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TEPCO has another big problem: Everyone hates them and is doing everything possible to lower their electrical use and what they pay to TEPCO. This is not difficult because LEDs have dropped to $10 to $15 on sale, top of the line air conditioners and refrigerators use half the electricity of models 10 years ago, and even computers have gone from 100 watts to 16 watts. The Wifi unit used 15 watts but now is down to 4 watts. There wasn't one thing that was causing the problems, it was death by a thousand thoughtless vampire load suckings that were really simple to solve.
I cut my electric use by 30% by changing to LEDs and unplugging all the rarely used DVD players and other electronic equipment, and switched from a desktop computer that used over 100 watts to a Macbook that uses 20 watts, etc. I haven't even gotten to replacing the TV, which used 250 watts, with a 46 inch that uses 130 watts, or replacing the old air conditioner/heat pump that used 10 kwh on extremely hot/cold days with a top of the line Panasonic that uses 5 kwh. So, I think a 40% to 50% reduction, without any change in standard of living, is easy.
Also, note that if you first reduce the electricity you use for lighting, TV, refrigerator, computer etc., you avoid producing a lot of nonsense heat which the air conditioner would then have to remove, and if you can reduce your heat load, you can buy a smaller air conditioner, which will save you money and make the LEDs and some of the improvements free. So not only will my new air conditioner be twice as efficient, but I will be able to buy one that is smaller and costs about $700 less because it will have less heat to remove. So the order of the improvements matters.
AND HERE IS THE GREAT NEXT STEP:
NHK was showing people who have cut their electricity use dramatically. Once they had replaced all the electrical items they were going to replace, they went through their house and recalculated what the peak load would be. Since they had cut use so much, they could CUT THEIR AMPERAGE. In Japan, the higher the amperage, the higher the electrical rate. When I first moved into my apartment, it was 30 amps, but since the circuit breaker switch flipped from time to time, I had it upgraded to 40 amps. Now, after replacing the appliances, etc., I think I can go back to 30 amps with no problem, further cutting my electricity rate.
So, the rate payers are not sitting by doing nothing. Of course they will eventually pay through taxes.
This is a one-time permanent change that doesn't cost anything if appliances are replaced when they really need to be replaced. My Sharp air conditioner/heat pump was top of the line energy efficient, but that was 17 years ago, and it is starting to rattle, so I think I can replace it without being wasteful. My total annual heating cost should then drop from $300 to $150, and my total annual cooling cost should also drop from $300 to $150 without any change in standard of living. $300 a year for heating and cooling seems reasonable.
Another disruptive technology that is being rolled out now is Panasonic-Sanyo's whole house battery that stores at least 50 kwh, enough to run a house for a few days. The prototype testing and field testing are over, and actual manufacturing is starting. The battery automatically charges late at night when the rate is 10 cents a kwh, and allows you to run the house at that rate. The rate during the day is 30 cents a kwh. The cost of the battery should be under $5,000, with a 2015 target of $3,000. If I were to do that, my electric bill would drop by about half again, so maybe down from $100 a month to about $30 a month, with no change in standard of living.
There really are ways, low-tech ways, around the oil and energy shocks that are coming by 2013 at the latest. We don't need more power; we need to do simple things like this.
Block unwanted heat from entering your house.
Switch the 5 or 10 lights you leave on for hours every day to LEDs.
Replace older inefficient TVs, refrigerators, etc.
Install a more energy efficient air conditioner, and you may need a much smaller cheaper one now that your energy efficient lights and appliances produce less nonsense heat.
Look at your new peak electrical load and consider whether it might be worthwhile to lower your amperage.
A perfect example of why five years ago I stopped trying to make more money and tried instead to invest in cutting future expenses. It pays a higher guaranteed return, untaxed.
Although Kansai (western Japan) was not damaged directly by the March 11 earthquake, their nuclear plants are also shut down for inspection and upgrading, so they are also looking at an electricity shortage.
KEPCO to seek 15% electricity cut / Prospects dim of restarting some reactors
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Kansai Electric Power Co. announced Friday that it will ask all its users to cut their electricity consumption by 15 percent between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays from July 1 through Sept. 22, as it is unlikely that it will be able to resume operations at nuclear power reactors that are currently shut down for regular inspections, or are scheduled to be.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many companies have been moving their production sites to western Japan from the service area of Tokyo Electric Power Co., where an electricity shortage is expected this summer.
However, Kansai Electric's announcement will likely force them to revise their plans, observers said.
...
This means the utility might not be able to operate a total of six nuclear power reactors by August.
Kansai Electric's power supply will drop to 29.38 million kilowatts if operations at those nuclear reactors are not resumed. This means a potential shortfall of 2 million kilowatts if the weather becomes as hot as last summer and many people turn on their air conditioners.
...
"We've just implemented measures [to move corporate facilities to the Kansai region], in response to the electricity shortfall expected in TEPCO's service area," an official at a major electric-appliance manufacturer said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110610005996.htm
And then there is SUPER COOL BIZ in Japan
http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...super-cool-biz
This has actually been going on for more than a decade.
Aloha shirts are standard business attire in Hawaii. Why should you copy the dress of people who live near the arctic circle when you are in the tropics and it is 90F?
I cut my electric use by 30% by changing to LEDs and unplugging all the rarely used DVD players and other electronic equipment, and switched from a desktop computer that used over 100 watts to a Macbook that uses 20 watts, etc. I haven't even gotten to replacing the TV, which used 250 watts, with a 46 inch that uses 130 watts, or replacing the old air conditioner/heat pump that used 10 kwh on extremely hot/cold days with a top of the line Panasonic that uses 5 kwh. So, I think a 40% to 50% reduction, without any change in standard of living, is easy.
Also, note that if you first reduce the electricity you use for lighting, TV, refrigerator, computer etc., you avoid producing a lot of nonsense heat which the air conditioner would then have to remove, and if you can reduce your heat load, you can buy a smaller air conditioner, which will save you money and make the LEDs and some of the improvements free. So not only will my new air conditioner be twice as efficient, but I will be able to buy one that is smaller and costs about $700 less because it will have less heat to remove. So the order of the improvements matters.
AND HERE IS THE GREAT NEXT STEP:
NHK was showing people who have cut their electricity use dramatically. Once they had replaced all the electrical items they were going to replace, they went through their house and recalculated what the peak load would be. Since they had cut use so much, they could CUT THEIR AMPERAGE. In Japan, the higher the amperage, the higher the electrical rate. When I first moved into my apartment, it was 30 amps, but since the circuit breaker switch flipped from time to time, I had it upgraded to 40 amps. Now, after replacing the appliances, etc., I think I can go back to 30 amps with no problem, further cutting my electricity rate.
So, the rate payers are not sitting by doing nothing. Of course they will eventually pay through taxes.
This is a one-time permanent change that doesn't cost anything if appliances are replaced when they really need to be replaced. My Sharp air conditioner/heat pump was top of the line energy efficient, but that was 17 years ago, and it is starting to rattle, so I think I can replace it without being wasteful. My total annual heating cost should then drop from $300 to $150, and my total annual cooling cost should also drop from $300 to $150 without any change in standard of living. $300 a year for heating and cooling seems reasonable.
Another disruptive technology that is being rolled out now is Panasonic-Sanyo's whole house battery that stores at least 50 kwh, enough to run a house for a few days. The prototype testing and field testing are over, and actual manufacturing is starting. The battery automatically charges late at night when the rate is 10 cents a kwh, and allows you to run the house at that rate. The rate during the day is 30 cents a kwh. The cost of the battery should be under $5,000, with a 2015 target of $3,000. If I were to do that, my electric bill would drop by about half again, so maybe down from $100 a month to about $30 a month, with no change in standard of living.
There really are ways, low-tech ways, around the oil and energy shocks that are coming by 2013 at the latest. We don't need more power; we need to do simple things like this.
Block unwanted heat from entering your house.
Switch the 5 or 10 lights you leave on for hours every day to LEDs.
Replace older inefficient TVs, refrigerators, etc.
Install a more energy efficient air conditioner, and you may need a much smaller cheaper one now that your energy efficient lights and appliances produce less nonsense heat.
Look at your new peak electrical load and consider whether it might be worthwhile to lower your amperage.
A perfect example of why five years ago I stopped trying to make more money and tried instead to invest in cutting future expenses. It pays a higher guaranteed return, untaxed.
Although Kansai (western Japan) was not damaged directly by the March 11 earthquake, their nuclear plants are also shut down for inspection and upgrading, so they are also looking at an electricity shortage.
KEPCO to seek 15% electricity cut / Prospects dim of restarting some reactors
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Kansai Electric Power Co. announced Friday that it will ask all its users to cut their electricity consumption by 15 percent between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays from July 1 through Sept. 22, as it is unlikely that it will be able to resume operations at nuclear power reactors that are currently shut down for regular inspections, or are scheduled to be.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many companies have been moving their production sites to western Japan from the service area of Tokyo Electric Power Co., where an electricity shortage is expected this summer.
However, Kansai Electric's announcement will likely force them to revise their plans, observers said.
...
This means the utility might not be able to operate a total of six nuclear power reactors by August.
Kansai Electric's power supply will drop to 29.38 million kilowatts if operations at those nuclear reactors are not resumed. This means a potential shortfall of 2 million kilowatts if the weather becomes as hot as last summer and many people turn on their air conditioners.
...
"We've just implemented measures [to move corporate facilities to the Kansai region], in response to the electricity shortfall expected in TEPCO's service area," an official at a major electric-appliance manufacturer said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110610005996.htm
And then there is SUPER COOL BIZ in Japan
http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...super-cool-biz
This has actually been going on for more than a decade.
Aloha shirts are standard business attire in Hawaii. Why should you copy the dress of people who live near the arctic circle when you are in the tropics and it is 90F?
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