to see your swingometer by going into the energy records page. <br /><br />We believe in providing you, our customers, with as many ways as possible to visualise (and thus, hopefully, understand and reduce) your usage of energy. The swingometer is just one more way to help you do this. We’ve kept it really simple so we hope that anyone, even your kids, can begin to understand how their TV watching or kettle boiling can affect your energy bills and our environment. <br /><br />We’re sure you can think of many cool and innovative ways to use the Swingometer and we’re looking forward to hearing your ideas.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-86789818796289809962009-12-15T10:49:00.000+00:002010-03-12T11:04:25.488+00:00DECC Smart Meter consultation - Part II<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/S5od0D9MWgI/AAAAAAAAcDs/qVq1pe1wsbw/s1600-h/DECC+topsheet.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 184px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/S5od0D9MWgI/AAAAAAAAcDs/qVq1pe1wsbw/s320/DECC+topsheet.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447699479510407682" border="0" /></a>Back in August we <a href="http://alertme.blogspot.com/2009/08/response-to-decc-smart-meter.html">blogged</a> our response to DECC's White Paper on Smart Meters. Now DECC has collected all the responses and published an update <a href="http://www.decc.gov.uk/Media/viewfile.ashx?FilePath=Consultations%5CSmart%20Metering%20for%20Electricity%20and%20Gas%5C1_20091202094543_e_@@_ResponseElectricityGasConsultation.pdf&filetype=4">here</a>.<br /><br />The good news is that DECC agrees that it's vital that Smart Meters have a connection to an in-home network - not just to an in-home display but to other devices too. What we need next is clarity on the physical communications standard that will be chosen for that connection, so that the market can gear-up to deliver devices and services which connect to it. There are many contenders, but it's important that the government choose one (any one!) so that everyone can design around it - otherwise the uncertainty and diversity will act against consumer choice.Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-49688982711887703412009-12-11T14:17:00.004+00:002009-12-11T14:34:54.644+00:00Homework<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SyJXbr3RC7I/AAAAAAAAAHs/_zOkxrGIXOI/s1600-h/home-worker.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SyJXbr3RC7I/AAAAAAAAAHs/_zOkxrGIXOI/s320/home-worker.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413985835195370418" /></a><br />Almost 18% of Britons work from home, which is presumably a good thing for the environment. That means 5 million less people travelling to workplaces. Surely that must be less carbon-intensive. But how do we know how much energy home workers are using? And who’s keeping track of their carbon footprint? <br /><br />Recently we <a href="http://www.alertme.com/news/press/alertme-and-amee-join-forces-launch-home-worker-ca/">announced</a> that we’re joining forces with <a href="http://www.amee.com/">AMEE</a> to make it easier for companies to track the carbon footprint of their home workers. This will make life a lot easier for UK corporations that will need to track their entire carbon footprint in order to comply with the UK's <a href="http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/crc/crc.aspx">CRC Energy Efficiency scheme</a> which is due to begin in April 2010. <br /><br />The Carbon Tracker service we’re introducing allows home-workers to use the AlertMe system to track their energy usage. AMEE convert the information about how much energy has been used into an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. The CO<sub>2</sub> information is provided to the home-workers’ company where it can be used to create reports on the company’s entire carbon footprint to comply with legislation such as the UK's Carbon Reduction Commitment.<br /><br />We’re now looking for pilot customers for this innovative new service. If you’d like to be part of this pilot and find out how much carbon your home workers are using please contact us by email at h<sdfsdf>om<sdfsdf>ew<sdfsdf>ork<sdfsdf>ers<sdfsdf>@<sdsdfsdf>a<sdfsd>l<sdfsdf>e<sdfsdf>rt<sdsdf>me<sdfsdf>.<sdsdf>c<sdfsdf>o<sdsdf>m.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-41513936675403481202009-12-02T15:30:00.005+00:002009-12-11T14:32:25.425+00:00Energy on Display<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SxaJBMRyJQI/AAAAAAAAAHg/WsrCbaA89C8/s1600-h/decc.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 283px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SxaJBMRyJQI/AAAAAAAAAHg/WsrCbaA89C8/s320/decc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410662655900919042" /></a><br />This morning the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published its response to a consultation initiated earlier this year on smart metering. The response is based on comment from over 270 organisations (including AlertMe), and we’re delighted to see that the Government have firmed up their position on a number of key areas.<br /><ul><li>First, they have confirmed their view that the communication network (between smart meters and the rest of the world) should be centralised.</li><br /><li>They stress the importance of data security, a subject we’re passionate about.</li><br /><li>Also it’s great to see that DECC is recognising the importance of promoting local community engagement in the roll-out of smart meters.</li></ul><br />The role of the consumer in combating climate change cannot be underestimated. If the UK is to achieve its targets for reducing CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, we all have a part to play. We as individuals account for around 40% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, and a large chunk of that is due to our use of energy in the home. With the old-fashioned meters that almost all UK houses currently have, it's very difficult for people to understand where they're using energy, making it hard to take confident steps towards reducing their energy usage and their carbon footprint. Giving consumers that information in a form that they can be easily understood and acted upon empowers them to do their part to help reduce the UK's carbon footprint. Without systems such as AlertMe Energy, or in the future smart meters connected to in-home displays, we're all just feeling our way in the dark.<br /><br />Thankfully AlertMe Energy can allow even those with old-fashioned meters to view and reduce their energy usage (and the accompanying electricity bills of course) and their carbon footprint today. And of course in future we’ll be able to work directly with smart meters as they’re rolled out.<br /><br />Of particular interest was the confirmation of the Government's position that smart meters should include a stand alone in-home display. At AlertMe, we take the view that the more ways consumers are given to visualise their energy usage, the better, and the in-home display is one of the most visible ways of achieving this. We’re always working on new ways for consumers to track their energy usage and monitor their progress in reducing their carbon footprint. And in keeping with this we’re already talking to existing providers of in-home displays about integration with AlertMe as well as crafting plans for the creation of an AlertMe display as part of our whole-home energy management system. Watch this space for more details.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-68722741116518943892009-11-25T09:37:00.006+00:002009-11-25T13:54:17.261+00:00Dow Jones, GreenBeat, ... and the final frontier!I spent last week in Silicon Valley (where I lived for six years in the 90's), and spoke at a couple of conferences: <a href="http://alternativeenergy.dowjones.com/">Dow Jones</a> and <a href="http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/11/16/power-to-the-people-giving-consumers-more-control-over-energy-will-pay-off-big/">GreenBeat</a>. But of course I was mainly there to listen, and I was seeking answers to:<br />1) Has the US woken-up to climate change?<br />2) Does the consumer really matter in the US?<br />...and it was exciting to see that the answer to both questions is an emphatic "yes!"<br /><br />The likes of Intel and Cisco, and indeed the venture-capital community which created the Silicon Valley phenomenon, are now very strongly focussed on Energy, and see in it an opportunity on the same scale as the internet boom. Veteran investors John Doerr and Vinod Khosla both gave passionate speeches (as did Al Gore). When you look at the amount of money we pay for Energy (far more than any other household service) and the extremely primitive way it is managed, it's not surprising that people are viewing it as a big opportunity. Now I do recognise that Silicon Valley is not America, but it does <span style="font-style: italic;">create </span>much of the future for America. So while I suspect that a lot of people outside of the West and East Coast still remain to understand the profound effects that climate change, energy security and peak oil (and our reactions to adapt) are about to have on their lives, it's great to see that in places like Silicon Valley it is now a hot topic.<br /><br />And does the consumer matter? As a totally consumer-centric company this question is very important to AlertMe. We know that the consumer <span style="font-style: italic;">does </span>matter in countries like the UK which have a deregulated energy industry, because utilities have to compete for the consumer's business, so they need to compete not just on pricing, but on the quality of the consumer experience, in order to attract and retain customers.<br />That's not the case in the majority of US states, where utilities are still regulated, meaning that the consumer has no choice of supplier, and everything from rates to services is determined by legislation in the form of the all-powerful PUC (Public Utilities Commissioner). Sounds a bit 1950's, doesn't it - and indeed it is. And so are some of the plans for energy management which sound almost Soviet - for example, Demand Response, where a utility can pull a lever to turn off appliances in your home when there is insufficient supply. This might sound great from a utility perspective, but it's going to be a hard sell to consumers. So I was delighted to see that many of the various panels and discussions <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> focus on the consumer, the conclusion being that if the consumer - and their in-home devices - aren't engaged in the process by offering them services which are positively <span style="font-style: italic;">attractive </span>to them, then there's a real danger that industry initiatives such as Smart Meters won't achieve anything like the scale of change that is needed.<br /><br />Speaking of scale, that's something that Ed Lu of Google mentioned a lot in his <a href="http://fora.tv/2009/11/19/GreenBeat_2009_Internet_Giant_in_the_Smart_Grid_Ed_Lu">talk</a> (he mentions AlertMe at around 8 minutes in). Scalability of information is something that telco's and companies like Google understand very well, but utilities now have to play catch-up, moving from a world where historically they took at most one reading a month per consumer, to one where real-time energy information (and control) flows in real-time. Personally I believe that the AMI networks that have been built today, and are still being planned and rolled-out, designed primarily around carrying 15-minute metering data, will be completely inadequate to carry us into our energy future. We already have an effective real-time information network (it's called the Internet) so let's use it!<br /><br />Having done a press-release with Ed a few weeks back it was great to actually meet him and spend some time with him discussing what we're doing with Google Powermeter. Ed is an astronaut who's been into space three times, spent a lot of time on the ISS, and indeed rode the first Shuttle after the Columbia disaster - so a brave man and a thoroughly nice one too. So (cheesy though it was to ask) I just couldn't resist getting a picture taken to show my children "Daddy with the Astronaut"! Which kind of made my day.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/Sw0GluDK95I/AAAAAAAAAeU/RU49hXpBKbc/s1600/Pilgrim+and+Ed+Lu+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 248px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/Sw0GluDK95I/AAAAAAAAAeU/RU49hXpBKbc/s320/Pilgrim+and+Ed+Lu+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407985972628092818" border="0" /></a>Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-28606892482311819362009-11-12T18:04:00.001+00:002009-12-03T18:13:36.833+00:00AlertMe Launch Party in Westminster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/Sxf-AuAk5sI/AAAAAAAAAec/-z3eC5ygtXE/s1600-h/launch+party+-+pilgrim.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 159px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/Sxf-AuAk5sI/AAAAAAAAAec/-z3eC5ygtXE/s320/launch+party+-+pilgrim.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411072765612844738" border="0" /></a>AlertMe+Google Powermeter hosted a great Launch party last night in Westminster. About 80 people came, including <span style="" lang="EN-US">MP’s</span><span style="" lang="EN-US">, people from DECC, Carbon Trust, BRE</span><span style="" lang="EN-US">, journalists<o:p></o:p></span><span style="" lang="EN-US">, academics</span><span style="" lang="EN-US">, not-for-profits<o:p></o:p></span><span style="" lang="EN-US">, </span><span style="" lang="EN-US">utility companies<o:p></o:p></span><span style="" lang="EN-US"> ... and even an energy anthropologist!<o:p></o:p></span><span style="" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><br />Guest speakers were David MacKay (Chief Scientist of DECC) and Jens Redmer (Business Development Director for Google EMEA)<o:p></o:p><span style="" lang="EN-US"></span><span style="" lang="EN-US"><o:p>. Great anecdotes from both speakers, I think we all had a lot of fun (saving the world should be fun!) and you can find a</o:p></span> full transcript of the excellent talks right <a href="http://www.alertme.com/publish/AlertMe_Google_Launch_party_transcript.pdf">here</a>.Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-19815903942719048492009-11-04T10:50:00.006+00:002009-11-04T13:54:39.976+00:00Your home in your hand<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SvFdo3mavKI/AAAAAAAAAG4/LEBwvEGwaOU/s1600-h/mobile_energy.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SvFdo3mavKI/AAAAAAAAAG4/LEBwvEGwaOU/s320/mobile_energy.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400200384895171746" /></a>See what your home is doing in your hand with <a href="http://www.alertme.com/products/alertme-energy/">AlertMe Energy</a> on your mobile phone. Now you can view and control the power consumption of your whole house on your trusty mobile, no matter where you are. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SvFdy7oEl5I/AAAAAAAAAHA/UVXGHNQ6swk/s1600-h/mobile_energy2.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 188px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SvFdy7oEl5I/AAAAAAAAAHA/UVXGHNQ6swk/s320/mobile_energy2.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400200557774542738" /></a><br />You can access your home’s energy data on any internet ready mobile phone by browsing to mobile.alertme.com. iPhone users can also see a graphical dial to show them exactly how much energy their home is using in a glance. <br /><br />You can also see the consumption of individual appliances that are connected to Smart Plugs, see which appliances are on or off and even turn smart-plugs on and off directly from your mobile. Great when you’re away from home or on the move. Imagine you’re on your way home and in serious need of a coffee, just turn on the coffee-maker and your coffee could be ready the minute you walk in the door. It could also put an end to those return trips home to see if you left the iron on, simply pull out your mobile and check what’s on or off and if you have left the iron plugged in, just turn off the smart plug – easy!<br /><br />Plus this also provides an easy way to walk around the house switching things on and off, to see exactly how much power different appliances consume and how much money you could be saving on your energy bills by making some simple changes and turning things off standby. <br /><br />AlertMe Energy users can simply visit mobile.alertme.com from any mobile phone to view their home’s energy usage optimised for mobile. If you’re not an existing user, find out more about how AlertMe Energy can keep you in touch with your home, wherever you are.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-91097177989508780462009-10-27T18:35:00.005+00:002009-10-28T06:51:10.872+00:00Introducing AlertMe Energy with Google and British GasToday we're pleased to announce the launch of AlertMe Energy, in partnership with Google and British Gas. <a href="http://www.alertme.com/products/alertme-energy/">AlertMe Energy</a> allows you to monitor and control your home’s overall energy usage. It’s simple to use and install, providing an affordable way to keep track of your total electricity usage and make easy changes to save money and reduce your energy bills.<br /><br />All you have to do is clip the AlertMe Meter Reader onto your electricity meter, and install the AlertMe hub. Your energy usage is then available on the AlertMe online dashboard so you always have access to up-to-the-minute information about your home's electricity usage from your mobile phone or internet browser.<br /><br />We're really excited that AlertMe Energy is the first self-install device to work with Google PowerMeter to provide consumers with easy access to their energy data. This means that AlertMe Energy customers can keep an eye on their electricity usage directly from their iGoogle homepage, without logging into AlertMe, making it even simpler to monitor your electricity use and reduce your carbon footprint as well as your bills. <br /><br />AlertMe Energy is available to buy right now from the <a href="https://shop.alertme.com/buy.php?KIT310">AlertMe online store</a> for just £69, plus a £2.99 monthly subscription. We’ve also teamed up with British Gas, and you can buy AlertMe Energy for just £99, including 12 months subscription for the price of 10, by calling 0800 1070187.<br /><br />We’re really excited to be launching AlertMe Energy and we hope it’ll help you to save energy, save money and do your bit to help save the planet. Watch our videos on YouTube (<a href="http://www.alertme.com/youtube">www.alertme.com/youtube</a>) to find out more about how AlertMe Energy can help you to connect with your house and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6tnd3AAeWA">manage your energy</a>, or see how you can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khL19_VvQe8">make a difference to climate change</a> with AlertMe. <br /><br />To learn more about Google PowerMeter, visit <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter">www.google.org/powermeter</a>.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-53622524775268230112009-10-21T11:38:00.009+01:002009-10-28T10:23:54.170+00:00How to stop your electricity bill increasing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SugRDB6wIwI/AAAAAAAAAGo/aFq3157C4G0/s1600-h/bill.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SugRDB6wIwI/AAAAAAAAAGo/aFq3157C4G0/s320/bill.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397582897155678978" /></a><br />With all the talk about recession and the credit crunch it’d be nice to know that your energy bills weren’t going to soar in the future, but unfortunately that’s not the case. According to <a href="http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/WhlMkts/Discovery/Documents1/Discovery_Scenarios_ConDoc_FINAL.pdf">a recent report</a> published by Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, on energy security (whether the current infrastructure can continue to reliably supply the energy we need) and what the costs to consumers will be, energy prices are set to soar by up to 60%.<br /><br />The report looked at four scenarios in which economic recovery and environmental action could be either rapid or slow. In all four scenarios, demand for electricity rose slightly, and by 2020 consumer bills rose by 16% to 40%. However if the economy recovers more slowly and environmental action is also slow, consumer bills could peak at more than 60% above their current levels in 2017. <br /><br />In other words, whatever happens it looks as though our electricity (and gas) bills will rise in the coming years. So what can you do?<br /><br />Well the Ofgem report assumes that demand will remain more or less constant, and of course you can control how much electricity you use so if you reduce your home’s electricity usage by 16%-40% over the next 10 years then in 2020 your bill should be lower than it is today.<br /><br />For most households, reducing electricity consumption by 40% is a tough challenge, but reducing consumption by 20% or even more should not be hard to achieve. A <a href="http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/downloads/smart-metering-report.pdf">report</a> by Sarah Darby for DEFRA found from a range of studies that consumers were able to reduce their consumption by between 5 and 15% simply by having feedback on how much electricity they were consuming. <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&contentId=1585597">Another study</a>, that provided consumers with more detailed feedback on their electricity usage achieved savings of up to 55%.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.alertme.com/products/alertme-energy/">AlertMe Energy</a> can help you reduce your energy usage and therefore help to save money on your energy bills. The system not only provides feedback on how much energy you're using, but also offers personalised advice and detailed analysis to help you understand exactly what you could do to keep your electricity bills down. Our plans for AlertMe Energy are ambitious, and as each new feature rolls out over the coming months, we expect our customers to see their electricity bills fall more and more. And the more you reduce your electricity usage, the less CO2 is being pumped into the atmosphere, so you can do your bit for the environment as well as your wallet.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-29705839896996297352009-10-19T10:54:00.004+01:002009-10-19T13:58:06.943+01:00Pilgrim in the Sunday TimesIt was great to see AlertMe's founders in an article in yesterday's Sunday Times. It explains how customers can use AlertMe hardware and online services on their computer or mobile phone, to see exactly how much energy they are using — in pounds and pence, and then use this information to adjust the way they use their appliances. You can read the article here:<br /><br /><a href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6879357.ece">http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6879357.ece</a>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-66114033508400675642009-10-08T13:57:00.007+01:002009-10-28T10:24:16.196+00:00Not so Scilly<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SugRum5M8qI/AAAAAAAAAGw/FExMyADsLYY/s1600-h/scilly.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SugRum5M8qI/AAAAAAAAAGw/FExMyADsLYY/s320/scilly.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397583645815665314" /></a><br />The Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall, have an unusual property that made them perfect for an energy reduction experiment: they have just a single cable coming from the mainland that supplies all the electricity to the islands, having only been connected to the national grid in 1998. As a result, monitoring how much electricity the islands are using is relatively straightforward.<br /><br />This led environmentalist Dr Matt Prescott to choose to use the islands in an experiment to see how far people could reduce their energy consumption. He created E-Day: a single day (October 6th, 2009) on which the people of the Scilly Islands would do their best to reduce their consumption of electricity.<br /><br />After the event, the results seem rather underwhelming. The overall use of electricity by the islands was just 1.2% lower than expected. This can be partially explained by bad weather, but it does seem surprising that a concerted effort could not lead to a greater reduction.<br /><br />In fact, however, there is more to it than this. One family, for example, managed to reduce their consumption (which was being separately measured) by a whopping 50.3%. What did they have that no-one else had? This family had a device measuring the consumption of their home, and a display so they could see how much they were consuming. <br /><br />It's one thing to ask people to switch things off and save electricity, but if you provide them with direct feedback and a way to assess how much they're using and the impact of their actions, then they're much more likely to succeed. This is what <a href="http://www.alertme.com/products/alertme-energy/">AlertMe Energy</a> is all about: empowering people with knowledge about the way they use electricity and giving them guidance about how to reduce it.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-92082847744103400552009-09-29T11:33:00.004+01:002009-09-29T11:38:54.743+01:00Tower of SmartPlugs!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/SsHi2AOw7pI/AAAAAAAAAa4/esISvfh8EgQ/s1600-h/79+SmartPlugs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HU7qppetseI/SsHi2AOw7pI/AAAAAAAAAa4/esISvfh8EgQ/s320/79+SmartPlugs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386836046714564242" border="0" /></a><br />There's something about seeing a large quantity of objects, all the same, which just works for me ... so I have to share this picture of 79 AlertMe SmartPlugs in a stack, part of some stress-test our engineers did a while ago.Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-39190928842042804072009-09-04T09:03:00.003+01:002009-09-04T15:15:56.278+01:0010:10One of AlertMe's main aims in the coming year is to help our customers reduce their energy consumption (and thus, the amount of money they spend on energy). We'll be doing this by monitoring electricity consumption, providing personalised feedback and advice and by providing smarter ways to control heating (by far the largest energy hog in most British homes).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SqDNtcsEV7I/AAAAAAAAAFw/RFC-eFZ8FPA/s1600-h/1010.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 249px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NPaBu5jRGuk/SqDNtcsEV7I/AAAAAAAAAFw/RFC-eFZ8FPA/s320/1010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377524135759206322" /></a>It seems like a good idea for people to reduce how much energy they consume, and thus to reduce their carbon footprint. But what's a sensible target? One that seems to be gaining some popularity is the <a href="http://www.1010uk.org/">10:10 campaign</a>, which recommends aiming to cut our carbon footprints (individually as consumers and as businesses) by 10% during 2010. <br /><br />Most of the targets that we hear about for emissions reductions have time-scales in decades, so setting a specific target for next year (and an ambitious one at that) is a great way to change it from an ethereal hard-to-grasp target into something we can all understand and start to work towards.<br /><br />The campaign has received some amazing support recently, particularly as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/03/cabinet-signs-up-10-10">the entire cabinet signed up</a>, not long after <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/02/10-10-campaign-tory-frontbench">the entire Conservative front bench did the same</a>.<br /><br />As you might expect, AlertMe has signed up, and I'm now starting the process of figuring out what our carbon footprint is right now, and how we might reduce it next year. More importantly, we need to find ways to help you, our customers, to reduce your carbon footprints. So here's the deal, if you go along to the 10:10 site and <a href="http://www.1010uk.org/people#how_can_we">sign up</a> to the 10% reduction target we'll do our best to help you achieve it.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-30381844555376851802009-09-03T17:14:00.004+01:002009-11-25T13:54:40.350+00:00Watt is a pound a year?We're exhorted to turn off unused devices in our house to reduce their standby consumption, and thereby reduce CO2 emissions from power stations. So it's tempting to ask what the cash benefit is, and the answer is surprisingly high. And there's an easy rule-of-thumb for working it out.<br /><br />The amount that devices consume in standby varies widely. Older devices often didn't really have a standby mode - they just turned-off their front panel and pretended to be asleep, while still consuming a lot of energy. Evil! For example, one of the AlertMe crew discovered that his old black-and-white laser printer was consuming 60Watts, day and night, keeping the toner fuser warm. And hi-fi's, set-top-boxes etc. can easily consume 20Watts or more.<br />Even the latest gizmos can have a surprisingly high standby consumption. The colour laser printer I just bought, which has an Energy Star 2009 rating, consumes 17Watts in standby. And of course, it's not just the things on standby that matter - quite a lot of consumer devices are designed to be "left on" permanently, for example oil-filled electric heaters, which can be rated at up to 200Watts.<br /><br />So what is a Watt, in money?<br /><br />Well, thanks to a numerical co-incidence, at current electricity prices it turns out that <span style="font-weight: bold;">every Watt left switched on for a year costs around £1.00.</span><br /><br />So for example my new laser printer, if left switched-on for a year, would cost me £17. It makes little difference how much I actually use it, since the amount of use is tiny compared to the drip, drip, drip of the standby power, day and night, 24 hours a day.<br /><br />The power rating of devices is usually to be found printed on the device, so for devices that are left plugged-in all the time, without a true standby mode, the number printed on the bottom corresponds to "pounds per year", as well as to Watts.Pilgrim Bearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09169533932226252782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7891374070407520464.post-79155048570271216882009-09-03T15:12:00.003+01:002009-09-03T15:24:20.249+01:00Festival of Interactive TechnologyAlertMe attended the <a href="http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/conference/hci2009/open-house.html">Festival of Interactive Technology</a> in Cambridge yesterday. It's part of the <a href="http://www.hci2009.org/">HCI 2009 conference</a> and was an opportunity for companies (mainly local ones) to show off their wares, with a particular emphasis on interactivity. <br /><br />It was great to see how much interest the AlertMe stand attracted, and also to see some of the interesting (and often wacky) ways in which companies help people to interact with computers and the world. How was Alertme relevant to all this? Partly it's because AlertMe is all about enabling you to interact remotely with your home (controlling things, checking everything's ok, monitoring...) and partly also because as we extend our service and offer more enhanced ways of presenting useful data, it's important that we make our customers' interactive experience as positive and trouble-free as possible.<br /><br />Our enjoyment of the event was not hindered by the rather excellent travelling Mexican restaurant right outside the front, of course...Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03003129127712903188noreply@blogger.com