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Astronaut lands as Google's 'energy nerd'

2009-06-08 16:52 BJT

Ed Lu might be one of the most cutting edge fellows you will ever meet.

As a NASA astronaut, Lu flew on almost all the manmade flying objects above earth and beyond it - and he continues to ride new waves of avant-garde technologies. Now a program manager for advanced projects at Google, he has redirected himself to work on the new crucial need of all countries - energy efficiency.

Ed Lu discusses the Google PowerMeter in Beijing.
Ed Lu discusses the Google PowerMeter in Beijing.

In his last space mission in 2003, Lu spent six months aboard the International Space Station. That experience taught him the importance of energy efficiency because "one of the most critical resources you have on a spacecraft is power", he told China Business Weekly during a recent trip to Beijing to promote Google's newest technologies for energy efficiency.

On the spacecraft, Lu had to monitor its energy use closely and shut things down immediately after they were no longer needed. But that is not the direct reason he turned into an "energy nerd", as his colleagues are calling him.

It all started when Lu bought a hybrid car that has a meter telling him how many miles per gallon he's getting at any moment. "I noticed that my driving efficiency was getting better as weeks and months went by. Then I thought it would be great if I had the same information about my house," he said.

With sponsorship from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, Lu began a year ago to transform the inspiration from his car into real technology. He now leads a team of Google engineers working on the Google PowerMeter, software that analyzes energy consumption data captured by "smart meters" and translates that into easy-to-understand information so people see where they can reduce energy use.