Articles about Energy
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The boundaries between physical, digital and biological worlds are breaking down — giving way to a new world of computer based business known as cyber-physical systems. These cyber-physical systems are characterized by the merging of physical, digital, and biological realms in profound ways. Artificial intelligence (AI) serves as the primary catalyst of this transformation.
Klaus Schwab, Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum wrote:
We are at the beginning of a revolution that is fundamentally changing the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope and...
Read more
The Smarter Smart Energy Meter
Investment in energy monitoring has traditionally been dominated by lengthy CAPEX discussions and the technical specifications of proposed monitoring infrastructure which means spending more cash to find out where cost savings might be made. Little thought was ever given to the data output and associated software --most competing products delivered similar back end services and data displays which required users to export data to CSV format before being able to really interrogate it.
That's changing with Panoramic Power smart sensors available now in New Zealand, through Total...
Read more
The Fossil Future of Thermal Generation
The calls for a 100% renewable energy market in NZ are often met with large amounts of criticism, "We are 85% renewable already", "Thermal back up is required for periods of drought and low wind", "Going 100% renewable will only increase prices as more generation will be required" etc etc etc.
Quite frankly, this is an outdated way to think of the market based on large scale generation models and long distance transmission.
New Zealand in transition
Unlike most other countries, NZ is well positioned to further reduce reliance on thermal generation, given our geography, population...
Read more
The Corporate Power Perspective: Evaluating Strategic Energy
The focus of the recent Energy Management Association of New Zealand (EMANZ) conference held in Wellington centered on disruptive technologies and how this would impact the traditional models of the energy supply chain. While presentations focused mainly on generators, distributors and retailers, customers also need to consider how emerging technology can drive strategic decision making when it comes to the consumption of energy.
The installation of smart metering over the last few years throughout New Zealand has assisted mainly companies that generate, distribute and retail...
Read more
New Branding and New Services
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
Drawing is the honesty of the art.
Salvador Dali
Today Total Utilities announces its new branding. Over the last 18 years we have worked hard to assist companies in controlling consumption and cost. It's an exciting day for us and we are proud to share this with you.
From today you'll see a change in the way we look, including our new ribbon logo. The spherical shape represents the whole as we take a 360 degree approach to understanding our clients and their utility requirements, whether it be Energy, Waste and ICT or Insights,...
Read more
Improve Operations in 3 Steps
Effective energy management is the foundation of operational excellence. As businesses strive to reduce product costs, improve processes and optimise asset reliability; the missing link is often energy data and visibility into energy usage at the system level. Leading companies are realising that effective energy management can lead to better understanding of productivity losses in production, predictive analytics for asset failures and data analysis in energy consumption at the system level.
Historically obtaining useful energy data has been extremely...
Read more
Production Management and the Industrial IoT
In the first two parts of this series I looked at what the internet of things (IoT) actually is and then at the Energy Management possibilities for businesses competing on the world stage.
In this, part three, of the series we get down to the nitty gritty of Manufacturing Production Management and how measuring energy flows and consumption can inform critical decisions.
I could make this complicated but if we really get down to the basics there are three main categories that require constant attention in a production environment: People, Processes and Technology.
People –...
Read more
How the Internet of Things is transforming Business
Over Christmas 2015 I spent a lot of my beach time getting sun burnt and considering the threat of global warming to my kids and to their kids.
I eventually decided that, to save the planet, I could start by measuring the energy consumption of every electrical device in the world. This would help people understand how to use these devices more efficiently, they would use less energy and “voila” world saved!
The only problem is – how the heck do I talk to every electrical device in the world? More importantly – how do I get them to talk back to me?
Welcome to the emerging...
Read more
A Layman’s Case for Climate Change
I formed our company in 1999, with the energy part of our business covering both procurement (a commercial focus) and energy use optimization (a technical focus). Both are designed to minimize the expenditure of our business clients.
The energy sector where we operate has been significantly affected by the climate change debate. Knock-on effects of which have included the introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme (a significant new tax) and the closure of various fossil fuel-based power stations in North Island.
The purpose of this blog is to step back from some of the partisan...
Read more
Utilising Energy for Competitive Advantage
For many businesses, energy can make up a large portion of the cost of doing business however in many cases it is not subjected the same level of scrutiny that other expense areas do. Often getting a better price through procurement is seen as good enough or all that can really be done when it comes to managing energy as businesses are so focused on their core purpose or there is not an available resource to execute an energy management plan.
Retail pricing is increasing
Over the last 12 months or so we have seen over the counter retail pricing slowly increasing. The 15-20% energy...
Read more