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Costs and Benefits of Electric Vehicles in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Electric Vehicle Adoption Potential in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
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HOST: If I buy a plug-in electric vehicle, when is the most efficient time to charge it? On this week’s Energy Bite, Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
MICHALEK: Some plug-in electric vehicle owners prefer to charge their vehicles late at night because they’ve heard that it’s better for the electricity grid and that wind power is more available at night.
That’s true, and in places like Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Washington D.C., charging at night could allow grid operators to use cheaper plants and cut electricity generation costs for charging by a quarter to a third.
HOST: That sounds great. Is there a downside though?
MICHALEK: Yes, most of the cost savings I mentioned are due to increased use of inexpensive coal-fired power plants that are available at night. The pollution-related human health costs downwind of those plants can be higher than any operation cost savings.
So until regions like Pittsburgh move to cleaner sources of electricity, plug-in electric vehicle owners hoping to do the best for society should not wait until late at night to charge.
HOST: Would you charge your electric vehicle at night or once you get home? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at Energy Bite dot org.
Energy Bite is a co-production between 90.5 WESA and Carnegie Mellon’s’ Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.
This week we learn what the future of electric vehicle adoption could look like from energy expert Jeremy Michalek, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Vehicle Electrification Group.
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Electric Vehicle Adoption Potential in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Costs and Benefits of Electric Vehicles in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Transcript
HOST: Will everyone be driving a plug-in electric vehicle in the future? On this week’s Energy Bite, Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
MICHALEK: Plug-in electric vehicles today make up much less than 1% of vehicles on the road. Right now, the biggest challenges include high cost, limited range, slow recharging, and lack of consumer familiarity.
But even if these problems are all solved, we’ll still face challenges. For example, even though most US households have off-street parking where a vehicle charger could be installed, many don’t have enough spaces for all of their vehicles.
So, a 100% electric vehicle fleet is likely unrealistic without major infrastructure changes.
HOST: So what will our vehicle fleet look like in the future?
MICHALEK: While we’re not likely to stop using oil for the foreseeable future, we will use a lot less of it because of a range of technologies. It’s unlikely that plug-in electric vehicles will make up the entire future vehicle fleet. It’s more likely that we’ll see a mix of technologies in the future – we’ll need more than one solution to cut emissions and address oil dependency.
HOST: What transportation will you be using in the future? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at Energy Bite dot org.
This week, Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Vehicle Electrification Group, explains how electric vehicles can sometimes cause more harm than good for the environment.
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Costs and Benefits of Electric Vehicles in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Electric Vehicle Adoption Potential in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Transcript
HOST: If I buy a plug-in electric vehicle, how much will it help the environment? On this week’s Energy Bite, Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
MICHALEK: Plug-in electric vehicles can create less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than traditional vehicles- if they are charged with clean electricity. But not all regions have clean electricity.
Electricity can be generated from pollution-emitting sources like coal or natural gas, as well as cleaner sources like wind, solar, hydro, or nuclear power. And different regions use different mixes of these and other sources.
HOST: When are plug-in electric vehicles not helping to reduce pollution?
MICHALEK: Plug-in electric vehicles may not be a good choice if you live in a region that gets much of its electricity from coal.
For example, in the Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Washington, DC region lifetime emissions from a battery electric vehicle, like a Tesla Model S, can cause two to three times as much cost to human health, the environment, and infrastructure as a gasoline hybrid like a Toyota Prius.
This could change in the future as we move toward cleaner sources of electricity. If we clean up the grid enough, electric vehicles can offer big advantages for the environment.
On this week’s Energy Bite, Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Vehicle Electrification Group, tells us when electric vehicles provide the most benefit for consumers.
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Electric Vehicle Adoption Potential in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Costs and Benefits of Electric Vehicles in the United States [video]- Carnegie Mellon Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Transcript
HOST: Have you ever thought of purchasing a plug-in electric vehicle? Are these vehicles the right choice for you? On this week’s Energy Bite, Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
MICHALEK: Plug-in electric vehicles are quiet and cheaper to refuel with no tailpipe emissions, and they can be fun to drive.
But electric vehicles may not be the right choice for everyone. They tend to be more expensive to purchase, have shorter driving range, and take longer to refuel than traditional vehicles. And you’ll need the space and the right to install a home charger if you want to charge the vehicle every night.
HOST: There’s more to that than I would have thought. When are electric vehicles a good choice?
MICHALEK: Plug-in electric vehicles offer the biggest benefits in stop-and-go driving conditions, but they lose range in extreme weather, and their environmental benefits depend on how clean the electricity grid is. So city drivers in mild-climate regions with a clean electricity grid, like San Francisco or Los Angeles can see the biggest benefits.
On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, tells us how our social networks can affect how we invest in energy.
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The Role of Community and Social Networking from Penn State University.
Schubert R and Stadelmann M (2015) Energy-using durables – why consumers refrain from economically optimal choices. Front. Energy Res. 3:7. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2015.00007l
Transcript
HOST: How can social networks affect consumer or business energy investment decisions? On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, explains.
WONG-PARODI: In talking to small commercial building owners, researchers at Carnegie Mellon were surprised to find out that an important influence on energy decision-making was that owners’ “social network”. Use of a social network saves them the time necessary to find someone they trust and to understand all of the options.
HOST: What about residential consumers?
WONG-PARODI: Appliances are often bought at a time of crisis. For example, a water heater has broken down and we want to replace it right away. As a result, the decisions consumers make are based on the capital cost of that water heater – the price they pay at the time – rather than considering the long-term economic impacts that take into the account the financial savings from a more energy efficient water heater.
In addition to providing information to consumers, this research implies that it is important for installers and salespeople to have training so they can understand the short- and long-term financial implications.
On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses the energy efficiency of our appliances’ default settings.
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Allcott, H., & Mullainathan, S. (2010). Behavioral science and energy policy. Science, 327(5970), 1204-1205.
McCalley, L. T. (2006). From motivation and cognition theories to everyday applications and back again: the case of product-integrated information and feedback. Energy policy, 34(2), 129-137.
Marc Mosko, Victoria Bellotti, “Smart Conservation for the Lazy Consumer: People aren’t conserving energy for love or money—you have to trick them into it,” 28 Jun 2012.
James Pierce, Diane J. Schiano,1, Eric Paulos, “Home, Habits, and Energy: Examining Domestic Interactions and Energy Consumption,”Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (April 2010).
“Appliances and electronics tips: Looking for ways to save money on your energy bill?” from We Energies
Transcript
HOST: Automatically using the default setting on electronics can be pretty easy. But do those settings save us the most energy? On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
WONG-PARODI: A review at MIT and Harvard found that a lot of our default settings for appliances are not the most efficient from an energy standpoint. For example, a study at the Technical University in the Netherlands found that removing default temperature settings from washing machines was found to reduce energy usage by 24% as users set lower washing temperatures. There is a great deal of research in this area that tells us that most people keep the default option.
HOST: What actions could be taken to change the default settings so they are more energy efficient?
On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses the types of information that can motivate the public to modify their energy use.
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Krishnamurti, T., Davis, A., Wong-Parodi, G., Canfield, C., & Wang, J. (2013). Creating an in-home display: experimental evidence and guidelines for design, Applied Energy, 108, 448-458
Delmas, M. & Lessem, N. 2014. Saving Power to Conserve your Reputation? The Effectiveness of Private versus Public Information. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 67: 353-370
Omar I. Asensio and Magali A. Delmas, Nonprice incentives and energy conservation. PNAS 2015 112 (6) E510-E515; published ahead of print January 12, 2015,doi:10.1073/pnas.1401880112.
Chen, V., Delmas, M., & Kaiser, W.J. 2014. Real-Time, Appliance-Level Electricity Use Feedback System: How to Engage Users? Energy and Buildings. 70: 455-462.
Matt Lucas, “Want people to conserve electricity? Tell them about pollution-induced asthma.” Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative, February 24, 2015.
Transcript
HOST: You’ve heard the phrase “keeping up with the Jonses”. Can knowing how much energy my neighbor uses affect my energy use? On this week’s EnergyBite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: Researchers have found that a home energy display that provides consumers with their energy use in kilowatt hours- not financial savings- was the most effective way to communicate energy information.
HOST: What other information motivates consumers to reduce energy?
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: One analysis found that providing additional information to consumers such as how their energy influences human health really motivates people to reduce their energy use, especially if they have children and elderly living at home with them. Another influence is comparing their energy use to their neighbors.
HOST: When can consumer home energy use displays less effective?
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: Although those tested thought financial savings for reducing energy consumption for a particular appliance would be more motivating, that was not the case. This is because the cost of energy use for one device at a specific point of time is very small – say a few cents per hour – so it was not enough to influence behavior.
HOST: What display in your home, if any, would motivate you to reduce your energy consumption? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at EnergyBite.org.
Energy Bite is a co-production between 90.5 WESA and Carnegie Mellon’s’ Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.
On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses how “keeping up with the Joneses” might help us modify our energy use.
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Alcott, Hunt., “Social Norms and Energy Conservation,” Journal of Public Economics 95 (2011) 1082–1095.
Belsie, Laura. “Peer Comparisons Reduce Energy Use,” National Bureau of Economic Research.
Social Comparison Theory from Psychology Today.
The EPA’s EnergyStar Home Energy Yardstick
Transcript
HOST: You’ve heard the phrase “keeping up with the Jonses”. Can knowing how much energy my neighbor uses affect my energy use? On this week’s EnergyBite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: The formal term for “keeping up with the Joneses” is social comparison. That is, we are driven to determine our personal worth by comparing ourselves with others.
HOST: How does this apply to energy?
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: Researchers looked at several utility’s programs that sent information to their customers comparing that customer’s electricity use to that of their neighbors. They found that consumers decreased their electricity consumption by up to 2%. Why? Because they wanted to keep up with their neighbors.
HOST: But does this work for everyone all of the time?
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: No, researchers found that the reductions in energy consumption varied based on how much energy was consumed, and that there was sometimes a “boomerang” effect where people would increase their electricity consumption, even after decreasing it, if their neighbors did the same.
HOST: Would knowing more about your neighbor’s electricity consumption change your consumption of electricity? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at EnergyBite.org.
The Hawthorne Effect is a phenomena in psychology where the mere knowledge of being watched can affect someone’s behavior or performance. Today’s technology can track many aspects of our life. Does being watched change your behavior? Is the same true for electricity consumption? On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
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Transcript
HOST: With today’s technology, does it feel like you’re always being watched? Can the mere knowledge of being watched change how we use energy? On this week’s Energy Bite, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, a scientist at Carnegie Mellon University has some answers.
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: The Hawthorne Effect is well-known phenomena in psychology – where the mere knowledge of being watched can affect someone’s behavior or performance.
HOST: So, how does the Hawthorne effect apply to electricity use?
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: Researchers sent postcards on a monthly basis to 200,000 homes telling them they were part of a study on electricity use consumption. Although the cards provided no instruction or incentive to save electricity, the consumption in those households dropped 2.7%. Their awareness heightened just because they knew they were being watched.
HOST: Why aren’t I getting a postcard to tell me I’m part of an energy study?
GABRIELLE WONG-PARODI: Although 2.7% might seem small in terms of a reduction in electricity consumption, it is greater than most states mandate. However, once the postcards stopped, so did the reduction in energy consumption.
HOST: Would being watched change your consumption of electricity? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at energybite.org.
We use natural gas to generate electricity but we could be even more efficient. In this episode of Energy Bite, Granger Morgan, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Co-Director of the Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making and Co-Director of the Electricity Industry Center, will tell us how.
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EPA-Electricity from natural gas
U.S. Energy Information Administration: What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
New York Power Authority: How does a combined cycle technology works?
Transcript
HOST INTRO: Have you ever wondered how natural gas is used to make electricity? On this week’s Energy Bite, Granger Morgan, a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has some answers.
DR. GRANGER MORGAN: We make electricity from gas using something called a gas turbine – basically, just a big modified jet engine. Today, natural gas is our second largest source of electricity. A big advantage is that when gas is burned it produces only about half as much carbon dioxide as coal.
HOST: Is there a way to make these gas turbines more energy efficient?
DR. GRANGER MORGAN:: Yes, the exhaust that comes out of the gas turbine is hot enough to make steam, and you can use that steam to run a second steam turbine. The two together are called a combined cycle turbine.
HOST: Are there any other ways to use natural gas to make electricity?
DR. GRANGER MORGAN: Engines of the kind that usually run on diesel fuel or gasoline can be modified to run on natural gas, and places like hospitals can use them for back-up generators. Regular engines, sterling engines, or small gas turbines can also be used for distributed generation. If the heat from such systems is captured and used, the overall efficiency can be roughly doubled.
HOST: Would you support greater use of distributed generation that uses natural gas? Take our poll, see the results, and ask your energy questions at Energy Bite dot org.
Energy Bite is a co-production between 90.5 WESA and Carnegie Mellon’s’ Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.
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