U.S. Cities Attempt to Boost Environmental Awareness with Electronic Tools

Published January 28, 2009

U.S. cities are increasingly trying to improve public awareness of environmental issues by providing electronic tools.

Denver, Colorado, recently completed a pilot test of Driving Change, a program that uses telemetry technology to send vehicle operating information over the Internet to drivers. Participants receive detailed information about their CO2 emissions and the cost of excess fuel consumed.

About 160 city vehicles and 240 vehicles of residents were charted in the study, which successfully reduced CO2 emissions and idling times among participating autos.

Two companies in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, have also implemented a program to increase public awareness of energy consumption. Silver Spring Networks and OG&E Electric Services installed smart meters and thermostats in 6,600 apartments so that residents could gauge the cost of their power consumption.

As a result of the test, apartment residents paid increased attention to power usage. California utility Pacific Gas & Electric is currently installing thousands of Silver Spring meters each month.

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U.S. Cities Attempt to Boost Environmental Awareness with Electronic Tools

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