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The Cost of Electric Power

Unfortunately, Oracle has effectively decommitted Applets. This means you can no longer run the various CMP programs in a browser. You must download them and install them. You must have the most recent Java JRE (Java Runtime Environment) 1.8.0_131 32-bit or 64-bit. It no longer matters which browser you use.
Oracle has effectively decommited Applets, so this Applet will no longer run online in your browser, but it is a hybrid you can also download, install and run it on your own machine as standalone application. It will start and run faster if you do that. It will also work safely even if you have disabled Java in your browser.

Introduction Java Requirements and Troubleshooting
How are the Calculations Done? Acquiring the Program
Carbon Footprint Links
The Electric Car

Introduction

This calculator will tell you how much it costs to do various tasks with electricity depending on where you live. It will tell you in your own local currency, no matter where you live on the planet. All you have to do is select your location (or a location with similar power costs to where you live) and select the activity. This information will help you figure out where you can most easily save money and save the planet in the bargain.

Applet failed to run. No Java 1.8 or later plug-in found.

How are the Calculations Done?

PowCost has an internal list of locations and the cost per Kwh. After you select a location and an activity, it multiplies together the cost of electricity per Kwh at that location, the time in hours of the activity and an adjustment based on today currency exchange rates to convert into your local currency.

The raw information comes from many sources all over the Internet. If you have better costs, please send them to me, any currency is ok, cost per Kwh. Please feel free costs any locations I have not mentioned, or to make requests for still more activities.

Tips

Carbon Footprint

Though the use of electricity does not generate any greenhouse gases, the process of generating it does, especially burning natural gas, oil or worst of all, coal. Different countries make their power in a different mix of ways.

CO₂ emitted in electricity generation
Country grams of CO₂
emitted per kilowatt hour
of electricity generated.
Lower is better.
Notes
Iceland 60 geothermal
Canada 220 fair amount of hydro
U.K. 600 burn fossil fuels
USA 660 burn fossil fuels
China 900 burn coal
Australia 1060 burn black coal

source: How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything

The Electric Car

As you can see, the electric car takes 25 times as much energy as an electric kettle. If the electric car were to replace the gasoline car, the electric grid could not sustain the immense extra load to recharge them. A much bigger change is required, namely using much smaller, lighter vehicles, perhaps more along the lines of the Segway, the electric bicycle or a small single-passenger pod, computer-driven at densities impossible for human drivers.

Java Requirements and Troubleshooting

PowCost is a signed Java Applet (that can also be run as an application) to Power Cost Calculator. You are welcome to install it on your own website. If it does not work…
  1. For this Applet hybrid to work, you must click grant/accept/always run on this site/I accept the risk to give it permission to allow you to configure the look & feel. If you refuse to grant permission, the program may crash with an inscrutable stack dump on the console complaining about AccessController.checkPermission.
  2. In the Java Control Panel security tab, click Start ⇒ Control Panel ⇒ Programs ⇒ Java ⇒ Security, configure medium security to allow self-signed and vanilla unsigned applets to run. If medium is not available, or if Java security is blocking you from running the program, configure high security and add http://mindprod.com to the Exception Site List at the bottom of the security tab.
  3. Often problems can be fixed simply by clicking the reload button on your browser.
  4. Make sure you have both JavaScript and Java enabled in your browser.
  5. Make sure the Java in your browser is enabled in the security tab of the Java Control panel. Click Start ⇒ Control Panel ⇒ Programs ⇒ Java ⇒ Security ⇒ Enable Java Content in the browser.
  6. This signed Java Applet (that can also be run as an application) needs 32-bit or 64-bit Java 1.8 or later. For best results use the latest 1.8.0_131 Java.
  7. You also need a recent browser.
  8. It works under any operating system that supports Java e.g. W2K, XP, W2003, Vista, W2008, W7-32, W7-64, W8-32, W8-64, W2012, W10-32, W10-64, Linux, LinuxARM, LinuxX86, LinuxX64, Ubuntu, Solaris, SolarisSPARC, SolarisSPARC64, SolarisX86, SolarisX64 and OSX
  9. You should see the Applet hybrid above looking much like this screenshot. If you don’t, the following hints should help you get it working:
  10. Optionally, you may permanently install the Canadian Mind Products code-signing certificate so you don’t have to grant each time.
  11. If the above Applet hybrid appears to freeze-up, click Alt-Esc repeatedly to check for any buried permission dialog box.
  12. If you have certificate troubles, check the installed certificates and remove or update any obsolete or suspected defective certificates. The only certificate used by this program is mindprodcert2017rsa.cer.
  13. Especially if this Applet hybrid has worked before, try clearing the browser cache and rebooting.
  14. To ensure your Java is up to date, check with Wassup. First, download it and run it as an application independent of your browser, then run it online as an Applet to add the complication of your browser.
  15. If the above Applet hybrid does not work, check the Java console for error messages.
  16. If the above Applet hybrid does not work, you might have better luck with the downloadable version available below.
  17. If you are using Mac OS X and would like an improved Look and Feel, download the QuaQua look & feel from randelshofer.ch/quaqua. UnZip the contained quaqua.jar and install it in ~/Library/Java/Extensions or one of the other ext dirs.
  18. Upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer or another browser.
  19. Click the Information bar, and then click Allow blocked content. Unfortunately, this also allows dangerous ActiveX code to run. However, you must do this in order to get access to perfectly-safe Java Applets running in a sandbox. This is part of Microsoft’s war on Java.
  20. Try upgrading to a more recent version of your browser, or try a different browser e.g. Firefox, SeaMonkey, IE or Avant.
  21. If you still can’t get the program working click the red HELP button below for more detail.
  22. If you can’t get the above Applet hybrid working after trying the advice above and from the red HELP button below, have bugs to report or ideas to improve the program or its documentation, please send me an email atemail Roedy Green.
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Acquiring the Program

PackageVersionReleasedLicenceLanguageNotes 
powcost
PowCost
1.5 2014-06-01 free Java
more infoprecisscreenshotbrowse source repository
for the current version of PowCost.
Calculates how much electricity costs depending on where you are and what you do to consume it.
download 3.6MB zip for PowCost Java source, compiled class files, jar and documentation to run on your own machine either as an application or an Applet.

Runs on any OS that supports Java e.g. W2K, XP, W2003, Vista, W2008, W7-32, W7-64, W8-32, W8-64, W2012, W10-32, W10-64, Linux, LinuxARM, LinuxX86, LinuxX64, Ubuntu, Solaris, SolarisSPARC, SolarisSPARC64, SolarisX86, SolarisX64 and OSX.

First install the most recent Java.

To install, extract the zip download with WinZip, (or similar unzip utility) into any directory you please, often J:\ — ticking off the use folder names option.

To check out the corresponding source from the Subversion repository, use the TortoiseSVN repo-browser to
access powcost source in repository with [Tortoise] Subversion client on wush.net/svn/mindprod/com/mindprod/powcost/.

After you have installed the jar, you can run it as an application. Type:

java -jar J:\com\mindprod\powcost\powcost.jar

adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.

download ASP PAD XML program description for the current version of PowCost.

$1989.00 US donated so far. If the CMP utilities solved your problem, please donate a buck or two, or donate to one of the charities featured in the footer public service ads throughout the website and get a tax receipt.

PowCost is free. Full source included. You may even include the source code, modified or unmodified in free/commercial open source/proprietary programs that you write and distribute. Non-military use only.
 
 
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