Rik's Blog

A Smart Meter

Dear ____, Thanks for the link to the petition against smart metres in BC. However, I was a little confused about why I should sign it. Aren’t smart metres a good thing? Your email spurred to me do some research and led me to an even stronger view: smart metres are not just good, they are vital to the survival of our species and our planet. Here’s my take on the debate:

1. Smart Metres are a harmful source of radiation:

Smart metres only send a small update once a day. The amount of radiation created in each burst is equivalent to that of a cellphone and not the blast of radiation that the no side suggests. Yes, even a small amount of radiation contributes to the electromagnetic smog but it’s still tiny compared to all the smartphones, television, wireless devices, and cordless phones we surround ourselves with. I take the Suzuki Foundation’s cue “As for smart meters, the David Suzuki Foundation does not hold an official position, but I would have to agree that a meter outside one’s home poses little threat to our health when compared to a cell phone and laptop use—and the jury is still out on those issues as it is.”

2. Smart Metres are an Invasion of Privacy and Freedom of Choice:

This argument I don’t totally get, but then again I’ve never been paranoid about my privacy. Sure pot growers are going to be upset by this, but why does anyone else care? Our total power usage is available to BCHydro already and to almost anyone else who cares to look. And compared to our Internet and financial data, our power usage pattern would be a tiny part of our already available “public” profile. Making our power usage pattern instantly available to the grid is essential to making it more intelligent and delivering power more efficiently. For people who are really concerned about their privacy, they can go off grid or set up a load balancer to mask usage patterns. While they are at it, they should probably stay off the Internet and keep their money out of banks too.

But this is really about balancing the rights of the individual with the collective good. Just like you can’t make up your own rules for the road, individuals can’t be given too much say in how they participate in the grid. Even though traffic lights, speed bumps, and speeding tickets are counter to my personal interest, they serve the collective good. If our transportation system or grid were designed to serve individuals first, we would be stuck in a world of traffic jams and power outages. Having said that, there will always be a solution for people who want to opt out of smart metres. Going off-grid is getting easier and easier with better battery technology, solar panels, etc. If you don’t want to go off grid, there are ways to mask your power consumption patterns with other technology.

3. Smart Metres are Good for the Environment:

“Smart metres won’t help the enviro”. I agree that knowing our consumption isn’t a big incentive to reduce, but there’s much more at stake then just managing our own consumption. Smart metres are one small part of a larger plan to create an intelligent power-grid. A smart grid is essential to make most alternative energy systems like solar and wind viable. Green energy is unreliable because wind and solar are surging sources. Only a smart grid can handle the inherent variability of these technologies. Without a smart grid, we’ll be forever stuck to predictable always-on power-sources like coal, nuclear and hydro.

4. Smart Metres are too Expensive:

“It’s too expensive”. This is about priorities. It does seem incredibly expensive, if it’s not something you want to happen.

Conclusion:

I think creating the smart grid is vital to our species. Until we make instant power-routing as fast and smart as a microprocessor, green technology will never be able to account for more than a fraction of our power generation. Green energy is unreliable because wind and solar are surging sources. Only a smart grid can handle the inherent variability of these technologies. Without a smart metres, we’ll be forever stuck to predictable always-on power-sources like coal, nuclear and hydro. The argument that smart grids won’t help the environment seems flat out wrong and, from what I can tell, the experts who are making that argument seem to have other agendas.

Apparently so. 2 days later, our daughter, Grace Rocket, was born.

Every Friday at the Seed Studio we host Feats of Strength, epic battles of power, endurance and a willingness to be embarrassed. It’s a great way to unwind after a week of hunching over laptops.

This video, from October 14, features Bradley and Julia doing a wheelbarrow lap of the office.

Our elections for city council are coming in 2 weeks and as the campaigns heat up I think it’s a good time to give thanks for how we good, easy and safe we have it compared to, say, Pakistan.

Beygairat Brigade, or ‘a Brigade without Honour’, are 3 young guys from Pakistan challenging the military, religious fundamentalists, and anti-American conspiracy theorists with songs like “Aalu Anday” (“Potatoes and Eggs”) that I posted below. If you watch the video, stick around to the 2 minute mark and the metaphor starts to make sense.

The song rues the fact that killers and religious extremists are hailed as heroes in Pakistan, while someone like Abdus Salam, the nation’s only Nobel Prize-winning scientist, is often ignored because he belonged to the minority Ahmadi sect. – New York Times

The song is catching fire in Pakistan where there is a large but often quiet liberal population. I’m inspired by how these guys are changing their society with just a video camera, a song, Youtube and a lot of courage.

I poked my head out the office window at 607 Front Street and this is what I saw:

On the road from Six Mile to Nelson. Taken carefully.

Thanks to Kirk at Mountain Trek for sharing this.

This video of William Trubridge freediving The Arch at Blue Hole, Dahab, in the Sinai hypnotizes me. He dives with no fins, no suit and only one breath to a depth of 55m and then swims for 30 more metres under an arch before returning to the surface. Incredible.