\nindustry spends more on research and development each year than the American
\nutility industry does, according to a mind-blowing line in Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat,
\nand Crowded<\/a>. In most competitive industries, companies spend perhaps 8
\nto 10 percent of total revenues on R&D. Utilities, which don’t have to
\ncompete with each other, spend a dismal 0.15 percent, writes Friedman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So I think any sensible <\/p>\n Newhalem and Diablo, near <\/p>\n The improvements are <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Nuclear arms reduction is better than nuclear warfare<\/a><\/p>\n Revkin wants to talk ‘energy quest’ not ‘climate crisis’<\/a><\/p>\n Major economies to hold climate talks in U.S. this month<\/a><\/p>\n
\nexperiments by utilities are worth applauding, including this one from the public
\nutility Seattle City Light<\/a>:
\nThe utility plans<\/a> to use two historic company towns in the North Cascades in Washington state as a testing ground for
\na handful of home energy-efficiency technologies.<\/p>\n
\nthe Canadian border<\/a> and the edge of North Cascades National Park<\/a>, will
\nget high-efficiency heat pumps, lighting fixtures, water heaters, and
\ninsulation. The utility intends to measure how effective such technologies are
\nwhen residents use them. It’s going to renovate 34 homes and up to 24
\ncommercial buildings over the next several years, spending $700,000 on the
\nfirst phase. The utility built the
\ntowns in the 1920s to house workers for its series
\nof dams<\/a> on the Skagit River.<\/p>\n
\nexpected to save a good bit of electricity (2.5 million kilowatt-hours per
\nyear), but the point is to learn how to scale up the best technologies to more
\nconsumers. The ultimate goal, of course, is for these money-saving efficiency measures
\nto stop being “news” and become normal practices.<\/p>\n