Emily
Santee

10/12/2009

Energy
Seminar

Americans want the same
results as before, or better results than before, while still being energy
efficient. We are a nation of consumers.

Our lights are much more
energy efficient today, while offering the same light

Coors decided to use
aluminum instead of steel, saving money on transport.

i.
Could we build 18-wheeler shipping trucks with really light carbon nanotube containers instead of steel containers?

Utilities and consumers
benefit from conservation, since energy companies don’t have to
build as many energy generating plants

Look for opportunities where
there are discontinuities: source of business ideas.

Prevent use of energy
in first place, without depriving anyone

Minimize energy needed

Easy recycling

Restaurants won’t adopt
efficient lights because they won’t dim

Why not just make a
little translucent shield to put over the lights so that they appear
dimmer?

We need to recycle more:
everyone is worried about economically recycling.

Could we temporarily
tax production of cobalt or nickel or otherwise make it more expensive to
mine, to encourage recycling?

Can we use auto repair
shops, etc, to collect cobalt batteries? If we give the shops a $1 finders fee for each battery, I’m sure
they’d put out baskets and such, and then it would be easier to
pick up the batteries.

LED tree lights at the space
needle are more efficient

Christmas lights are
pretty damn distracting and inefficient.

i.
Could we create city-wide limits on the amount of Christmas lights put
out?

ii.     Can we
limit the hours that they’re allowed to be lit on residential buildings?
6pm to 12am?

iii.     Can we
limit the number of weeks they’re allowed to be lit? December
10 to 31?

Heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning.

Peltier
system

Information technology

Turning off computers
at night

i.
Can we get non-essential surge protectors to be put on an electric timer
that turns on at 8 and off at 6 automatically?

Kitchens and industrial
processes

Microwaves are pretty
BA at heating water; how can we expand the tech to other purposes?

New construction

Double paned windows
more efficient than single pane

i.
That guy’s organic solar idea: "straight up and down"
windows don’t see very much sun. What about having tilted windows in tall
office buildings? It would create a small ledge, which might be useful.

Storage of energy is a huge
problem: you need energy when you need it, can’t be easily stored