It’s been a grey, rainy, low-energy day. I sleep in a little later than I probably should, but I don’t have anything planned for the day so I take my time getting up, having breakfast, etc. I also have my next-to-last late night / early morning DBT session later on, so I’ll be trying to get some sleep during the evening again.
Speaking of energy, I received my first electricity bill based on the meter reading I provided yesterday to Energia, my utility company — it came to €153.75 or $181.00 (!). I was expecting it to be high due to the broken nighttime usage meter, and the Energia representative said I would received a credit back once they sort everything out, but still.
Now that I have a baseline, I’m thinking about how I can reduce my usage and lower my bill for next month. I had already re-programmed the two electric radiators, one in the front hallway and the other in the living room, to lower the daytime and nighttime target temperatures. Perhaps I could tweak those some more. I also have been trying to run the washer and dryer later on in the evening, but now I know that the rates don’t drop until after 11pm during the winter months, so I should probably be more mindful of that. The other big suspect is the water heater. The day I arrived, my landlord showed me an on/off switch and timer controls for the water heater that are located in the hallway utility closet, but I haven’t touched them since. I should probably take another look at using the timer more strategically so that the hot water tank isn’t always warming up.
Earlier this week I noticed the headline for this Irish Times article about an array of 60 wind turbines that are planned to be built in the Dublin Bay. There is some controversy given that they will be visible from land.
According to a couple of sources (Wikipedia and Statistica), Ireland is the second highest ranked country in the world for wind energy as a percentage of its total energy production (aka penetration), coming in at 33%, behind Denmark that boasts a whopping 48%. Ireland is aiming for a 70% renewable energy target by 2030, and its Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) was approved by the EU in July of this year (“scheme” is the word used for “plan” but without the typical American negative connotation). The RESS basically involves auctioning off contracts for renewable electricity projects that will receive financial support from the Irish government.
A map of Ireland’s wind farms (from Wikipedia):
I don’t know anything about solar energy production in Ireland, although the building across from Sprangers Yard has solar panels installed on its roof. I imagine solar is not as promising as wind given Ireland’s climate and latitude.
Also in the news this week is an announcement that Dublin will see trials of its first hydrogen fuel cell bus in the coming weeks.
That’s all the energy I have for blogging today… I know, I’m usually more long “winded.” 😉
Until next time…
