Home Energy Analysis

I recently speculated that the 2008 Australian budget would announce increased funding for green initiatives. Now that the budget has been tabled, the solar panel industry is reeling from the decision to reduce the upper limit of family income for eligibility for the rebate - it was $150,000 and now is $100,000. Even with rebates, solar panels have a long economic pay back period but without rebates few people will ever see a positive financial return.

My home state of Victoria had weeks earlier reduced its feed-in tariff for people generating solar electricity. The combined effects of these decisions has seen a large number of cancellations of orders.

Both these decisions point to the reality that governments are willing to promise to achieve carbon dioxide savings by, say, 2020 but are much less willing to do something with impacts in 2009. The signals being sent are not promising. 

The title of the post is copied from an article onThe Oil Drum blog. The two main points made are that Europe is heavily reliant on natural gas, and that the production from the European fields is either declining now, or will start to decline soon.

Natural gas provides 29% of Europe’s primary fossil fuel. Demand has increased by a factor of 19 over the last 40 years.

A supply shortfall is predicted to occur around 2013. Even the massive Russian fields are no longer increasing production, and with internal demand increasing, exports to other European countries are likely to lessen.

European demand peaks in the Northern winter, putting pressure on supplies world-wide. Even in Australia LPG prices as an automotive fuel rise in our summer because local fuel prices are set according to the Saudi contract price. Australian gas does not appear to reach Europe, but is exported mainly to Japan and China.

This title of the post is a heading in Melbourne’s Sunday Age. It refers to the the first budget of Australia’s new government, one which is committed to actions addressing climate change.

Half a billion will be devoted to the development of “clean coal” technology. As a country we love coal because we export it and we have been indifferent to the amount of CO2 that results from its use. I am sceptical about the practicality of the proposed technology but reluctantly agree that we should invest some dollars so that research can be undertaken.

I am more enthusiastic about the proposed support of commercialisation of renewable programs.

I am most enthusiastic about funds to help businesses become more energy efficient, and of course would love to see a section of the budget providing a copy of the Home Energy Analysis System for every Australian small business. It would need a few changes to supply information required by business but this is a small challenge, certainly when compared with clean coal technology.

As an Australian, I am a spectator of the US election process. From this distance, Obama is the most attractive candidate on many levels.

No youngster myself, I am bemused by the thought of the 71 year old John McCain seeking this most aging of jobs. His suggestion that one solution to rising fuel prices is to rebate fuel taxes for a period gives rise to astonishment. And I’m disappointed that Hillary Clinton has said “me too” and also supports the rebate.

I like this quote from Obama: “This isn’t an idea designed to get you through the summer, it’s an idea designed to get them through an election.”

It is extremely disappointing that the World’s most influential nation could be lead for another four years by someone whose environmental commitment is no better than that of George W Bush.

One of the features missing from HEAS is the ability to update the readings database using a file. With smart metering in our future, many of our energy suppliers will be able to supply readings as computer readable files. This will be a welcome relief from the need to visually read meters, and update the Home Energy Analysis System databases manually. Most of these devices will deliver frequent readings, perhaps by the minute or the hour. Having data at this level means that HEAS will be able to produce new graph types. For instance, it will be possible to create profiles showing consumption by hour or by day of the week.

A beta test version is now available for anyone who is interested to download and try. It is based on data published on the Brultech web site. (This version of HEAS is not officially endorsed by Brultech Reseach Inc.)

The Brultech format is the only one that HEAS will currently process correctly, but other formats will be added in the future. If you have a format the you’d like added please contact us. Sample files help, and a formal specification helps.