How much is it worth to you?...

I've wondered for a while why it is that I always hear & read that it isn't economical to use solar, wind and geothermal power whenever possible or converting to Ethanol to reduce carbon emissions.

I know many people that will drive an extra 5 miles out of their way when they know that they can save a few cents per gallon on the gasoline for their car. Averaging 15 gallons per fill, that might save them as much as $0.45 total, or if they fill once per week around $25.00 per year. Yet, that DOES NOT reduce emissions or the use of fuel, it simply puts a small amount of money back in their pocket. But I suspect that there are extremely few people who would drive out of their way to purchase ethanol MIXTURES (remember, commercial Ethanol fuel is still mixed with fossil fuels). I don't have much direct knowledge of that only because Florida residents haven't been given that option yet due to the lobbyists that have our state legislature wrapped up in the 'oil blanket'.

I'm also curious why not very many individuals (let alone businesses) are willing to push this country's corporate & government interests toward 100% electric vehicles? Ever since their very earliest development of powered transportation we collectively realized that those machines that were driven electrically were MUCH more economical overall, not only because they would provide "clean" rechargeable transportation, but also due to the fact that there are fewer moving parts to break down, and much less overall stress & vibration which tends to allow what moving parts there must be last much longer. And this was even before solar electric power was even considered! Now, not only can we can create a vehicle that will travel much further on a single 'charge', but we can develop multiple charging sources to include solar, wind, geothermal as well as fossil fuel resources (although MUCH lesser the latter). So why is it such a difficult idea to get across today? Is it possible it is because those that make the most money do so only if petroleum continues to be the primary power source for our transportation? I mean, let's face it folks... if you really want to take a close look at it, the only 'reason' behind not doing everything within our power to get away from fossil fuels is that those that own/control the oil interests realize that renewable energy and 100% electric transportation across the board isn't PROFITABLE!!! At least, not for them, but for the average citizen it is the best way to reduce the cost of living HANDS DOWN! Not only would we spend less to charge an electric vehicle (especially if we use solar & wind as the primary charging source) but that in turn would reduce the transportation costs of EVERYTHING ELSE WE USE.

Here's a quick challenge out to any of you readers who study economics: I believe that about 85% of the cost of ANY product that you purchase on a retail shelf is actually the cost of the energy that it took to get it there. Can anyone out there prove or disprove that?

So, let me take a quick sec to restate the top question of this entry... How much is it worth to you? Really!

Let's see about whether it's worthwhile to install solar or wind generators for your home. If the average cost per kilowatt hour is $.10, and you use 2000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month (approximate amount of energy consumed in a typical household in Northern US is 2613-2857 kWh/mo - Source : Department of Energy Annual Energy Review 2006) then let's try to figure out a few other details. If you install a 120 watt PV array (a couple of solar panels on the roof) and you get 'good sun' for an average of just 2 hour per day (yeah, right) then you can produce around 7200 watts (7.2 kilowatts) of electricity per month. If you have a 400 watt wind generator on your home/property with useable winds (around 7mph in most cases) for an average of 2 hours per day you can produce around 20,000 watts (20 kilowatts) of electricity. And you should remember during our discussion that energy costs have skyrocketed over the past couple years, so these estimated costs/savings are definitely low. PLUS, as more consumers buy solar & wind systems the demand for them will drive the prices down for them as well. And of course, if the demand for fossil fuels drops, the prices will drop for them as well. Then you can take the additional step of changing a few other things around your home (i.e., using energy star appliances, increasing insulation, using programmable thermostats & timed lighting and of course using compact flouresent or LED array light bulbs, etc.). Once you take all of these 'small' steps toward reducing your addiction to fossil fuels, you begin to find that you've reduced your overall costs, as well as becomming somewhat 'energy independent' as well. (For some great information on energy use in the U.S. visit this MIT.edu page.)

I haven't mentioned the savings to us all in healthcare costs relating to the poisons in our atmosphere due to fossil fuel use (just take a look at how much carbon your car puts into the atmosphere and then add all of the other poisonous gasses and carcenogenics). We haven't discussed the overall effect on our day-to-day lives by being surrounded by quiet, clean transportation and a healthier, greener planet. And I don't even want to get involved in the discussion about how our national security and economy would be strengthened by becomming completely energy independent. That is for a completely different blog. But if we really take the time to answer the question: how much is it worth... What do you think?

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