CANCELLED
Time and Date
2pm-3pm, Friday, July 11
Topic
Negawatts in the home - realities of climate change
Speaker
Ewan Parsons, OpenEnergy
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Ewan is an engineer with OpenEnergy and has a number of communication and automation patents to his name. He was part of the team setting the wiring standards for the home management system at Mawson Lakes. Ewan is contributing to OpenEnergy’s demand response to electrical constraints caused by the rapid growth of air-conditioners.
OpenEnergy is an energy services company that has identified products which will provide economic climate change by optimising when energy is generated, transmitted and consumed. |
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Presentation Synopsis
Ewan will discuss negawatts - saving energy in businesses and at home- and demonstrate the Energy Orb. Ewan will present London’s response to climate change and look at FutureMelbourne and FutureAdelaide. Looking forward, FutureBusiness and FutureHome round out Ewan’s presentation.
Presentation Detail
Negawatt is a measure of energy efficiency which can be controlled just like kW’s from solar panels, and can be used to reduce electricity demand rather than invest in increased electricity generation capacity.
Homes and businesses can "generate" negawatts by reducing energy consumption for a few hours and trade units of saved energy. Shutting off air conditioners during the peak electrical load hours - summer afternoons - reduces consumption, and is called a negawatt. Negawatts can be aggregated and used to negotiate better energy costs for business and home.
The Energy Orb has been designed and manufactured in Australia to provide significant energy savings. It changes colours to red when demand management is in operation, blue when energy is cheap and green when surplus renewable energy is available. Negawatts (kilowatts saved) are measured using internet metering.
London has embarked on an ambitious project to reduce power usage and carbon by implementing decentralised energy systems. Melbourne is also involved in this Clinton Climate Initiative which is ‘showing by doing’.
In the future Energy Performance Certificates will be required to be put on public display in buildings accessible to the public. Incorporating renewable energy will improve the energy performance of measures by both negawatt and co-generation in buildings and transport.
Target Audience
Anyone interested in climate change action at home or work.