Media for Digital Tools Help Users Save Energy, Study Finds

Digital Tools Help Users Save Energy, Study Finds

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"Giving people the means to closely monitor and adjust their electricity use lowers their monthly bills and could significantly reduce the need to build new power plants, according to a yearlong government study.

The results of the research project by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the Energy Department, released Wednesday, suggest that if households have digital tools to set temperature and price preferences, the peak loads on utility grids could be trimmed by up to 15 percent a year."

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Sounds like a better way to do things than adding mercury to the environment in a commodity item sold by the millions (billions?) and trusting *everyone* to recycle religiously. This study correctly points out that "peak loads" are what matter the most. That's not likely the time that CFL bulbs are on line; there's usually plenty of daylight available during peak load hours so the savings gains claimed by CFL use have to be taken with a grain of salt (in a tincture of mercury).

I still firmly believe that if the problem is coming OUT of power plant smokestacks, that's where it should be controlled. Schemes that add a known toxin to the environment in incredible numbers should be examined very closely so that we don't create as big a problem as the one we are trying to solve. Automakers knocked the pollutants coming out of cars down to incredibly low levels compared to the 1960 levels once people and the Feds demanded it. The power plant operators have to be brought to the same level of social responsibility even though they'll kick and scream every inch of the way.

-- Bobby G.