Filter Results for "Energy Jolt"

Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. Electricity itself is neither renewable nor non-renewable, but the energy sources we use to make electricity can be renewable or non-renewable. Every day, we use electricity to do many jobs for us and, just like air and water, we must not take energy for granted. That is why I have encouraged my family to do a very important thing each time they leave a room; turn out the lights! 

If you're interested in detailed information about how electricity is generated, delivered and priced, I recommend visting the Energy Information Administration's website.

Recycling creates almost five times as many jobs as waste disposal! Recycling requires businesses that collect, haul, and process recyclables, as well as businesses that manufacture products from recycled materials. Americans are producing more waste with each passing year, most of which is hauled off and buried in landfills. It’s expensive and usually controversial to dig new landfills or to build new incinerators. Recycling is one way to reduce the amount of waste that is landfilled.

It almost always takes less energy to make a product from recycled materials than it does to make it from new materials. Using recycled aluminum scrap to make new aluminum cans, for example, uses 95 percent less energy than making aluminum cans from bauxite ore, the raw material used to make aluminum. One exception to the recycling-saves-energy rule is plastics. Sometimes it takes more energy to recycle plastics than it does to use all new materials. By using materials more than once, we conserve natural resources. In the case of paper, recycling saves trees and water. Making a ton of paper from recycled stock saves up to 17 trees and uses 50 percent less water.

*Source: Energy Information Administration

Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85). Except for a few engine and fuel system modifications, they are identical to gasoline-only models. FFVs have been produced since the 1980s, and dozens of models are currently available. Since FFVs look just like gasoline-only models, you may have an FFV and not even know it. To determine if your vehicle is an FFV, check the inside of your car's fuel filler door for an identification sticker or consult your owner’s manual. FFVs experience no loss in performance when operating on E85. However, since a gallon of ethanol contains less energy than a gallon of gasoline, FFVs typically get about 20-30 percent fewer miles per gallon when fueled with E85.

As part of my contribution to deterring our current energy crisis, my new mobile office will be a FFV. I encourage you to make the same considerations when it is time for your family to purchase a vehicle.

Last week I talked about the importance of wind-generated electricity. This week I wanted to pass along information about a project underway in Indiana that would generate a total of 750 megawatts (MW) of wind energy. Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, located about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis, is the site of a project in its first phase that will utilize 222 wind turbines — 182 Vestas V-82 1.65-MW turbines and 40 Clipper C-96 2.5-MW turbines — to produce 400 MW of electricity. That phase is expected to be operational by the end of this year. The second phase is expected to generate an additional 350 MW, bringing the total project output to 750 MW. Construction of the second phase could begin as early as 2009. Dominion and BP are partners for 650 MW of the 750-MW site, with BP retaining sole ownership of 100 MW.

Once operational, Dominion says Fowler Ridge will be one of the largest wind power facilities in the world and will generate enough electricity to power more than 200,000 homes. The wind farm is also expected to provide revenue to local landowners, in the form of leases, and tax revenue to local governments. The project will also create new jobs. For more information, see the Dominion May 29 press release.

This week's Energy Jolt is about wind energy. Wind-generated electricity increased by 45% between 2005 and 2006 and by 21% between 2006 and 2007, more than any other renewable source of electricity in both years. This trend is continuing and U.S. wind energy installations produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of over 2.5 million homes. I believe that in the long-run we need to transition away from using oil, which will require more investment in alternative energy and energy conservation technologies as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, and as we all know, as crucial as alternative energy technologies are, the fact of the matter is that wind and solar energy cannot power our cars, trucks, planes, trains, boats and power plants at the moment, or in the foreseeable future. Therefore, in the short-term, we still need oil and gasoline.

The cost of gasoline has gone down recently, but it is still expensive, and will continue to increase in cost once the financial markets stabilize. If we want to bring down the cost of gasoline for good, we'll need to drill in America to increase supply, while we also invest in the renewable energy technologies that will alleviate us from depending on foreign countries. I'll say it again: America can not continue the practice of depending on volatile foreign countires for an energy source (oil) with a volatile price.