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

A North Vancouver company was showing off it’s new fuel cells at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

Angstrom Power Inc. has been working on micro hydrogen systems for use in mobile devices. Fuel cells like the ones Angstrom develops are electrochemical energy converters, producing electricity, water vapor and heat from hydrogen and oxygen.

Angstrom has announced a global first with the completion of a six-month test of fully integrated fuel cell-powered mobile devices. This revolutionary power platform was successfully integrated into MOTOSLVR™ L7 handsets for the trial, with no modification to the outside dimensions of the devices.

Offering twice the run-time of batteries and with recharge times on the order of 10 minutes, Angstrom’s EverOn™ capability promises to supplant the lithium ion batteries commonly used in today’s portable electronic devices.

The trial devices did not rely on the use of any battery – instead, they drew power from Angstrom’s Micro Hydrogen™ platform, which is comprised of a novel fuel cell architecture, innovative micro-fluidics and a revolutionary refillable hydrogen storage tank. Angstrom has demonstrated research results showing twice the talk-time of the equivalent batterypowered devices in side-by-side testing. read more in this press release

Fuel cell photo from the Angstrom web site

Yolo paints don’t contain VOC’s

Volatile Organic Compounds are the solvents in conventional latex paints that evaporate easily at room temperature — the stinky stuff. VOCs contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer as well as poor indoor air quality.

I was skeptical thinking that good paint has to be, well, you know, loaded with chemicals. I was wrong. The paint has a wonderful body to it, goes on as good as or better than any premium paint I’ve ever sued, and it looks awesome.

You can get their products in Vancouver (check the web site for details) or order online.

What you think is important, so please feel free to leave comments, make suggestions or rant a little.

Each of us can do a little bit every day to help keep the planet, ourselves and our future healthy. Here you’ll find information about what others are doing, as well as tips on things you can do. If you’ve got ideas, please share them. Your comments are welcome and together we can make a difference.