America is on an Energy Fad-Diet
How many times have you heard that the secret to weight loss is diet and exercise together? How many people actually take that advice? Or, do we Americans tend to look for the quick-fix, the fad diet?
Welcome to America’s latest fad-diet: Bio-fuels. The main entree these days seems to be Ethanol, which we are producing in ever increasing quantities each year at the expense of our own food supply, and ironically, the environment itself. This heavily government-subsidized fuel requires a large amount of energy to produce: Its feedstock, corn requires fertilizers derived from hydrocarbons (fuels) to grow, then more fuel to harvest and process, and finally to deliver it to the point of consumption. The most pessimistic estimates of how much fuel is required to produce 1 gallon of ethanol exceed 1 gallon of fossil fuels. That means we are actually losing energy by switching to ethanol, resulting in larger imports of oil and natural gas from our close friends in the Middle East, not to mention the inflationary pressure this puts on food products, especially on our ubiquitous corn staple (refer to The Carnivore’s Dilemma which claims that close to 90% of America’s diet is in some way connected to corn and soy.) So why does this process continue? Think of some of the most powerful lobbies in America: Agriculture and Energy. They benefit tremendously from this situation at our, the taxpayer’s expense.
So how do we find balance? Americans keep on tweaking the supply side of the equation: Produce more fuel! Let’s look at the dieting aspect of this now: If we are still far away from producing bio-fuels or hydrogen economically and ecologically, then let’s try saving some energy instead! To paraphrase Ben Franklin: “A Kilowatt Saved is Truly a Kill-a-Watt Generated!” It is said that more efficient use of our current resources could make America self-sufficient in energy without forcing the alchemists to magically concoct a viable renewable fuel. This is one reason Maryland Green Power Co. scrapped its plans to build a biodiesel production facility in Baltimore last year.
Ouch – that means we have to go on a starvation diet, right? Hopefully not. The goal of my newsletter is to examine techniques for reducing our energy usage and still maintaining a comfortable way of life. My current topic concentrates on air conditioning, which is for most of us the largest summertime energy hog in our homes and offices. Yet, with the heat waves we have been experiencing every summer, who wants to turn up the thermostat by a few degrees? You might not have to.
Hence, our goal is to save money and to save energy without sacrificing comfort, or breaking the bank in the process. With fuel and electricity prices increasing at their current rates, we are being financially squeezed into a recession. However, investments in energy should be viewed as an investment much like stocks and bonds. For instance, if you were presented with a piece of equipment which would save enough in electricity costs to pay for itself in one year, would you consider it a good investment? You should – it’s returning 100% ROI annually, which is hard to find in the stock market. Consider that after it pays for itself, it is generating profit at the rate of 100% annually! The exciting part is that these types of opportunities are plentiful in the green energy industry.
For example, using a company’s existing emergency power generators to shave peak demand surcharges off your energy bill, or contracting with your local energy supplier to be “on-call” on an interruptible electricity plan frequently pays for itself in months, not years! However, most of us do not own emergency generators, nor do we consume enough power for the utility company to be interested in giving us generous monetary incentives to disconnect from the power grid temporarily. We residential and small business customers have to content ourselves with small investments in energy efficiency such as the MGPC ACES unit, which can pay for itself in about a year of operation on an average size central air conditioner.
Specifically, a device such as ACES is an intelligent version of what the utility company already wants you to do. Some of us have contracted with BG&E for installation of their air conditioner cut-off switch, which cycles your AC compressor on and off to reduce energy usage during hot days, typically periods of extreme peak power consumption, in order to prevent power shortages which contribute to rolling brown or black-outs. BG&E offers a small incentive for this operation, but I removed the device because I felt it decreased the cooling ability of my air conditioner unit and I was uncomfortable. However, MGPC ACES is a microprocessor controlled device, which learns the operational profile of your air conditioner over time, reducing over-cooling of the coils, leaving your air optimally cooled. It’s operation can be compared to a person riding his bike uphill. When the rider reaches the top, it is desirable to coast on the plateau as long as speed is maintained. An air conditioner without this kind of control will keep on pumping out the same power even on the plateau. The ACES Air Conditioner Efficiency System lets your air conditioner’s compressor enjoy its free ride.
In summary, opinions on green energy are separated into two extreme poles: Those who believe government should subsidize any environmental project or technology even if it loses money, and those who, in reaction to the first group, claim that the energy crisis and global warming were thought up by some mysterious group seeking to profit from scare-mongering and we should maintain our status quo. These two groups confuse the rest of us into inaction.
Although we specialize in commercial and industrial applications, there are nevertheless plenty of other home and small business energy projects left to discuss, and I feel it is important to also warn about the ineffective products, the high-tech snake-oil that’s out there preying on the energy-conscious. In the future, I will be opening my website as a forum for discussion of such topics in the hope that the budding green energy industry does not lose momentum due to adoption of inappropriate or inefficient technologies.
I’m hoping that our new generation of small green-energy companies will be the evangelists who tell you to relax, enjoy the ride, and take a deep breath of CLEAN, fresh air, because you can make a difference without making a sacrifice!
View some efficient and inexpensive air conditioner products at: http://www.marylandgreenpower.com
By the way, here is an article I wrote when I was producing bio-diesel myself:
Link to Biodiesel Article on PaulsHealthBlog.com
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Cellulosic ethanol, as apposed to corn-derived ethanol is probably our best hope for renewable energy in the future.
Imagine farmers selling the corn they harvest as food, and then selling the husks, stalks, and even the weeds growing around their crops as feedstock for the creation of a combustion engine fuel.
In some countries farmers still burn these materials, returning the CO2 sequestered by the crops earlier that year, a short circuit of the CO2 – O2 cycle. If the farmers did not burn the bio-mass, it would decay and release a combination of carbon dioxide and methane gas, which is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, short circuiting the cycle and even amplifying the global warming effects.
Therefore, if the bio-mass is inevitably going to create greenhouse gases, you might as well create a fuel out of it so that it displaces a non-renewable fuel. In that case you can state that cellulosic ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
That is not the case with corn-derived ethanol, which requires petroleum-based fertilizers to grow, petroleum-fuel tractors and trucks to harvest and transport, etc. Yes, the husks require that too, but they are normally a waste product and produced via use of petroleum whether they are recycled into a usable product or not. By some estimates, it takes almost a gallon, and maybe even more petroleum to produce one gallon of corn ethanol.
Does that mean it "breaks-even?" No way! You lose food with that process. Remember the third-world food riots from a couple years back? That's a hefty sacrifice for green-washing.
Another very promising renewable fuel will be biodiesel from algae derived feedstock. There are some species of algae which comprise over 65% fat by body weight, most of which is convertible to biodiesel.
In addition, algae reproduces incredibly fast and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (yes, I know the CO2 is subsequently returned to the atmosphere in the combustion process, but it is recycled CO2, not additional CO2 mined from the ground in the form of fossil fuels.)
One scenario is an algae farm located near a power plant and wastewater treatment plant. The algae feeds off the nutrient-rich fecal waste from the water treatment facility and inhales the CO2 from the power plant, converting it to O2. The algae left over from the oil extration process can find use as a nutritious animal feed.
Talk about recycling!
What is our alternative to bio-fuels like ethanol?
That’s fine with me. It would interesting to know why you do not agree. Your comments will be published, including the link back to your site.
I don’t mean to be too in your face, but I’m not sure I agree with this. Anyhow, thanks for sharing and I think I’ll come to this blog more often.
[...] exercise together? How many people actually take that advice? Or, do we Americans tend to look forhttp://www.marylandgreenpower.com/greenpower/2008/05/21/are-bio-fuels-really-green/Obama Delivers Remarks at Campaign Event in Flint, Mich. Washington PostSEN. BARACK OBAMA D-ILL.: [...]
While I do not agree with this person’s comment about cold fusion, the other energy saving ideas are close to the target:
…One thought stream missing here is the cold fusion/free energy angle. Google it before you dismiss it. Who knows?? Another thought is that much littler and more efficient cars are available in other countries like the Kei cars of Japan. Why?? When you think of the single occupant commute syndrome of us cities, just switching to 60+mpg vehicles would stretch out the gas while we implemented already existing technical solutions to the fuel, lighting, and home insulation problems.
A little fear is good for excitement to break complacency and then a little anger to get motivated. As you coast into local action and community building, you can smile at seeing a future coming where the planet and biosphere will be able to relax and pass beyond this homo sapiens caused extinction phase…