The Carbon Counter

I had the chance to speak with Mark Fulton, the Global head of climate change research for Deutsche Bank (DB), this afternoon.  We discussed DB’s new website, Know The Number and how they are trying to bring the actual numbers behind Global Warming – greenhouse gas figures – to the public’s attention.

From their website:

“We are seeking to raise public awareness of climate change. As investors, we know the importance of measurement so that we can track progress. Our approach is to start by understanding the quantity, or concentrations, of long-lived greenhouse gases which are building up in the world’s atmosphere and are leading to global warming.”

The words in bold are exactly why Mapawatt is such a big fan of monitoring. If you don’t measure something, you can’t tell if you are improving.

Mark described how the idea for Know The Number came from the Times Square Debt Clock and the need for metrics in order to show the public what is happening in our atmosphere.  Because the nature of climate change is so opaque (we can’t see greenhouse gases in our atmosphere), DB realized there had to be some way to display those values to the public.  They enlisted researchers from MIT to help come up with an algorithm that could predict how much greenhouse gas was entering the atmosphere and display those values in “CO2 equivalent” figures.

We also discussed different ways the facts and figures can be displayed to further grab the public’s attention and influence change.  We both realized how important it is to eventually display any progress that is made or not made, so individuals will actually get motivated to chip in.

Whether it is done on a global, national, or local scale, it is important for measurement to take place so progress can be realized.  Deutsche Bank realizes that and is displaying greenhouse gas emissions to help individuals and investors make the right decisions to lower our environmental impact.  You can do the same thing in your home, business, church or school.

Set goals, measure your progress, and improve.

Related posts:

1. SO2 and GW
2. Efficiency is the Solution
3. 350.org: International Day of Climate Action

Every month the bill from the power company comes in the mail (or hopefully to your e-mail so you save on pollution). This bill is usually tersely reviewed, paid, and then the whole thought of energy consumption that existed for 30 seconds while the bill was paid is moved to the back burner (pun intended) for another 29 days. Or maybe you don’t forget about your energy consumption. Maybe you wonder how you can lower your bill, but aside from changing some light bulbs and lowering your AC, you don’t really know what to do.

Before you can lower consumption, you first have to know how much you’re consuming. As the saying goes: Knowledge is Power! The first step for anyone who wants to lower their electricity bill should be to actively monitor their power consumption. This way, they can see improvements in real time, and not have to wait for next month’s bill. It’s hard to undertake a meaningful energy savings program if you don’t know when or where you are using energy.

The real “power” of Energy Monitoring comes when it is done in conjunction with data visualization and logging. The old way to take control of your energy usage was go to the meter each day (or twice a day for better data), take recordings, put them in a spreadsheet, make some graphs, try to improve, and repeat (even I will call you a nerd if you actually took the time to do this).

Now, with relatively cheap electronics and software (a few hundred dollars), users have the capability to have all this done for them using some equipment and a computer. Some utilities offer this capability as an added service. Energy usage is recorded over days, months, or years and this data can be used to make educated decision on how to further reduce energy use.  If your lucky enough to already have a smart meter, you can let Google help you out with the data.

Imagine changing some incandescent light bulbs to CFLs on Sunday, then watching the graph of your usage decline over the week. Or what if you tried unplugging the beer fridge out in the garage, and watching (from any computer with an internet connection) the graph of your energy usage drop immediately (make sure to drink all the beer first! This is now possible, and necessary if you really want to take control of your energy usage.

Energy monitoring is a vital step for any anyone interested in saving energy and recording progress. Without it, you might as well be in the dark…..,

Related posts:

1. Saving Water Intro
2. List of Energy monitoring tools : devices, software and home automation
3. AlertMe home energy monitoring and Google PowerMeter