Green London  

Just a token post tonight, I didn't get in until late...

Jeremy Faludi at WorldChanging has a post on achieving energy efficiency using smart sensors and controls.

Many people are working on inventions that push the efficiency envelope in lighting, heating, computers, and more. But control technologies may actually be more important--by only using what we need, we can save huge amounts of energy with existing systems, and control technologies help us take only what we need.

You may be good about turning off the lights when you leave a room, but your office-mate might not be. Occupancy sensors eliminate the need for anyone to remember. An excellent paper by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic quotes energy savings of up to 43% for office environments, and 60% for some other environments.

...In short, all areas which are concerned about efficiency should be concerned about controls. It is an embodiment of one of the core principles of sustainable design (and nature's design), "more intelligence, less stuff". With the explosion of cheap computing and sensors, it should be easy to make sizeable reductions in energy and materials use that do not require better energy technologies or manufacturing technologies, but simply have smarter usage controls.

Ron Paul has given Rudy Giuliani a reading assignment in the hope that he might learn a little about how the world works. Fat chance I'd say but at least he is trying to do the right thing. George Bush (whom both reading lists and reading lessons would be wasted on) is trying to bad mouth his fellow Texas Republican but is only succeeding in proving he is both out of touch and ill informed.

Longshot Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Thursday gave front-runner Rudy Giuliani a list of foreign-policy books to back up his contention that attacks by Islamic militants are fueled by the U.S. presence in the Middle East.

"I'm giving Mr. Giuliani a reading assignment," the nine-term Texas congressman said as he stood behind a stack of books that included the report by the commission that examined the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. ... "I don't think he's qualified to be president," Paul said of Giuliani. "If he was to read the book and report back to me and say, 'I've changed my mind,' I would reconsider."

Paul advocates a limited U.S. foreign policy, including an end to the war in
Iraq and a reduction in troop levels abroad. ... He voted against the Iraq war resolution in 2002 and has proposed abolishing the Homeland Security Department and diminishing the Federal Reserve. ...

Paul said it was irresponsible of Giuliani and other leaders to not examine the motivations of al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups. ...

Among the books on Paul's reading list were: "Dying to Win," which argues that suicide bombers only mobilize against an occupying force; "Blowback," which examines the unintended consequences of U.S. foreign policy; and the 9/11 Commission Report, which says that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was angered by the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.

Another book on the list was "Imperial Hubris," whose author appeared at the press conference to offer support for Paul. "Foreign policy is about protecting America," said author Michael Scheuer, who used to head the CIA's bin Laden unit. "Our foreign policy is doing the opposite."