“Are You Still There?”: Why That Screen Appears When No One Is Watching the Series






More than one has done it. We are working, preparing food and we have a Netflix series or some other streaming service in the background. Sometimes we return to watch the program, but other times we continue working, talking on the phone or we even fall asleep while the series runs and runs, functioning as ambient noise. This is not uncommon, it is done a lot and more in these times of working from home. To prevent this from continuing persistently, media companies such as Netflix and YouTube implemented the “Are you still there?” button.

Of course, many of us see this button as a nuisance after the fourth or fifth chapter of your favorite series, when you want to see what happened with the plot after the previous episode. But why is it important? And, above all, what does it have to do with energy, the topic we address in this space.

This button exists because if it were not so, we would surely leave the television on ad infinitum. When we addressed the topic of light pollution, we concluded that when the consumption of an additional unit of something does not generate a cost for you, or the cost is not perceived in the short term, the consumer will tend to increase their consumption. But the fact that it does not cost you does not mean that it does not cost YouTube or Netflix for the series to run while you fall asleep.

This is because the series of these platforms rest on servers that require energy to be available at all times. And, the greater the intensity of consumption, the more intensity of processing is generated, which requires more energy, on the one hand —because the server is in active operation all the time—; on the other hand, because they generate heat that requires more energy to keep the rooms where said servers are cold.

In recent years two phenomena have occurred; the first, the energy consumption of the cloud, that is, the servers of data companies such as Google, Microsoft, Netflix; Amazon and Dropbox, among others, has increased. Nevertheless, the second effect is that energy consumption has become more efficient per unit of work performed. This means that every day more energy is consumed to maintain digital services in the cloud, although much progress has been made in energy efficiency.

In that sense, the idea behind the “Are you still there?” button is not because Netflix cares about you, it is a measure of consumption efficiency and, at the end of the day, of energy efficiency. This is because if all of us left series running all the time, surely the company’s energy consumption would increase.

But not only that, greenhouse gas emissions would also increase, both those that you cause through the consumption of your series at home, and those of the company for keeping its servers operating in an inefficient way while no one is watching TV. We will go deeper into that next week.

However, not everything is bad, this could also be good for you. Because to the extent that you are more conscious of your energy consumption at home, you will avoid surprises in your electricity bill every two months, with which you save electricity and contribute to mitigating climate change.

So remember, if you have the habit of waiting until the server asks you “Are you still there?” and you are really not paying attention to the series that runs incessantly, perhaps it is time to rethink your energy consumption for the good of the planet and of your pocket.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: November 11, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/sigues-ahi-boton-ver-series-netflix-streaming-opinion-energia-circular/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20211204081743/https://businessinsider.mx/sigues-ahi-boton-ver-series-netflix-streaming-opinion-energia-circular/ [Archived]

Gray, Blue and Green Hydrogen






You read here first, a few months ago, that the hydrogen fever would begin in the world. From then to date we have heard notes such as Airbus’s bet to develop a zero-carbon-emissions airplane powered by hydrogen; using natural gas transportation and distribution pipelines to distribute hydrogen to industries, businesses and homes in the United Kingdom and the development of cargo transportation schemes that use hydrogen as a primary source of energy. Even the promotion of a National Hydrogen Association.

Surely hydrogen will continue giving something to talk about in the future and surely this column will continue following up on it. On this occasion, given the interest it has awakened, I want to touch on the three hydrogen production processes. To make the distinction simpler we can talk about gray hydrogen, blue hydrogen and green hydrogen.

Gray Hydrogen

Gray hydrogen is that which is obtained from a process known as steam reforming using natural gas. Through a chemical reaction of methane with water, hydrogen and carbon monoxide are obtained.

Although it uses natural gas, given the greenhouse gas emissions, it is not considered in itself a clean technology. This is the dominant technology for hydrogen production in the world.

It is worth highlighting that when this process is used with coal it is considered brown hydrogen, but we will not analyze this for the moment.

Blue Hydrogen

For its part, blue hydrogen uses the same steam reforming process; however, it sequesters 90% of greenhouse gas emissions and stores them underground.

Since the production process is considered low in greenhouse gas emissions, it has been called low-carbon-emissions hydrogen. However, this process is costly, which has limited its adoption compared with gray or brown hydrogen.

Green Hydrogen

Lastly, green hydrogen is that which is obtained through the electrolysis process; it consists of using electricity to separate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

Although this can be done with any source of electricity —from the grid, combined cycle or nuclear—, green hydrogen is considered to be that process that uses renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic solar and wind as the exclusive energy source for the electrolysis process.

Technological developments at the moment do not discriminate among the ways of producing gray, blue or green hydrogen, and concentrate on its usefulness to replace fossil sources of energy in industrial, commercial and residential processes; however, it is expected that in the future green hydrogen will be developed with greater intensity, particularly in places with intensive processes of renewable energy generation such as the coasts of the United Kingdom.

Implementing hydrogen in Mexico is a process that will require much evaluation and investments. Although we are closer to the development of gray hydrogen due to the abundant natural gas from the United States, the country has great potential to develop green hydrogen; skipping the phase of blue hydrogen and preparing for a future where it does not depend on energy inputs from abroad. That would be a decisive step for the country to consolidate its energy security.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: November 4, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/hidrogeno-gris-azul-verde-opinion-energia-circular-paul-alejandro-sanchez/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20240413040223/https://businessinsider.mx/hidrogeno-gris-azul-verde-opinion-energia-circular-paul-alejandro-sanchez/ [Archived]

Be Careful with Energy Consumption






A common concern in times of confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic is that suddenly CFE has raised energy prices. Although in previous months an X amount equivalent to energy consumption was paid, this has tripled and in some cases quadrupled, without the quantity consumed having increased proportionally. But, I am sorry to disappoint you, on this occasion it is not CFE’s fault, but rather ignorance of the tariff model and the consumption of our homes.

In Mexico the electric tariff of domestic users is controlled, this means that, even if there were a provider different from CFE, it would charge us practically the same. The energy reform sought to open the electric market but not all users have the opportunity to choose their supplier; only large industrial users or large commercial chains. These are called qualified users.

You and I, domestic users, enter into the second category, basic users. The idea is that there would be a type of user with a controlled and flat tariff so that they would always pay the same in their electricity bill and that, eventually, they could change provider by becoming qualified users or be represented by a load aggregator.

The idea of this is that we could play with our consumption and, in some cases, pay less than the controlled or protection tariff. How? For example, if I know that I will leave the city for two weeks, I know that I can pay a lower amount of energy; if I charge my cellphone and computer in the hours of lower demand, my consumption can be lower.

But this that I am telling you is, precisely, the reason behind why many people complain today about exorbitant energy prices. In Mexico, the tariff is tiered, this means that the kWh you consume in the first tier are much cheaper than those of the second tier and those of the third tier, much, but much, more expensive than those of the second tier.

This means that if before you consumed 75 kWh of energy per month, but you and your family spent time away, at school, the office, the cinema or the gym, a relatively low bill always arrived. However, in Mexico City, for example, each additional kWh after 75 costs twice as much as the first 75. In turn, each additional kWh after 140 kWh will cost three times more than the first 75.

By spending more time at home, energy consumption has grown.

In times of confinement, then, people spend more time at home, with the television on, the computer, the lights, the microwave oven; the washing machine, the heating or the air conditioning. The average consumption of households has doubled and this implies that they pay two or three times more because the level of subsidy provided by the State is exhausted.

What can we do? Know your consumption patterns and your appliances. For example, a baby bottle sterilizer consumes 750 W. This means that, using it 15 minutes twice a day in a month, you will consume a little more than 11 kWh —15% of the subsidized tariff in Mexico City. A television consumes 100 W, so having it on 12 hours a day would represent 36 kWh per month, half of your electric subsidy in Mexico City. By the way, if you have any normal 100 W bulb, it is spending the same as an LED TV. What are you waiting for? Change it.

For this reason, in times of pandemic, it is most likely that your consumption has increased and your electric bill comes higher. So be careful with consumption because you could move to the feared Domestic High Consumption tariff, of which I will tell you on another occasion.

This article was originally published by Business Insider México.
Date: October 21, 2020
Original Link: https://businessinsider.mx/cuidado-con-el-consumo-de-energia/ [offline]
Archived Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20240804051440/https://businessinsider.mx/cuidado-con-el-consumo-de-energia/ [Archived]