Who is reading GreenM3 Aug 2014 - amazon.com #1

I have taken a long break from looking at Google Analytics for GreenM3.  In fact I haven’t written on this since 2011.

One of the most interesting is the % from various OS.

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Here is a list of some of the companies visiting GreenM3

  • Amazon.com & amazon technologies
  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Cummins Engine
  • EMC
  • HP
  • 3M
  • Cisco
  • abovenet communications
  • Samsung
  • DPR Construction
  • Fidelity Investments
  • Kindle Wireless
  • Juniper Networks
  • NTT
  • Rackspace
  • Schneider
  • Tata
  • Centurylink
  • Dean Witter
  • Dell
  • Emerson
  • IBM
  • Boeing
  • ABB
  • Apple
  • Arista Networks
  • AT&T
  • Bechtel
  • Cap Gemini 

Making Sense of Sensor Data Webinar, June 25, 2014

Gigaom Research has a webinar on June 25, 2014 on Making Sense of Sensor data.

Maybe you’ve heard of the Internet of Things, and maybe you’re skeptical.  But this isn’t just about thermostats and personal pedometers.  It’s about fleet optimization, supply chain management, container shipping, manufacturing, sentiment analysis, and fraud prevention, too.

Analysis of streaming data focuses on determining not just the “what and why,” but also the “what’s next.”  By combining sensor data with historical data, even deeper insights can be extracted, equipment breakdowns averted, money saved and efficiencies gained.

I am on the panel along with two others.

FEATURED PANELISTS

Dave Ohara
Jim Haughwout
Jim Haughwout Chief Technology Architect, Building the IoT, Savi

Going with RFID doesn't mean errors are gone, errors just show up in different places

A common perception is RFID is error free.  Airbus just announced it has an integrated RFID nameplate and in the press announcement is error-proof.

These tags will contribute to value-chain visibility, error-proof identification

Keep in mind the media and marketing folks are not process engineers or software/hardware engineers.  Here is presentation by an Airbus engineer at a conference where errors are discussed.

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A lot of things need to happen that people don’t think about.  Now you could argue that this was a test.  But with 51% error rate, how long will it take the error rate to be below 0.1%?  To get lower error rates you need to put in audit systems to find errors and reconcile them.

One of the problems Airbus and I think Boeing has is they are storing data on the RFID tags which by the way is the craziest damn idea.  Now it may seem like a good idea to store the data on the device.  Imagine having 10,000 eventually 100,0000 or 1,000,000 RFID tags with data stored on them, syncing the data from all those devices will create a data management nightmare.  Tags get damaged.  Remote devices don’t sync data.  They get bad data written to them.  How do you handle security access to write data to the device.  Read from the device.  Can just anyone walk into an airplane equipment and collecting data on the devices that respond to RFID?  Secure organizations prohibit USB devices.

Even though I am discussing RFID, many of these same issues apply to any kind of monitoring system.  Errors exist in all kinds of systems.  To reduce errors no different than reducing downtimes at some point can be addressed with redundancy.  Having multiple data feeds for the same thing reduces the chance of errors.

 

Benefits of a hybrid are dependent on how often you use electric battery system, seems kind of obvious

BBC has a post on the insight that the benefits of a hybrid are dependent on the use, location and driving patterns.

Hybrid cars are good for the environment, right? Their ability to switch to battery power means more miles to the gallon, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

These things are true, however recent research suggests that preciselyhow green hybrid vehicles are may depend on traffic levels, road design and, perhaps most intriguingly, national driving styles. It also shows these vehicles provide significantly greater environmental benefits in cities in India and China, where there are hardly any hybrids, than they do in places like Tokyo and Los Angeles, where they are most common.

What is funny that the BBC positioned this paper as research was needed.  If you ask the question of when will you use the electric battery system.  When accelerating, braking, and at rest, then the answer is kind of obvious.  if you drive consistent highway miles the electric battery system is going along for the ride with a weight penalty.

When the computer generated vehicles were “driven” according to the real world driving data, the hybrids generated fuel savings of 48% in India and up to 55% in China, compared with around 40% in the US.

Why the discrepancy? At low speeds, such as found in many cities, the internal combustion engine is inefficient, and so in the hybrids the electric motor took over. Energy recovered through regenerative breaking – when the electric motor is allowed to run backwards as a generator when the car is slowing – was, as expected, the main reason why they hybrids were much more efficient.

The second most important factor surprised the researchers. “We forgot about the aggressiveness of the driving styles,” says Gopal. “Dense traffic and aggressive driving styles favour hybrids.”

In India and China, driving involves a lot of accelerating and braking – which can both be done more efficiently with an electric drive train versus a petrol engine.

ExtremeTech provides a perspective for gas vs. hybrid vs. diesel.

Here’s the broad answer: Go with gasoline if you’re a low-mileage driver, hybrid for city driving, and diesel for high-mileage (mostly highway) driving.

The mainstream gasoline engine is best if you drive less than 7500 miles a year because the savings on fuel won’t match the premium you’re likely to pay for a hybrid or diesel car.Hybrid is the winner if you cover a lot of miles in stop and go city driving or on clogged expressways, where braking recharges the battery that powers the electric motor. It helps if you’re easy on the throttle and brake early and smoothly in a hybrid.

I drive 3,000-4,000 miles a year so gas is my option.

Woohoo!? USA carbon footprint drops to 1994 levels due to natural gas, efficiencies and drop in mfg

Arstechnica reports on USA’s carbon footprint  dropping to 1994 levels.

US carbon emissions hit lowest level since 1994 despite economic growth

Efficiency, drop in manufacturing, and a shift to natural gas all contribute.

Last year, the US saw its lowest carbon emissions since 1994, continuing a downward trend that began in 2008 during the economic crisis. It marks the second year in a row that carbon emissions have dropped despite a growth in gross domestic product. Prior to the last few years, economic growth had been closely tied to increased carbon emissions.

The US Energy Information Administration released the data yesterday after having taken a bit of an unwanted break during the government shutdown. In analyzing the data, it identified a variety of causes for the drop in carbon emissions. As shown above, population size and economic activity both grew last year, which would normally push emissions up. But the energy required for that economic activity dropped, and the carbon intensity of the energy supply dropped as well. Combined, those two factors more than offset the economic growth.

Here is a timeline.

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There are more cool graphs in the report.  http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/carbon/