Not very.

The short story is this.

If you’ve got a video game console in your house, and you leave it on, you’re wasting energy.

The exception – the Nintendo Wii.

A new report by the National Resources Defense Council surfaces some pretty interesting data – and a clear message (note that figures are for US only):

Through the incorporation of more user-friendly power management features, we could save approximately 11 billion kWh of electricity per year, cut our nation’s electricity bill by more than $1 billion per year, and avoid emissions of more than 7 million tons of CO2 each year. In this November 2008 issue paper, NRDC provides recommendations for users, video game console manufacturers, component suppliers and the software companies that design games for improving the efficiency of video game consoles already in homes as well as future generations of machines yet to hit the shelves.

The full report is available as a PDF from the NRDC web site.

Here’s an example of some of the data they present, and there’s one thing very clear from this chart. You can do something right now, without having to wait for anyone – just turn the darned thing off.

I base this purely on personal observation – nothing scientific whatsoever – except that it seems to me one thing we don’t lack in this country is an abundance of wind.

If there’s one memory I have of growing up on the prairies, it’s of huddling against the wind. When I was older and working in Southern Alberta all I can remember is that dry wind blowing off the Rockies. In Ontario it was that cold wind off the lake (pick one). And in Newfoundland, it seems the wind is always blowing – occasionally strong enough to whip cars right off Telegraph Hill.

That said, there does seem to be more and more interest in harnessing the wind to create energy. According to CBC news, Cape Breton may soon have it’s own substantial, privately funded wind farm…

A private energy company has announced it plans to set up a $55-million wind farm in Cape Breton.
Renewable Energy Services hopes to begin construction of the wind farm in Point Tupper this fall. Eleven 80-metre wind turbines are expected to generate approximately 22 megawatts of power, which is enough to heat and light 6,000 homes in Nova Scotia.

read the full story here

This is good news, particularly since the area in question is already zoned industrial.

But we still have a long way to go to catch tiny New Zealand. I took the photo at the bottom of the page of the lone Brooklyn Windmill wind turbine outside of Wellington when I was there consulting with Radio New Zealand in 2005. It was built in the early 1990′s as a test to see if wind power was feasible.

Given that Wellington is New Zealand’s windiest city, the answer is: yes.

Construction has begun on a wind farm that will produce enough electricity for the entire Wellington region, and may be one of the largest in the world.

Last fall, the company responsible has also announced a new project, near Port Waikato.

The project will be between 400 and 650 MW depending on the final size and manufacturer of the wind turbine selected. The project will take 5 to 7 years to construct and will cost over $1 billion once completed.
Resource consent preparations have been underway for the last 18 months and environmental assessment reports have been completed. It is expected a formal resource consent application and press releases will be made over the coming months. The project will be responsible for the reduction of CO2 emissions equivalent to over 200,000 vehicles and supply electricity for up to 300,000 households.

read more here

If New Zealand can do it, certainly we can.

There’s already a wonderful wind turbine project in Toronto that points the way. If you’re on the freeway from Pearson Airport to downtown Toronto you can’t miss it.

It was a joint venture venture partnership of Toronto Hydro Energy Services and the WindShare Co-operative, who jointly constructed it at the end of 2002.

You can read more about it here.

I can think of a few other places where a wind turbine might be a nice tourist attraction, as well as as energy producer.

Portage and Main in Winnipeg would be a nice start…

At its most basic function, Tantalus Systems ‘smart’ meters let the home owner know what’s going on with their energy consumption. Right now, these meters simply record power consumption. A story in the Montreal Gazette explains:

the meters look virtually the same as all other electrical meters, but that they include a radio transmitter that lets consumers know when they’re spending more money. Energy typically costs more to produce during peak times when more people are using it – around the dinner hour, for instance, when people are cooking, using dishwashers and maybe throwing in a load of laundry. full story here

A quick look at the Tantalus web site shows that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of their plans for managing power consumption, with networked meters talking to a central system and even allowing for remote control. Basically, each meter is part of a larger local area network – smart grid.

On the face of it, it makes perfect sense. If nothing else, maybe it’ll do away with the archaic system actually sending someone out to your home to read the meter. Aside from that mundane task, the benefits of a smart meter are obvious in helping home owners be more selective about their power consumption.

But you don’t have to wait until the technology gets implemented to do something. You can act now.

SPEC has some great tips on making you house more energy efficient and info on Energy Star appliances. Terasen Gas has their Home Energy Savings Tips web page, and a PDF pamphlet you can download.

photo from the Tantalus web site