Research

When researching about New Zealands annual energy statistics, I came across the following website:

http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/news/2011/annual-energy-statistics-released

It is a Data file that was released on the 14^th July 2011 showing the different types of supply, transmission and use of all types of fuel in New Zealand. One statistic that got me was that during 2010 the production of gas increased by 7%, which almost half of goes to generating electricity. This meant an overall 16% rise in the amount of gas used to generate energy, which clearly shows that the amount of power New Zealanders are using is increasing. As a country we need to work harder in saving power, in order to save fuels.

I also came across many websites that have tips on ways of saving power. If people took the time to look at these websites then I feel a lot could be saved.

The EECA EnergyWise website was probably the best. It had a simple layout, and was easy to navigate. It also had a lot of information about saving, why we should save, and about the different suppliers in New Zealand.

 http://www.energywise.govt.nz/how-to-be-energy-efficient

There are many different energy monitoring devices around that people can purchase. One website that shows all of these is: http://www.watthackers.com/wp/10-energy-saving-devices-to-put-your-house-on-a-diet/

Before researching, I never realised how many devices were out there for people to buy and use.  However not many of them seem very easy to use and some are just not appealing to look at. With that aside, if people did install them into their homes then I’m sure people would become more curious as to how much energy and power they use.

For this project I could target many different groups.

·         Children

·         Students Flatting

·         Businesses

·         Family homes

·         Adults

All of these groups would require different designs. Children would have to have a game based application that was colourful and fun, whereas students would require something easy to use and on a social networking basis.

Doing this different research about energy, its uses, and the devices we can use has really helped with deciding on what I want to do for this project. The research I did in class was also very helpful.