(image from medlineplus.gov) Over the last five or ten years there has been a huge increase in the amount of research looking at mitochondria and the role these little engines play in our overall health. Mitochondria are small structures inside our cells that convert food and oxygen into energy in
It seems like everyone is tired. Many of us are overcommitted, we don’t get enough sleep, we are stressed, and maybe we don’t eat the best either. Fatigue is beyond feeling tired. Most of the time if you are tired, and you get some good sleep, you will feel better.
Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) is the Netherlands main agency for design, construction, management and maintenance for waterways and infrastructure. Their mission is to promote safety, mobility and quality of life in the Netherlands. They are the masterminds behind some of the most prestigious water projects in the world. In a recent panel
These days, many countries are moving away from coal, and towards natural gas, hydro, wind, and solar as ways to meet their electricity needs. I had heard that some countries still use a lot of coal (especially those countries with large coal deposits), and I was curious which countries use
Utilities all over the country are facing multiple disruptions, from climate change to distributed energy generation to a growing need to embrace digital transformation. These challenges are more pronounced for midsize public power utilities, which are community-owned, not-for-profit and often more vulnerable to economic challenges than investor-owned utilities. As new
Romania’s energy and utilities market is thriving. The country has a high level of energy independence, thanks to oil and gas reserves in the Black Sea, and there is also activity in the solar energy market. However, many utilities companies are struggling to make appealing offers to customers, and there
There are many ways to add more "visual impact" to your maps. Some techniques grab the users' attention, but often don't add anything useful to the message the map is trying to convey (such as 3D tricks, or flashy/gratuitous images and infographics). I encourage you to design maps that have
In these modern times, my utility bill has a bar chart so I can see how my current consumption compares to my historical usage. I decided to create my own version of this utility bill bar chart, and make a few improvements along the way. If you're into SGplot bar
You might have seen in the news that US exports of natural gas to Europe are up 300%. And we recently crossed the threshold where we export more natural gas than we import. This seems like a momentous occasion, and worthy of a graph! But first, let me make sure
Over the years, the US has drilled for crude oil in several locations, such as Pennsylvania, Texas, Alaska, and the Gulf of Mexico. A few years ago, as the US started drilling more in North Dakota, there were forecasts that we would surpass Saudi Arabia in crude oil production. And recently,
I recently read an interesting article about petroleum coke (petcoke). A lot of it is produced in the US, and lately a lot of it is consumed (burned) in India ... contributing to air pollution there. The article mentioned some numbers in the text, but the data was really begging to
In an increasingly complicated operating environment, the global oil and gas industry struggles to optimize their asset portfolio. Producers combat severe challenges inherent to aging facilities in the context of pricing volatility. Change is the new constant, as the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry means that producers
Utilities can save as much as $10 million a year for every one percent improvement in forecast accuracy by optimizing asset utilization and trading strategies. Changing energy markets and an influx of data from the smart grid are providing more opportunities to reap value from energy forecasting. Improving energy forecasts
In recent years, solar panels have become much more economical, and therefore more popular. But because of the curvature of the Earth, the angle at which you need to install the panels varies, depending on where you live. In this example, I demonstrate how to visualize this kind of data
Tell me if you’ve heard this before: Your company hired (or re-titled) a talented data scientist and they have great skills and no data. Or they're marginalized by IT because they're misunderstood. They're offered “cleansed” data that will fit into the hardware provisioned. What they want is “all” relevant data
The utility industry is ripe with analytic opportunities. Usually, when I share that perspective, thoughts immediately jump to making the energy grid more efficient. Certainly, there are efficiencies to gain with improved data about where power is being consumed and the sources that are available to support it. However, there
“Analytics” and “data scientist” aren’t new terms, but they are trending buzzwords. The popularity of these concepts has created a false impression: Analytics are mysterious abstractions that can only be decoded if you have a white lab coat and an advanced degree in computer science. The reality couldn’t be more different.
Energy suppliers are fighting for prime position in the domestic energy supply market. Disillusioned customers, increased competition due to a flood of new entrants and tighter regulations are forcing suppliers to reassess their business models. According to UK regulator Ofgem, there were 3.8 million account switches in the first six
Yesterday I opened up the Wall Street Journal and found the usual mix of ads from major technology vendors touting their IoT (Internet of Things) prowess, and claiming they all have the secret sauce to make all of our IoT dreams come true. Where do I sign up?! Meanwhile, back
Have you ever wondered how far you live from the closest nuclear power plant? I've crunched the numbers for cities here in the US, and created an interactive SAS map to help answer that question! The average age of US nuclear power plants is 35 years, and there just doesn't
Where is solar and wind power generated in the US? Let's visualize this data on a map... I recently saw the following map on the metricmaps.org website. It caught my attention because it looks like North Carolina has a lot of solar power plants, whereas our neighboring states have very few.
I ran across a map recently that seemed to show a lot of US states are primarily coal-powered. The map was a little difficult to read, so I decided to give it a SAS makeover ... Before we get started, here's a picture my friend David took of the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power
Under-utilized technology creates a drag on an organization. The ability to get more out of the tools you already use can increase the value of an existing investment, and that value grows as processes become more efficient and decisions are based on firmer foundations. Consider the facilities engineer at an
Utilities, like all large organizations, spend a lot of time and resources on strategy. But how do utility analytics leaders ensure that their efforts are connected to this high-level vision? On June 28th in Los Angeles, a small gathering of utility executives and analytics leaders met to discuss and explore
Over the last ten years, utilities around the world have have invested billions of dollars in the Internet of Things (IoT). Better known as smart grid and smart meter initiatives, this massive intelligent infrastructure is moving utilities into a future that’s beginning to look radically different from the century-old business model
The buzz about the Internet of Things (IoT) combined with the insights derived from analytics appears to be hotter than ever. What's interesting to me is how many people go about their lives without knowing what the IoT is and how they're already benefitting from it (or how their jobs
Research indicates that IoT and Machine Learning are more valuable to utilities when used in combination but there are hurdles to overcome first. Machine learning and IoT will enable utilities to better realize the next generation of the power grid: a distributed system with power flows among millions of things
The Barnett Shale in North Texas hit a historic mark on April 25: Its rig count fell to zero. Two hundred rigs once harvested the 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in this massive basin, stretching beneath 17 Texas counties. Today, nothing. This dramatic silence in North America’s second-largest
Did you know you could drive 74 million cars using the wasted natural gas that is flared from oil wells and refineries? Learn more details in this blog post! Flaring (burning) is commonly used to dispose of natural gas produced at oil and gas facilities that lack the infrastructure to capture it
I recently read an article about the major challenges electric utilities are facing in 2016, and I thought: "Wow, those challenges can be answered in so many ways..." Utilities are dealing with an onslaught of issues which can no longer be ignored or put off because they're all high priority and interrelated. But
