Hi,
It's been forever since my last blog! Sorry! I'm still focused on how 300 million people in the USA can become more energy efficient and increase their use of renewable energy. The simple solution still includes 5 steps, 1. improve simple energy efficiency in the home to save 10 to 30%, 2. weatherize and update energy consuming equipment in the home, 3. add renewable energy resources to your home (passive solar water heater and heat, photovoltaic cells, wind, etc.), 4. drive more clean and energy efficient vehicles and change your driving behaviors (car pool, take public transportation, ride a bicycle, etc) and 5. change your living and shopping behaviors to be more clean in your energy use.
The 5th step is both easy and difficult. Easy in that you can learn to adapt your energy consumption during the day and buy more clean when you shop. Difficult in planning your day to reduce energy consumption (read decrease your convenience) and to know what products are clean and what are very dirty.
Like the dawn breaking on Marblehead, I realized that no matter how far America progresses if China and India don't find alternative energy sources to fuel their economic boom then the CO2 will rise at an alarming rate. There will be no way to know if the CO2 issue was real or not as we will not be able to stop the increase in CO2 and reduce it.
For those who believe CO2 is a major cause of global warming and it must be reduced then buying clean is one of the most simplest and essential things you can do. Of course, adding 100 million KwH of solar panels would be great to. But compared to the increase in CO2 created by dirty fuel expansion in developing countries all efforts here in America are puny, but still very important.
Until world leaders get very serious about revamping the energy production system in the world individuals are left with influencing energy production the good old fashion way, through their spending. Until proven otherwise, it is safe to assume that almost all products made in developing countries are produced using dirty fuels. So it is wise to not buy them until there is some sort of fuel rating or energy star type rating on them.
World leaders or individual countries could impose a clean fuel tax on products, much like we impose a tax on cigarettes, gas, and alcohol here in America. The tax dollars would be used to offset the dirty fuel use by increasing clean fuel use (such as passive and active solar on homes and businesses). The tax could also be used to begin to balance to cost of a product with the cost of producing the product with different fuels. So a shirt made using clean fuel would cost the same as a shirt made with dirty fuel via a tax to increase the cost of the dirty fuel produced shirt. Consumers could vote with their cash and companies could afford to be cleaner!
Without such an awareness of our own power we will become hopeless and despair over the ever increasing global temperatures and the changes in life styles that are predicted. Much like the USA taking over private global corporations due to bad management, people will have very limited choices on how they will be able to live with the dramatic shifts in climate that most scientists predict will happen beginning in 2050. Here in NM we are already seeing water resources dwindling to very scarce levels and a deficit by 2040 if things continue to grow as predicted. Population growth is on a similar crash course. It isn't a question of if but when will humans have to make dramatic changes in their life styles to continue to survive.
Simply put, Buy Clean, save energy, and use more renewable energy in your daily lives.
Cool wishes,
Mark
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Penguins doing OK and other good news!
Hi,
Dr. Kooyman, the scientist who recently did a PBS documentary on the plight of the penguins in 2001, reported good news. The ice sheet that had trapped the colony in an icy tomb has moved and the colony is doing well, 100 or more chicks survived this past season! He needs more funding to continue his work so you can help by writing your Congress persons to support his work or find other ways to help fund his research.
Other good news includes the efforts of people across the nation to take a serious look at C02 production and global warming. The highest profile effort recently was VP Al Gore testifying in DC on the clean energy plan of Repower of America (an organization of The Alliance for Climate Protection). You can visit their website at www.repoweramerica.org. VP Gore is very busy in many activities related to developing clean energy, including a $300million ad campaign for clean energy. One of the many positive elements of the plan from Repower America is the focus on shifting from coal to solar and increasing energy efficiency.
Here in NM we at EFH have proposed a plan that reflects the goals of Repower America but with more specifics for our state. EFH proposes taking the equivalent of 30,000 homes off the grid through energy efficiency and renewable energy at the cost of $350 million. This will not only reduce CO2 production by 224 metric tons but also increase employment in NM, so it's a win/win proposal. $18 billion dollars could be used to apply this model across all 50 states! It would be interesting to graph how the increase of 10,000 homes here in NM using renewable energy would change the % of energy production. Maybe Repower America can do the numbers and put it on their web.
You can go to Repower America to sign up and send a letter to your Congress persons in support of clean energy for America. While you're at it ask Congress and President Obama to put 10% ($100 Billion) of the bailout towards helping individuals improve their energy efficiency and use more renewable energy. That would mean taking 7.5 million homes off the grid and not produce 55 million metric tons of CO2 each year in America.
I was so excited to hear that the penguins were thriving again. However, I see this as a reprieve, a crucial pause, coupled with Obama's and Al Gore's efforts, where we have a true and clear window of opportunity.
Mark
Dr. Kooyman, the scientist who recently did a PBS documentary on the plight of the penguins in 2001, reported good news. The ice sheet that had trapped the colony in an icy tomb has moved and the colony is doing well, 100 or more chicks survived this past season! He needs more funding to continue his work so you can help by writing your Congress persons to support his work or find other ways to help fund his research.
Other good news includes the efforts of people across the nation to take a serious look at C02 production and global warming. The highest profile effort recently was VP Al Gore testifying in DC on the clean energy plan of Repower of America (an organization of The Alliance for Climate Protection). You can visit their website at www.repoweramerica.org. VP Gore is very busy in many activities related to developing clean energy, including a $300million ad campaign for clean energy. One of the many positive elements of the plan from Repower America is the focus on shifting from coal to solar and increasing energy efficiency.
Here in NM we at EFH have proposed a plan that reflects the goals of Repower America but with more specifics for our state. EFH proposes taking the equivalent of 30,000 homes off the grid through energy efficiency and renewable energy at the cost of $350 million. This will not only reduce CO2 production by 224 metric tons but also increase employment in NM, so it's a win/win proposal. $18 billion dollars could be used to apply this model across all 50 states! It would be interesting to graph how the increase of 10,000 homes here in NM using renewable energy would change the % of energy production. Maybe Repower America can do the numbers and put it on their web.
You can go to Repower America to sign up and send a letter to your Congress persons in support of clean energy for America. While you're at it ask Congress and President Obama to put 10% ($100 Billion) of the bailout towards helping individuals improve their energy efficiency and use more renewable energy. That would mean taking 7.5 million homes off the grid and not produce 55 million metric tons of CO2 each year in America.
I was so excited to hear that the penguins were thriving again. However, I see this as a reprieve, a crucial pause, coupled with Obama's and Al Gore's efforts, where we have a true and clear window of opportunity.
Mark
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Mileage. Miles per Gallon, or Miles (Gallons) per Year?
We commonly think of mileage for our vehicles in terms of miles per gallon of gasoline. It can be useful however to consider the mileage issue from another perspective.
Specifically, we Americans drive our vehicles an average of 12,000 miles per year according to the Federal Highway Administration. Make a table of gallons of gasoline consumed each year (gpy) for vehicles with various gasoline consumption rates, that is, mileage in miles per gallon (mpg).
mpg.........gpy
___________
12..........1000
16.............750
20............600
24............500
28............429
32.............375
Notice that if the typical American driver of a vehicle getting 12 mpg switched to a similar vehicle getting 16 mpg, not a major sacrifice, this would result in a saving of 1000 gpy - 750 gpy = 250 gpy. This corresponds to putting 453 lbs less CO2 into the air each year, and for the entire fleet of 37 million light trucks, SUVs and RVs a change like this would amount to dumping 167 billion (!) fewer pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. This value is about 7.6% of the total CO2 produced by all vehicles annually in the US.
Now consider the driver of a vehicle that currently gets 28 mpg. If this driver switched to a new car averaging 32 mpg the annual savings in fuel is 429 gpy - 375 gpy = 54 gpy. This is quite a modest savings. In fact, if the small car driver wanted to have as big an impact on CO2 emissions as his pickup-driving neighbor, 250 gpy, he would have to switch to a car getting 67 mpg.
The moral of this story is that without changing the driving habits of American drivers, but focusing on fairly modest and doable improvements in the mileage, mpg, of the light truck, SUV and RV category of vehicles, the annual CO2 emissions in this country can be reduced significantly.
Edward A. Walters
Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
VP, EFH
Specifically, we Americans drive our vehicles an average of 12,000 miles per year according to the Federal Highway Administration. Make a table of gallons of gasoline consumed each year (gpy) for vehicles with various gasoline consumption rates, that is, mileage in miles per gallon (mpg).
mpg.........gpy
___________
12..........1000
16.............750
20............600
24............500
28............429
32.............375
Notice that if the typical American driver of a vehicle getting 12 mpg switched to a similar vehicle getting 16 mpg, not a major sacrifice, this would result in a saving of 1000 gpy - 750 gpy = 250 gpy. This corresponds to putting 453 lbs less CO2 into the air each year, and for the entire fleet of 37 million light trucks, SUVs and RVs a change like this would amount to dumping 167 billion (!) fewer pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. This value is about 7.6% of the total CO2 produced by all vehicles annually in the US.
Now consider the driver of a vehicle that currently gets 28 mpg. If this driver switched to a new car averaging 32 mpg the annual savings in fuel is 429 gpy - 375 gpy = 54 gpy. This is quite a modest savings. In fact, if the small car driver wanted to have as big an impact on CO2 emissions as his pickup-driving neighbor, 250 gpy, he would have to switch to a car getting 67 mpg.
The moral of this story is that without changing the driving habits of American drivers, but focusing on fairly modest and doable improvements in the mileage, mpg, of the light truck, SUV and RV category of vehicles, the annual CO2 emissions in this country can be reduced significantly.
Edward A. Walters
Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
VP, EFH
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Synchronicity or Sham: 350 ppb CO2 and $1Trillion Bailout
Hi:
Has the weather been getting your attention lately? Have you and your friends noted that the weather just isn’t right? Here we’ve opened the windows in the morning because it felt like spring in January and then in the afternoon it turned wintry cold again and snowed with a bitter wind.
This past week the data on global warming, CO2, and climate change has come in. Worse than the calamitous grinding to a halt sound of the now still economy are the eerie pictures of “black swans” floating in the frigid yet warming waters on the poles, mass graves of Emperor and other penguins trapped from ice sheets sheering off, discussions of coral reefs dying and going from schools of brilliantly colored fish to a vast bleached death (doesn’t this sound like a war?). We have survived the train wreck of a human economy hurtling toward utter and mutually assured destruction at its own hand and now the data as to the #1 threat to our world is in, fossil fuels and CO2 production.
In the 50’s and 60’s humans were scrambling to figure out how to dominate each other with nuclear power in their hands and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) held us back. Now the images are of supersized humans in supersized homes and cars, demanding supersized amounts of fossil fuels that dump more and more CO2 into the atmosphere, slowly raising the global temperature. Like the super obese human, still gaining weight despite their best intentions and their health fails with a slow death to follow, CO2 production is slowly killing us. Humans need to get serious and creative to survive.
So is this all a Sham or Synchronicity? The global economy comes to a crashing halt and the global environment screams STOP! Stop to save yourself since the calls to save the penguin, polar bear, corral reef, and countless uncounted species that will disappear forever have not stopped us. STOP making CO2. The prediction that we could tolerate another 70 parts per billion of CO2 were way off. The scientists are distraught, their predictions incorrect. 385 ppb will keep us where we are at and that’s not good. 350ppb might be a better place to be. The science to sequester or vacuum CO2 out of the atmosphere is not here in time. However nonfossil fuels are here NOW and we can do this as a team, a group, a society, and $1 Trillion. The Earth has conspired with us to make this evident, floating ominous Black Swans out for our attention after the mass penguin graves, animated movies of the Ice Age, and Al Gore couldn’t do it. If this is synchronicity then we must take a cue from nature and move at the alarming rate of melting glaciers! The rest of the world has already started but as in the past Americans come late to the party but can be a big help. We need not be afraid and despair as the answer is right in front of us and doable. The will, patience, courage, dedication, loyalty, and team work is what is needed. A humanity of ONE!
Each and every one of us is responsible and essential to this change. You can call your state and local representatives and congress persons to tell them you want to see the biggest retooling of energy production every seen in the history of the world. Renewable energy is what is needed now, yesterday even, and you believe, no KNOW that we will turn the temperature down on the environment by turning the temperature up on making this crucial change.
In the mean time you can get on an energy diet, buy the right energy foods, consume them wisely, invest in new energy producers and share with your friends your new found inner beauty that soon will be evident to all. 350 parts per billion of CO2 is the new 385 ppb and 450 ppb is deadly. As Herb Shaw once said to me in the 70s “you know we didn’t realize that the ocean couldn’t just digest all of our garbage that we threw in it, so we had to stop doing that”. 30 years later the same rule applies but we only need to replace garbage with CO2 and ocean with atmosphere. So open up the Treasury and invest that $1trillion on energy efficiency and renewable energy so we can return to our pedestrian work later.
As I’ve shared before there are immediate and long term things we can all do to chill out the planet. You can start by volunteering to help educate neighbors and help them reduce their use and use more renewable energy. You can visit our website (energyforhumanity.googlepages.com) or numerous other websites for handouts and information. Every 10,000 homes taken off the fossil fuel energy grid is 75 metric tons of CO2 saved. $18 Billion dollars can take the equivalent of 1.5 million homes in the USA off the grid and save 11 million metric tons of CO2 each year! Take this pause as a sign that we can do it and must do it NOW! The paradigm shift in energy use and global warming is NOW! It’s time to readapt and mobilize our forces again!
We are all in this together!
Mark Pedrotty, PhD, President, EnergyforHumanity
Has the weather been getting your attention lately? Have you and your friends noted that the weather just isn’t right? Here we’ve opened the windows in the morning because it felt like spring in January and then in the afternoon it turned wintry cold again and snowed with a bitter wind.
This past week the data on global warming, CO2, and climate change has come in. Worse than the calamitous grinding to a halt sound of the now still economy are the eerie pictures of “black swans” floating in the frigid yet warming waters on the poles, mass graves of Emperor and other penguins trapped from ice sheets sheering off, discussions of coral reefs dying and going from schools of brilliantly colored fish to a vast bleached death (doesn’t this sound like a war?). We have survived the train wreck of a human economy hurtling toward utter and mutually assured destruction at its own hand and now the data as to the #1 threat to our world is in, fossil fuels and CO2 production.
In the 50’s and 60’s humans were scrambling to figure out how to dominate each other with nuclear power in their hands and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) held us back. Now the images are of supersized humans in supersized homes and cars, demanding supersized amounts of fossil fuels that dump more and more CO2 into the atmosphere, slowly raising the global temperature. Like the super obese human, still gaining weight despite their best intentions and their health fails with a slow death to follow, CO2 production is slowly killing us. Humans need to get serious and creative to survive.
So is this all a Sham or Synchronicity? The global economy comes to a crashing halt and the global environment screams STOP! Stop to save yourself since the calls to save the penguin, polar bear, corral reef, and countless uncounted species that will disappear forever have not stopped us. STOP making CO2. The prediction that we could tolerate another 70 parts per billion of CO2 were way off. The scientists are distraught, their predictions incorrect. 385 ppb will keep us where we are at and that’s not good. 350ppb might be a better place to be. The science to sequester or vacuum CO2 out of the atmosphere is not here in time. However nonfossil fuels are here NOW and we can do this as a team, a group, a society, and $1 Trillion. The Earth has conspired with us to make this evident, floating ominous Black Swans out for our attention after the mass penguin graves, animated movies of the Ice Age, and Al Gore couldn’t do it. If this is synchronicity then we must take a cue from nature and move at the alarming rate of melting glaciers! The rest of the world has already started but as in the past Americans come late to the party but can be a big help. We need not be afraid and despair as the answer is right in front of us and doable. The will, patience, courage, dedication, loyalty, and team work is what is needed. A humanity of ONE!
Each and every one of us is responsible and essential to this change. You can call your state and local representatives and congress persons to tell them you want to see the biggest retooling of energy production every seen in the history of the world. Renewable energy is what is needed now, yesterday even, and you believe, no KNOW that we will turn the temperature down on the environment by turning the temperature up on making this crucial change.
In the mean time you can get on an energy diet, buy the right energy foods, consume them wisely, invest in new energy producers and share with your friends your new found inner beauty that soon will be evident to all. 350 parts per billion of CO2 is the new 385 ppb and 450 ppb is deadly. As Herb Shaw once said to me in the 70s “you know we didn’t realize that the ocean couldn’t just digest all of our garbage that we threw in it, so we had to stop doing that”. 30 years later the same rule applies but we only need to replace garbage with CO2 and ocean with atmosphere. So open up the Treasury and invest that $1trillion on energy efficiency and renewable energy so we can return to our pedestrian work later.
As I’ve shared before there are immediate and long term things we can all do to chill out the planet. You can start by volunteering to help educate neighbors and help them reduce their use and use more renewable energy. You can visit our website (energyforhumanity.googlepages.com) or numerous other websites for handouts and information. Every 10,000 homes taken off the fossil fuel energy grid is 75 metric tons of CO2 saved. $18 Billion dollars can take the equivalent of 1.5 million homes in the USA off the grid and save 11 million metric tons of CO2 each year! Take this pause as a sign that we can do it and must do it NOW! The paradigm shift in energy use and global warming is NOW! It’s time to readapt and mobilize our forces again!
We are all in this together!
Mark Pedrotty, PhD, President, EnergyforHumanity
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hi;
This is intended to be the first in a series of posts that provide a bit more of a quantitative ground for numbers to be found floating around the media and elsewhere regarding the generic theme of climate and climate change. Let's begin with the atmosphere.
It's a beautiful, clear and mild midwinter day in Albuquerque. I can look around me into the four cardinal directions and see forever, it seems. I also look up to see the blue sky going on indefinitely. Up there I also spot the contrail of a jetliner heading towards the west coast cities. The pilot recently told the passengers something like; "We have reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. We expect the air to be smooth for the rest of our flight, so I'm turning off the Seat Belt sign." Having been there many times, I know that the view of the surrounding atmosphere as seen through the windows in that plane are an elaboration of what I see on the ground: The view is unlimited in all the same directions, including upwards. The sky appears to continue up forever. Try as I might I cannot discern the slightest hint of curvature to the Earth's surface. Even at this elevation the plane is still hugging Earth's surface very closely.
All this is rather deceptive however. At this elevation of 35,000 feet above sea level fully 75% of Earth's atmosphere is below. That is, three quarters of the molecules that make up our atmosphere are below me, and I can't even detect any curvature to Earth's surface yet. We are cruising along just below the first major transition in the structure of Earth's atmosphere, the transition from the troposphere (where we live) and the stratosphere. In other words, the plane is running out of atmosphere. Yet it appears we have scarcely left the ground. The atmosphere is, in fact, a thin shell around the globe, comparable in thickness to the skin of an apple.
Now consider that for every gallon of gasoline burned in our cars 9.33 kg (20.5 lbs) of molecular oxygen (O2) is replaced by 8.21 kg (18.1 lbs) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in that atmosphere.
Edward A. Walters
Vice President
EFH
This is intended to be the first in a series of posts that provide a bit more of a quantitative ground for numbers to be found floating around the media and elsewhere regarding the generic theme of climate and climate change. Let's begin with the atmosphere.
It's a beautiful, clear and mild midwinter day in Albuquerque. I can look around me into the four cardinal directions and see forever, it seems. I also look up to see the blue sky going on indefinitely. Up there I also spot the contrail of a jetliner heading towards the west coast cities. The pilot recently told the passengers something like; "We have reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. We expect the air to be smooth for the rest of our flight, so I'm turning off the Seat Belt sign." Having been there many times, I know that the view of the surrounding atmosphere as seen through the windows in that plane are an elaboration of what I see on the ground: The view is unlimited in all the same directions, including upwards. The sky appears to continue up forever. Try as I might I cannot discern the slightest hint of curvature to the Earth's surface. Even at this elevation the plane is still hugging Earth's surface very closely.
All this is rather deceptive however. At this elevation of 35,000 feet above sea level fully 75% of Earth's atmosphere is below. That is, three quarters of the molecules that make up our atmosphere are below me, and I can't even detect any curvature to Earth's surface yet. We are cruising along just below the first major transition in the structure of Earth's atmosphere, the transition from the troposphere (where we live) and the stratosphere. In other words, the plane is running out of atmosphere. Yet it appears we have scarcely left the ground. The atmosphere is, in fact, a thin shell around the globe, comparable in thickness to the skin of an apple.
Now consider that for every gallon of gasoline burned in our cars 9.33 kg (20.5 lbs) of molecular oxygen (O2) is replaced by 8.21 kg (18.1 lbs) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in that atmosphere.
Edward A. Walters
Vice President
EFH
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Green Stimulus Spending Idea for Energy Efficiency
Hi:
So how would you spend 1 trillion dollars to stimulate the economy? One thought I've been contemplating is to help people become more energy efficient in their homes. The pending HDTV change has stimulated me to think about what if we had an energy efficiency program similar to the analog TV box program. For those who haven't already bought new energy efficient products for their home the government could issue an energy efficient debit card to purchase specific items.
For example, to reduce your energy use by 10% (maybe up to 30% if you are very good about doing all the easy and inexpensive things - see energyforhumanity web page for more info), you could get a $50 debit card that would cover 1. Water heater heating blanket, 2. CFL (4 to 5 or maybe a few more), 3. power strips, and 4. weather stripping. To install the energy efficiency kit might take about 4 hours of labor by an entry level skilled person.
To increase energy efficiency up to 50% you could get the $50 debit card plus another debit card for up to $5000. That $5000 would cover costs of 1. energy star appliances, 2. energy efficient windows for old home, , 3. HERS survey, and 4. insulating old homes. To install new windows, insulate a home, and do an energy survey might take about 40 hours of labor of an intermediate or skilled person.
To increase energy efficiency up to 80% (might get to 100% and become zeronet use with alternative renewable energy resources) you could get a $50 debit card, $5000 debit card and a $15000 debit card. The $15000 debit card would cover the cost of installing alternative renewable energy sources on your home such as 1. solar water heater, 2. photovoltaic, 3. wind turbines, and 4. geothermal heating. To install alternative renewable energy resources might take up to 80 hours of an intermediate to highly skilled person.
Here is one possible way this could work in each state.
For $5 million worth of $50 debit cards 100,000 homes could increase their energy efficiency by 10 to 30 %. This would be the same as taking 10,000 homes off the grid. Which would be a saving of 75,500 metric tons of CO2. (11,965 kWh per home * 1,392 lbs CO2 per megawatt-hour delivered * 1 mWh/1000 kWh * 1 metric ton/2204.6 lb = 7.55 metric tons CO2/home, per US EPA).
For $100 million worth of $5000 debit cards 20,000 homes could increase their energy efficiency up to 50% through low hanging fruit changes, replacing appliances so that they are energy star rated, and better insulating homes. This would be the same as taking 10,000 homes off the grid and a savings of 75,500 metric tons of CO2.
For $200 million worth of $20,000 debit cards 10,000 homes could increase their energy efficiency from 80 to 100% (could get close to zeronet) through low hanging fruit (LHF), improved insulation, improved energy efficient appliances, and installing alternative renewable energy resources. This would be the same as taking 10,000 homes off the grid and a savings of 75,500 metric tons of CO2.
Almost everyone will be willing and able to participate in LHF, replacing old appliances with newer energy star appliances and insulating their homes better. A limited amount of people will be willing to put renewable energy on their homes. A lottery might be useful in determining who can obtain the different debit cards if they become limited due to extraordinary popularity. Imagine a daily reminder on your HDTV to become more energy efficient, how to get debit cards to do it, and to reduce CO2 so as to protect our world as we know it. There could be images of glaciers melting like ice cubes in Death Valley with distressed polar bears and penguins just for effect.
All total, $350 million could be used to save enough electricity to power about 30,000 "average" homes, and reduce CO2 production by 225,000 metric tons! For $18 billion dollars 1.5 million home owners could improve their energy efficiency across the 50 states and not produce 11 million metric tons of CO2.
In addition, the nuclear energy mini power plant (about the size of a large refrigerator) developed at Sandia National Labs that is estimated to produce enough electricity for 20,000 homes would be another excellent investment as soon as it is commercially available. Of course there are several new technologies coming on line that will be excellent once in production, but that might take a decade or so and time is of the essence.
What is your plan? The clock is ticking to improve clean generation of power and reduce the threat of global warming. Call your legislators today to tell them what you think is the best way to spend the stimulus package on creating jobs while improving energy efficiency and reducing CO2. We could have Uncle Sam wanting you to enlist in the new Green Army!
Ciao!
Mark
So how would you spend 1 trillion dollars to stimulate the economy? One thought I've been contemplating is to help people become more energy efficient in their homes. The pending HDTV change has stimulated me to think about what if we had an energy efficiency program similar to the analog TV box program. For those who haven't already bought new energy efficient products for their home the government could issue an energy efficient debit card to purchase specific items.
For example, to reduce your energy use by 10% (maybe up to 30% if you are very good about doing all the easy and inexpensive things - see energyforhumanity web page for more info), you could get a $50 debit card that would cover 1. Water heater heating blanket, 2. CFL (4 to 5 or maybe a few more), 3. power strips, and 4. weather stripping. To install the energy efficiency kit might take about 4 hours of labor by an entry level skilled person.
To increase energy efficiency up to 50% you could get the $50 debit card plus another debit card for up to $5000. That $5000 would cover costs of 1. energy star appliances, 2. energy efficient windows for old home, , 3. HERS survey, and 4. insulating old homes. To install new windows, insulate a home, and do an energy survey might take about 40 hours of labor of an intermediate or skilled person.
To increase energy efficiency up to 80% (might get to 100% and become zeronet use with alternative renewable energy resources) you could get a $50 debit card, $5000 debit card and a $15000 debit card. The $15000 debit card would cover the cost of installing alternative renewable energy sources on your home such as 1. solar water heater, 2. photovoltaic, 3. wind turbines, and 4. geothermal heating. To install alternative renewable energy resources might take up to 80 hours of an intermediate to highly skilled person.
Here is one possible way this could work in each state.
For $5 million worth of $50 debit cards 100,000 homes could increase their energy efficiency by 10 to 30 %. This would be the same as taking 10,000 homes off the grid. Which would be a saving of 75,500 metric tons of CO2. (11,965 kWh per home * 1,392 lbs CO2 per megawatt-hour delivered * 1 mWh/1000 kWh * 1 metric ton/2204.6 lb = 7.55 metric tons CO2/home, per US EPA).
For $100 million worth of $5000 debit cards 20,000 homes could increase their energy efficiency up to 50% through low hanging fruit changes, replacing appliances so that they are energy star rated, and better insulating homes. This would be the same as taking 10,000 homes off the grid and a savings of 75,500 metric tons of CO2.
For $200 million worth of $20,000 debit cards 10,000 homes could increase their energy efficiency from 80 to 100% (could get close to zeronet) through low hanging fruit (LHF), improved insulation, improved energy efficient appliances, and installing alternative renewable energy resources. This would be the same as taking 10,000 homes off the grid and a savings of 75,500 metric tons of CO2.
Almost everyone will be willing and able to participate in LHF, replacing old appliances with newer energy star appliances and insulating their homes better. A limited amount of people will be willing to put renewable energy on their homes. A lottery might be useful in determining who can obtain the different debit cards if they become limited due to extraordinary popularity. Imagine a daily reminder on your HDTV to become more energy efficient, how to get debit cards to do it, and to reduce CO2 so as to protect our world as we know it. There could be images of glaciers melting like ice cubes in Death Valley with distressed polar bears and penguins just for effect.
All total, $350 million could be used to save enough electricity to power about 30,000 "average" homes, and reduce CO2 production by 225,000 metric tons! For $18 billion dollars 1.5 million home owners could improve their energy efficiency across the 50 states and not produce 11 million metric tons of CO2.
In addition, the nuclear energy mini power plant (about the size of a large refrigerator) developed at Sandia National Labs that is estimated to produce enough electricity for 20,000 homes would be another excellent investment as soon as it is commercially available. Of course there are several new technologies coming on line that will be excellent once in production, but that might take a decade or so and time is of the essence.
What is your plan? The clock is ticking to improve clean generation of power and reduce the threat of global warming. Call your legislators today to tell them what you think is the best way to spend the stimulus package on creating jobs while improving energy efficiency and reducing CO2. We could have Uncle Sam wanting you to enlist in the new Green Army!
Ciao!
Mark
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Year's Eve Party Conversation
Hi:
So how did you do on striking up "green" conversations at New Year's Eve parties? Did you sneak a peek at water heaters to see if they were covered with a blanket or talk about CFLs? Or maybe you had a light discussion about penguins, polar bears and their habitats?
I struggled with finding a way to take a festive occasion to talk with friends and strangers about global warming and energy efficiency. While talking to friends who were from out of town and some others who were gathered around I managed to ask my friend what he thought about the LEED certification for new buildings as that part of his job was to be aware of LEED certification. Penguins and global warming also came up in the discussion, if ever so briefly. Like a dieter gorging himself at the dessert table I sat in a brand new Expedition listening to rock and roll at ear bleed levels with the engine running. It was a male bonding experience in a man cave on wheels with double beef power for an engine. Like a dieter I had a tinge of guilt but didn't stop. Rather I rationalized that I would make it up the next day and beyond and commented how indulgent we were being.
I hope you had a much easier and successful time at discussing energy efficiency and global warming, helping to raise the consciousness of others one converation at a time.
Happy New Year!
Mark
So how did you do on striking up "green" conversations at New Year's Eve parties? Did you sneak a peek at water heaters to see if they were covered with a blanket or talk about CFLs? Or maybe you had a light discussion about penguins, polar bears and their habitats?
I struggled with finding a way to take a festive occasion to talk with friends and strangers about global warming and energy efficiency. While talking to friends who were from out of town and some others who were gathered around I managed to ask my friend what he thought about the LEED certification for new buildings as that part of his job was to be aware of LEED certification. Penguins and global warming also came up in the discussion, if ever so briefly. Like a dieter gorging himself at the dessert table I sat in a brand new Expedition listening to rock and roll at ear bleed levels with the engine running. It was a male bonding experience in a man cave on wheels with double beef power for an engine. Like a dieter I had a tinge of guilt but didn't stop. Rather I rationalized that I would make it up the next day and beyond and commented how indulgent we were being.
I hope you had a much easier and successful time at discussing energy efficiency and global warming, helping to raise the consciousness of others one converation at a time.
Happy New Year!
Mark
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