Efficiency
This graph shows how America’s growing energy needs can be met with increased efficiency in lieu of more power plants (Wright; Pearson/Prentice Hall).
The easiest and cheapest form of our future energy generation is better energy efficiency and conservation. If America focused on investing in and purchasing technology that improved efficiency and conservation, we could significantly reduce our use of oil, natural gas, and coal.
Efficiency involves using energy consuming products that use less energy than a current popular product. A lot of products waste energy unnecessarily, mostly in the form of unwanted heat energy. The federal government helps consumers understand efficiency by requiring manufacturers to post fuel efficiency figures on new vehicles, and energy efficiency figures on appliances. The EPA’s Energy Star program helps consumers identify and purchase these energy efficient products.
Here are three important ways to improve your own energy efficiency:
- As light bulbs burn out in your house/apartment, replace them with compact energy fluorescent bulbs or LED bulbs.
- If you purchase a refrigerator, water heater, or furnace, buy one of the most energy efficient. versions available. Because these items are always running, you’ll save a lot more money.
- Buy a new or used car or truck that uses 24 miles per gallon or higher in the city.
However, efficiency is a national issue. A typical power plant is only 50% efficient; half the energy generated is wasted and goes unused. Until such massive wasting of energy is stopped at the source, our country cannot move forward with a realistic energy policy for our future.
This graph shows the relatively insignificant benefits of mining oil from northern Alaska refuge compared to the possible benefits of energy saved through increased efficiency and conservation. This graph shows an optimistic scenario, but even a pessimistic scenario would have large gains in energy (Wright; Pearson/Prentice Hall).
Conservation means using an energy consuming product less often. You all know the basics of conservation. “Turn the lights off in the room when you are done.” Another useful example is purchasing a digital thermostat for a house that uses less energy during the day when nobody is home. Adding weather stripping to the door in your apartment, adding extra insulation in the attic of your house, or businesses designing more energy efficient buildings helps to reduce the need to use your furnace or air conditioner.
Here are three important ways to improve your own energy conservation:
- Wrap your water heater in a water heater blanket, a special insulation sleeve that prevents your water heater from losing heat to the surrounding air.
- Weather-strip the doors and windows in your apartment, especially if it is over 15 years old. Even if you live in an apartment, taking this step can save you money.
- Change your thermostat setting when you are not home. You waste your own money and energy heating or cooling an empty house or apartment.
Government regulations or incentives are the best way to encourage people to use energy efficient items or to engage in energy conservation. The potential energy savings from conservation and efficiency are so large that the U.S. Government has to make efficiency and conservation a key tenant of our energy policy. Our government still spends tens of billions more dollars on nuclear energy research than on energy conservation and efficiency.
This is the end of the lecture. Please continue on to the Global View, and then the Assessment.