ThinkEco's modlet should help you save energy with insight and information about energy usage

Do you understand how much energy you use?  Do you understand the effect of the energy you use?  You flip on a light switch, it seems so neat and clean, no sound, no fumes, no exhaust, etc.  Do you understand the difference in impact between a 100 watt incandescent lightbulb, a 40 watt compact fluorescent, or a 20 watt LED lightbulb?

The point of those questions is that it's hard to understand the impact of our actions.  In the old days when we burned candles or kerosene there was a direct impact from having light or heat.  Today the impact occurs in a far off location, at the electricity plant, at the mine the coal came from, etc.  Almost all knowledge about the impact of turning on a lightbulb is removed from the act of doing so.

Think Eco has a solution - the Modlet - http://themodlet.com/

So, what's a modlet?  It's a gizmo you attach to power outlets that adds intelligence to the power outlet.  It's designed to fit directly over a normal 120 volt household power outlet (hence, those of you outside the U.S. cannot use this).  It has electronics and software on-board to let you monitor and control power usage.  The data/information is sent wirelessly to a USB dongle so your computer can read the data and let you control the power outlet.

 

Okay - great - cool - more information - let's niggle away at a few details.

Cost: $50 plus shipping.  It had better save a lot of electricity to be worth that money.  Especially because you'll be buying one per power outlet in your house.

As an add-on gizmo it means adding extra material and cost to your house.  I think this would be better to be built into power outlets rather than an add-on to power outlets.

I'd be concerned about the wattage the thing can handle.  Will it handle the full 15 amps 120 volts for a long period?  Will it handle 20 amps 120 volts that some power outlets are rated for?

Why can't you buy it through normal stores?  Why can you only buy it through the company?

 

ThinkEco Opens West Coast Office
ThinkEco Enterprise Solution Plugs Big Hole in Corporate Energy Waste

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ThinkEco, Inc. (www.thinkeco.com), a New York City-based company that develops cutting-edge hardware-software energy efficiency solutions, has opened a West Coast office. Since launching its modlet platform to businesses a year ago, ThinkEco has seen high demand for its solution amongst large enterprise clients. Today's West Coast expansion is intended to maximize benefit to large organizations by providing the modlet Enterprise Solution as a software as a service offering.

Increasingly, enterprise clients are concerned about rising utility expenses but they have little or no visibility into the consumption patterns at the plug level. With plug-loads now representing more than 30% of a commercial building's energy use, the ThinkEco Enterprise Solution provides micro-level data, analytics and control so that clients can continue to improve their energy-consumption strategies and optimize electronic asset ownership.

The Enterprise Solution is also a natural extension for managed services providers who can use it to supplement their building automation systems. It can also facilitate energy audit capabilities and help with certification processes, such as ISO, UL and USGBC LEED. The extensive tenant reach of these Managed Services Providers, combined with the flexibility of ThinkEco's Enterprise Solution, allows corporations and building owners alike to be more easily aligned in their business goals.

Heading up ThinkEco's West Coast office are John Schweizer and Daja Phillips, who each have deep expertise in the large enterprise space and have previously worked for Ricoh Company LTD. Schweizer has held leadership roles on the operating side at Global 500 companies and has diverse experience in Enterprise Sales. He will build out the sales organization to serve ThinkEco's markets. Phillips joins the team with an extensive background in start-up technology ventures for Global 500 companies. She will lead the development of strategies to maximize client and partner benefits among enterprise clients.

"John and Daja will be tremendous assets to ThinkEco," said Jun Shimada, President and CEO of ThinkEco. "With their leadership, the TE Enterprise Solution will continue to help companies, not just in saving money but in enabling better sustainability decision-making and performance optimization."

"Having recently led energy efficiency projects for a major electronics and office equipment maker, I am extremely enthusiastic about joining ThinkEco," said Schweizer. "I view ThinkEco as the front runner leading the evolution in practical and affordable plug load management and sub-metering. I look forward to helping enterprise clients incorporate this superior and sustainable technology into their operations."

ThinkEco's Enterprise Solution Sales and R&D professionals will partner with Value Added Resellers who populate the enterprise workspace. These collaborations will ultimately allow micro sub-metering of plug loads to manage costs, drive appropriate corporate policies and encourage desired employee behavior.

About ThinkEco, Inc.
Founded in 2008, ThinkEco, Inc., is a New York City-based company developing easy-to-use energy efficiency solutions for homes and businesses. Its flagship product, the modlet, is an intelligent outlet that provides a simple, low-cost and installation-free method for saving money and energy on electronic appliances. The modlet software is a web application that has been developed in a scalable client-server architecture. For more information, visit www.thinkeco.com. For the latest updates and news, follow the company on Twitter at @ThinkEco and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ThinkEco.

SOURCE  ThinkEco, Inc.
CONTACT: Anne Steinberg, anne@kitchenpr.com or Joann Wardrip, jwardrip@kitchenpr.com, both of Kitchen Public Relations, +1-212-687-8999
Web Site: http://www.thinkecoinc.com

RTI Internationals DoE funded solid state lighting technology program wins R&D100 Award in energy-efficient lighting

RTI International has a team of researchers working on what they call "Solid State Lighting" that promises huge gains in energy efficient lighting, and at the same time making LED lighting more pleasant for humans.   Leveraging advanced polymeric nanofibers with diameters on the order of 300 nm, their scientists have created a cost-effective solution for light management across the visible spectrum.

Their research is into creating "Photoluminescent Nanofibers" (PLN) and manipulating their use in different ways to create pleasing lighting systems.  PLN's are a composite nano-material (a.k.a. nanocomposite) that combines nanofibers (extremely thin fibers) with luminescent particles (known as quantum dots).  They have several techniques for constructing lighting devices this way.

The PLN materials do not themselves emit light.  They are luminescent, which means they receive light emitted by other sources and re-emit light with a color frequency signature determined by the luminescent material.  In particular they are using a "blue LED", covering it with their PLN material, and converting the bluish light from the LED into full spectrum white light.

A poster from 2010 shows they achieve efficiencies of over 50 lumens/watt with "excellent color rendering" attributes.

Partial support for their work was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Solid-State Lighting Core Technologies Program through award DE-FC26-06NT42860.

We should remember this sort of thing as Washington DC Politics is currently in a bitterly divided phase with narrow minded right wing ideologues claiming the Federal Government shouldn't be funding this kind of research.  They seem to have no problem with the government funding research into machines that kill people (a.k.a. weapons) so are they having some hypocrisy (or is it hypocracy) about the governments role in funding things private corporations do.   While they spouting ideology about government meddling with private corporations, this particular research would have a highly positive result, one that decreases the negative impact of our energy intensive lifestyle, and by decreasing electricity use (through improved efficiency) reduces the need to destroy the environment to get coal to run the system we live in.

Why is Washington DC Politics so hell-bent on funding research for machines to kill people, and so resistent to funding research into beneficial machines?

See below for a youtube video, a link to the research poster, and a pair of press releases concerning the technology.

 

 

Photoluminescent Nanofibers for Solid-State Lighting Applications (poster from RTI's solid state lighting research program)

 

DOE Investment Yields R&D 100 Award Winner in Energy-Efficient Lighting

September 27, 2011

RTI International's innovative nanofiber lighting technology has been honored with a 2011 R&D 100 Award. Established in 1963 by the editors of R&D Magazine, the annual R&D 100 Awards identify the 100 most significant, newly introduced research and development advances of the past year in multiple disciplines.

RTI's technology was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which supports research and development in solid-state lighting, a technology that uses highly energy-efficient semiconductors. At the core of RTI's invention is an advanced polymer nanofiber structure – a resilient material thinner than a human hair – which allows engineers to adjust the color palette of the light (or color rendering) to match the desired application. Powered by a blue light-emitting diode (LED), the RTI device produces a well-balanced white light that uses far less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs and provides the basis for higher energy efficiency in a wide range of lighting types.

In fact, LEDs and organic LEDs (OLEDs) have the potential to be ten times more energy efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and can last up to 25 times longer. Through competitive solicitations, the Department of Energy invests in projects that advance core R&D goals, develop new products, and expand domestic manufacturing. DOE funding leverages additional private sector funding in these projects.

The Department's investments to advance solid-state lighting help accelerate the adoption of these technologies by reducing costs, enhancing product quality and performance, and saving energy and money for consumers. They also play an important role in encouraging U.S.-based manufacturing of solid-state lighting products, creating jobs, and promoting America's role as a global leader in energy efficiency.

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Learn more about DOE's support of research and development of energy-efficient lighting, and visit our Energy Savers lighting choiceswebsite to start saving money by saving energy.

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Join the clean energy conversation on Facebook at DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Energy Savers, and Solar Decathlon pages.

 

 

RTI International's NLITe^TM Lighting Technology Earns R&D 100 Award

News Highlights

— Nanofiber lighting improvement technology (NLITe™) honored with a 2011 R&D 100 award.
— The technology provides for higher energy efficiency in a wide range of lighting types.
— Nlight can also produce an aesthetically pleasing light with better color rendering properties.

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.—RTI International's nanofiber lighting improvement technology (NLITe™) has been honored with a 2011 R&D 100 award.

The annual awards, sponsored by R&D Magazine, honor the 100 most significant new technologies of the past year.

RTI's technology, which was funded in part by the Department of Energy's Solid-State Lighting program, has led to the development of high-performance, nanofiber-based reflectors that result in substantial energy savings. It has also led to the development of photoluminescent nanofibers (PLNTM) that can be used to produce an aesthetically pleasing light with better color rendering properties, especially in solid-state lighting applications.

"This breakthrough provides for higher energy efficiency in a wide range of lighting types," said Lynn Davis, Ph.D., director of RTI's Nanoscale Materials Program. "In addition, we can now adjust the appearance color palette of the light to match the desired application. Receiving this award is an honor for our team, and we are very proud of the innovation that resulted in the development of this exciting technology."

At the core of RTI's invention is an advanced nanofiber structure that provides exceptional lighting management. Nanofibers are materials with diameters and surface features much smaller than the human hair but with comparable lengths.

"We are excited that R&D Magazine has chosen to recognize this technology," said Galen Hatfield, RTI vice president of Strategic Initiatives. "Not only is it exceptionally innovative, but it represents a new platform of commercially viable materials to improve energy efficiency and appearance in lighting. We are aggressively moving this technology into the marketplace and it has captured the attention of a number of key players."

RTI also received the R&D 100 award in 2002 for thin-film and vacuum technologies, in 2004 for its syngas desulfurization technology, and in 2010 for the Nextreme thermal solutions 'hot spot' electronics chip cooler technology.

 

Chevron Energy Solutions and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany Complete Navy's First Landfill Gas Power Plant

Landfill methane is captured and converted to 1.9 MW renewable power

ALBANY, Ga., Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Chevron Energy Solutions and the Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany today celebrated completion of the Department of the Navy's first landfill gas cogeneration plant.

The plant produces 1.9 megawatts of renewable electric power and steam by burning landfill gas collected from a nearby landfill. Chevron Energy Solutions also completed industrial lighting retrofits in 82 buildings and expanded the existing energy management control system. When combined with the cogeneration project, these measures reduce the base's purchase of utility power and reduce its carbon emissions by 19,300 tons annually, equivalent to removing 16,000 cars from the road.

"This project offers significant benefits to the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps and Dougherty County," said Col. Terry V. Williams, commanding officer, MCLB Albany. "Chevron Energy Solutions has helped us surpass federal renewable energy goals in our pursuit of becoming the 'greenest' Marine Corps installation in the nation. Not only does the use of this renewable power improve the base's energy security and reliability, it also creates a valuable long-term source of revenue for the County.  This is a win-win-win."

Chevron Energy Solutions developed, designed and managed construction of the plant; and will maintain the landfill gas-to-energy facility, pipeline and processing equipment. The facility houses a dual-fuel engine generator, a stack heat recovery steam generator and two dual-fuel boilers. The primary equipment can operate on landfill gas or natural gas, which provides energy security benefits. With the addition of the plant, MCLB's power portfolio now contains 19 percent renewable power, exceeding guidelines in the EPAct of 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Chevron Energy Solutions and MCLB will co-operate the generator and steam-producing equipment. Through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC), Chevron Energy Solutions arranged the financing for the project, which is repaid through the MCLB's avoided energy costs. The company also guarantees system performance for 22 years. Chevron Energy Solutions has been actively involved with MCLB Albany's energy program since 2002, and the base recently won the 2011 Secretary of the Navy Energy and Water Management Award.

"With this new plant and the investments and participation of Dougherty County, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany is able to extract power from an otherwise unused renewable energy source. We are proud to work with the Navy to support this award-winning energy program and to support the important mission of the Marine Corps Logistics Base," said Jim Davis, President of Chevron Energy Solutions. "This new energy plant is funded entirely through energy savings and demonstrates how military bases and local governments can work together with private industry to meet federal mandates without increasing taxpayer costs."

Dougherty County extracts and sells the landfill gas to MCLB from the Fleming/Gaissert Road Landfill, which receives approximately 100,000 tons of municipal solid waste each year. The biological decomposition of the waste generates landfill gas that is approximately 50 percent methane by volume.

The plant is being dedicated in a ceremony today, with military, government and business officials in attendance.

About Chevron Energy Solutions

Chevron Energy Solutions develops and builds sustainable energy projects that increase energy efficiency and renewable power, reduce energy costs, and ensure reliable, high-quality energy for government, education and business facilities. Its parent, Chevron Corporation, is investing across the energy spectrum to develop energy sources for future generations by expanding the capabilities of alternative and renewable energy technologies. Chevron spent approximately $4.4 billion on developing these technologies since 2002, and expects to spend more than $2.2 billion in this area between 2009 and 2011. For more information, visit www.chevronenergy.com.

About MCLB

Located in Southwest Georgia, the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany occupies approximately 3,600 acres within Dougherty County, and is a vital strategic asset to the Marine Corps and the nation. The mission of MCLB Albany is to provide facilities, infrastructure and a range of tailored support services enabling supported commands aboard the installation to accomplish their assigned missions in support of the warfighter. MCLB is one of the area's largest employers with more than 4,700 military, civilian and contract employees. MCLB Albany's combined military and civil service payroll exceeded $152 million in fiscal year 09.  The base is focused on being environmentally conscious and continues to look for ways to decrease use of non-renewable energy sources to increase security and reduce cost. MCLB also continues to reach out to the surrounding community to share common goals and values, and build long-lasting relationships that are good for the Corps and the community.

For more information, visit www.marines.mil/unit/mclbalbany.

Contacts:
Lt. Kyle Thomas, MCLB, 229.639.7023
Ken Pimental, Chevron Energy Solutions, 415.733.4673

SOURCE  Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany; Chevron Energy Solutions
Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany; Chevron Energy Solutions
Web Site: http://www.marines.mil/unit/mclbalbany