In a past article I talked about how the main environmental benefit of installing solar power systems in New Zealand is that it reduces demand on the grid during periods of peak consumption. This time I’m going to look at the flip side of that equation – if you want to receive the maximum economic benefit from your solar power installation, you need to begin with a clear understanding of your own home or business actually uses power.
Tag: Cost Reduction
This tag is for ideas that can reduce your costs.
Evaluating the Arguments Against Solar Power in NZ: Too Much Green Energy Already Comes Off the Grid
One of the main arguments made against solar power in New Zealand is that the New Zealand electric supply already derives primarily from renewable energy sources anyway. Because of this, introducing home- or business-based solar power generation systems will do relatively little to improve the eco-sustainability of the business or household.
Today I’m going to take a look at some of the reasons why this is not the case, and that even with a power supply network derived primarily from renewable sources, there is still a lot to be gained from solar installations.
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How to Clean Up New Zealand’s Rivers Using Vermicomposting Systems
A few months ago I went to a talk with some representatives of the council in Feilding about composting. Their biggest problem they had was with what they called “biomass” – surplus run-off nutrients from farm waste disposal that they simply couldn’t compost, because they had insufficient compostable material to compost with it. I didn’t connect the dots at the time, but what they were referring to was nothing other than the sorts of run-off nutrients that are currently flooding New Zealand rivers, and which have become very topical in the lead-up to the election.
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Achieving the Lowest Cost Per Printed Page: How to Choose Printer That Saves You Money Over the Long Term
I view myself as a motel manager, and as a motel manager, a big part of my job is to understand and tactically eliminate, reduce or renegotiate the overhead costs in my business.
I admit that I sometimes take this too far and perhaps need a bit of professional help. But so far as the business is concerned, it is excellent for our bottom line to have someone with these cost-cutting tendencies. Sure, such an approach may be aggravating for the people around me, but when it comes to choosing a new printer to replace the one that recently conked out (as happened last week), it is nothing short of a godsend.
How Much Extra Energy Supply Will the Electric Fleet Require from NZ?
The phasing in of the electric fleet could be a momentous occasion for New Zealand, enabling us to switch from fuel consumption to electric vehicles powered primarily by renewable energy. But the process also comes with a series of economic effects, most notably the need to construct additional sources to power this fleet. In this article we look at what the electric fleet could require from NZ in terms of additional power sources.
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Creating a Decentralised Operating Plan Using the LSS Document, Or: The Art of Setting Up a Cot
It seriously disturbs me that the vast majority of businesses have almost no documented operating systems. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I lose sleep over it, and it is unlikely ever to lead to total societal collapse, it worries me in the background way that certain scratching behind a wall can be heard subconsciously in the depth of night.
How Much Will The Average Vegan Save the NZ Government by 2050?
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the amount of beef and lamb consumed domestically compared with international exports. The article involved much mathematics but was still insufficient to slake my number nerd thirst – so this week I have written an article that calculates the value that an average vegan will save the NZ Government by the year 2050.
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How Day & Night ICPs Allow for Strategic Power Use
The dry winter has resulted in low levels of hydroelectric energy generation, forcing NZ to rely more on other energy sources, in turn forcing the wholesale price of energy through the roof. The full effect of this will be felt over the next few months as energy retailers start to pass on their additional costs to households and businesses.
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Closed Loop Food Production
The words ‘Closed Loop Food Production’ came out of a recent meeting with the Feilding Council and while the words describe a practice already implemented by many households and communities, nonetheless represents something in my view that all households should aspire to.
What ‘Closed Loop Food Production’ simply refers to is the process of turning food waste into compost, compost into healthy veggies, healthy veggies into low cost home cooked meals, and meals into food waste – ie closing the loop as far as possible on each of the stages of the food production and disposal process.
Grow enough vegetables to feed your family every day of the growing season
When planning this article, I started by asking myself such questions as “how many onions does a typical adult eat each season” and “how much margin do I need to allow for yield problems such as pest control, weeds, poor watering etc” and finally “what percentage of adults actually eat onions”. Needless to say it was a very calculator-heavy method of divining the required yield for a standard household garden, and at the end of the day totally unreliable because the vegetable needs would vary heavily depending on the individual dietary preferences of each member of the household.
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